Katalin SZÖKE

Katalin Szöke was the daughter of Márton Homonnai, who was wanted at the end of World War II for war crimes, but then fled to Argentina. Katalin Szöke reverted to her mother’s maiden name so she could be accepted on the Hungarian swim team, in order to compete at the Olympic Games in 1952 and 1956. In 1956 she emigrated to the USA as did many Hungarian athletes affected by the Soviet Union’s crushing of the Hungarian October Revolution. She married the water polo player Kálmán Markovits, but later divorced him, and then married his teammate, Arpad Domjan, who had been an alternate in 1956. They settled in the Los Angeles area of California. She worked at a bank but also did some modelling, while Domjan worked as a draftsman for an architect and later became a very successful businessman, developing office buildings and many apartment complexes. They anglicized their name to Domyan, had a son, Bryan, who played basketball at Southern Cal, and became devoted fans of the Los Angeles Opera. Katalin Szöke was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1985. As a swimmer, she won two European Championships in 1954 and set four world records.