Tamas DARNYI

The Greatest All-Around Swimmer

The most demanding of swimming events is the individual medley, in which the swimmer must use each of four strokes. The greatest medley swimmer in Olympic history is Tamás Darnyi of Hungary. When Darnyi was 15 years old, he lost the vision in his left eye as a result of being hit by an icy snowball three years earlier. Darnyi entered the 1988 Olympics as the world record holder in both the 200m and 400m medleys. In Seoul he won both races and set another world record in each. At the Barcelona Games in 1992, Darnyi successfully defended both of his Olympic titles and completed an eight-year stretch during which he was undefeated at either distance.