Dr. Szabó Lajos: Nők a magyar sportban (A Sportmúzeum Kincsei 3. Budapest, 2003)

THE BEGINNINGS OF WOMEN'S SWIMMING Travelers visiting Hungary in the 17th century were already impressed by the swimming skills of Hungarian women. It was mainly the vivid life at the baths in the cities and the curative effect of the spas that they liked. The named Czech educator, Johannes Amos Comenius who came to Hungary and taught at Sárospatak from 1650 to 1654 upon the invitation of the era's famous patron of art, Zsuzsanna Lórántffy, wife of György Rákóczi II, Prince of Transylvania, mentions the equal rights of schoolgirls regarding physical education: "Not only the daughters of the rich and the noblemen should be sent to school. Schooling should equally be a must for boys and girls in cities, villages and farmlands" he wrote. The teachings of Comenius also contributed to the extension of swimming education to girls. Swimming sites were "fenced-off " at river coastlines, most of them on the Danube, and mainly in the proximity of cities. The most famous of these was the "National School of Swimming" established by Antal Kammermayer in 1840. At that time, men and women were required to attend at different hours. Races in the Danube were held frequently. The most famous swimmer woman of the era was Klára Petzke who rose to international acclaim when winning the 136 m race in Vienna on August 5,1895. After the turn of the century, swimming and vacationing near waters became very popular among middle class families. Working class families joined in after the 1910's. Thanks to the first swimming pool construction program, which gave Hungary the National Swimming Hall in 1930 among others, swimming was part of the physical education curriculum at schools. All this enabled the rising of a new generation of swimmers and gave way to success in women's swimming as well. First the women's national team at the 1952 Olympics, Eva Székely, Valéria Gyenge, Eva Novak, Ilonka Novak, Kató Szőke, Judit Ternes and later Andrea Gyarmati, Krisztina Egerszegi and recently Agnes Kovács all contributed to the international acclaim of Hungary's swimmers. Terms of leisure sports, long-distance opens like the "Crossing of the lake Balaton" demonstrate the everlasting popularity of swimming.