Zoltán Dömötör started his career as a swimmer with Újpest Torna Egylet (ÚTE) in 1948. He won five national freestyle titles, and at the 1954 European Championships was a member of the Hungarian 4x200 metres relay squad that won the gold medal. Two years earlier, he had been considered as a reserve for the same relay squad at the Olympics, but did not get selected to go to Helsinki. He also failed to make it to the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, but had switched to water polo the previous year and became a regular member of the ÚTE water polo team in 1957, and soon became a member of the national squad. With his club Dömötör he was a national champion in both 1960 and 1967, as well as being a national cup winner in 1961 and 1963. He played 116 times for the national team up to 1968, including appearances at the 1958 and 1962 European Championships, where he was top scorer in both tournaments. At Roma in 1960, Dömötör became an Olympic bronze medallist, and at Tokyo four years later, he scored the fifth goal in Hungary’s 5-2 win against the Soviets to secure the gold medal. After winning a second Olympic bronze medal at Mexico in 1968 he resigned from the national team.
In addition to a degree in economics, Dömötör obtained a professional coaching qualification at the Testnevelési Főiskola in 1981. He worked as a head coach of the Bulgarian national team, and later that of Algeria and South Korea. He joined the KSI club in 1980 and led the water polo department until 2001. His most outstanding achievement was at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, when seven of the 13-man Hungarian squad that won the gold medal were from KSI. Between 2004-12, Dömötör served as President of the Hungarian Olympic Champions Club.
Hungary