Andras SZENTE

András Szente swam competitively in his youth and took up canoeing in 1955. During his career, which lasted until 1967, Szente won two Olympic silvers in 1960 (K2-1,000, K1-4x500), two World Championships silvers (1958 K4-1,000, 1966 K1-4x500), was twice European champion in 1959 (K2-500, K2-1,000), adding one silver and four bronzes at the European Championships. Szente was also a 22-time Hungarian champion – K1-500 (1962-64), K2-500 (1959-66), K1-4x500 (1959, 1964-67), K2-1,000 (1959-60, 1963, 1965), and K4-1,000 in 1964.

Szente defected to the West from Communist Hungary in 1969 and, after staying two years in West-Germany, he was allowed to emigrate to the United States in 1971. In America, Szente eventually settled in Los Angeles, where he worked as a canoeing coach, coaching the 1976 US Olympic canoeing team.