Alfréd Hajós

Alfréd Hajós (1 February 1878 – 12 November 1955) was a Hungarian swimmer and architect. He was the first modern Olympic swimming champion and the first Olympic champion of Hungary. Hajós was born in Budapest, Hungary, as Arnold Guttmann. He was 13 years old when he felt compelled to become a good swimmer after his father drowned in the Danube River. He took the name Hajós (sailor in Hungarian) for his athletic career because it was a Hungarian name. In 1896, Hajós was an architecture student in Hungary when the Athens Games took place. He was allowed to compete, but permission from the university to miss class had not come easy. When he returned to the Dean of the Polytechnical University, the dean did not congratulate Hajós on his...