Rowing

I started rowing at the age of 14 and quickly fell in love with this wonderful sport. Being on the water connects us with nature, while the rhythm of the rowing strokes makes the physical exercise enjoyable. Rowing engages nearly every major muscle group. It provides an excellent aerobic workout, improving heart health and lung capacity, while also reducing stress and enhancing concentration. Working as part of a crew fosters a strong sense of teamwork and friendship.

Rowing can be started at any age and is suitable for people of all fitness levels. Competitive rowing is just a bonus.

I was a competitive rower from 1984 to 2000. I enjoyed setting targets and working hard every day to improve and prepare for races. This required dedication and discipline, and an effective time management while studying and working. Racing demanded full mental focus and the ability to overcome nervousness. While I missed my Olympic dream by just six-tenths of a second, I carry countless cherished memories from that time. If I were young again, I would do it all over without hesitation.

After a break of fifteen years, I returned as a master—in rowing, athletes over 27 who no longer compete in elite races are called ‘masters.’ It’s truly a pleasure to be part of the rowing world once more.

In 1984, I joined the club Magyar Testgyakorlók Köre in Budapest, and I have remained loyal to this club. After moving to Belgium, I did not join a rowing club for several years and instead trained on my indoor rowing machine at home. However, I missed on-water rowing so much that in 2023, I joined Union Nautique de Bruxelles, where I was warmly welcomed by a friendly community.

Main results from the 1990s

International

World Rowing Championships

1991 Vienna, Lightweight quadruple sculls: 15th place, Crew members: István Ikotity, Zsolt Darvas, Károly Keresztes, Attila Ambrus
1993 Roudnice, Lightweight double sculls: 8th place, Crew members: Károly Keresztes, Zsolt Darvas
1994 Indianapolis, Lightweight double sculls: 12th place, Crew members: Gyula Budai, Zsolt Darvas

Olympic Qualification Regatta

1996 Luzern, Lightweight double sculls: 4th place, 0.65 seconds behind the 3rd place New Zealand team. The top three crews qualified for the Atlanta Olympics. Crew members: Gyula Budai, Zsolt Darvas

World University Rowing Championships

1992 Poznan, Lightweight single sculls: GOLD medal
1993 Buffalo, Lightweight single sculls: 6th place
1994 Groningen, Lightweight single sculls: BRONZE medal

Hungarian

Membership in the Hungarian national team

1990-1994, 1996 (first return attempt for the Olympics), 1999 (second return attempt for the Olympics)

Hungarian national championships

3 GOLD medals: Lightweight single sculls 1999, Lightweight double sculls: 1999 (with György Vámos), Heavyweight quadruple sculls: 1994 (with Roland Bartal, László Szögi, and Zsolt Dani)

10 SILVER medals: Lightweight single sculls 1990, 1991, 1994, 1998, Lightweight double sculls: 1994, 1995, 2000, Lightweight quadruple sculls: 1999, Lightweight coxless four: 1995, Heavyweight university single sculls: 1994

8 BRONZE medals: Lightweight single sculls 1992, 1995, Lightweight double sculls: 1992, 1996, 1998, Lightweight quadruple sculls: 1994, 1995, Heavyweight single sculls 1996

1991 World Rowing Championships, Vienna, Austria

Lightweight quadruple sculls: 15th place

Crew members: István Ikotity, Zsolt Darvas, Károly Keresztes, Attila Ambrus

Results:

https://worldrowing.com/event/1991-world-rowing-championships-neue-donau-vienna-austria/

1993 World Rowing Championships, Roudnice, Czech Republic

Lightweight double sculls: 8th place

Crew members: Károly Keresztes, Zsolt Darvas

Results:

https://worldrowing.com/event/1993-world-rowing-championships-roudnice-racice-czech-republic/

Our performance in the preliminary heat was poor. However, we performed well in the repechage: in a very tight race, we secured second place and qualified for the semi-finals with a better time than the winners of the other two repechages. This boosted our hopes for qualifying for Final A. In both semi-finals, the top three boats advanced to Final A, while the next three proceeded to Final B. Unfortunately, our performance in the semi-final was disappointing again, but we excelled in Final B, finishing second, which placed us eighth in the overall ranking.

Ready for the race before Final B with Károly Keresztes

The finish line of Final B (for positions 7-12)

The red buoy lines and the white buoy line are parallel. The white buoy line marks the finish line. We are in green attire, positioned second. Result:

1. Portugal 6:24:64

2. Hungary 6:26:12

3. Canada 6:26:67

4. France 6:27:16

5. Netherlands 6:27 33

(The Danish boat did not appear at the start.)

Second place in Final B corresponds to an 8th-place finish in the World Championship. The world champion, Australia, completed the race in 6:20.64, while the sixth-place boat in Final A finished in 6:26.05.

A happy team

From the left:

László Ficsor (my coach),

Károly Keresztes,

Zsolt Darvas,

Antal Melis (Károly's coach)

1994 World Rowing Championships, Indianapolis, USA

Lightweight double sculls: 12th place

Crew members: Gyula Budai, Zsolt Darvas

Results:

https://worldrowing.com/event/1994-world-rowing-championships-eagle-creek-indianapolis-united-states

We arrived with high expectations and big hopes, as we had performed well in two international regattas leading up to the World Championships. While not all the top teams participated in those regattas, we won medals and managed to beat the Swiss crew on both occasions—a team that went on to win the bronze medal here in Indianapolis and even secured the gold medal at the Atlanta Olympics two years later. However, after some close races and a few disappointing heats, we ultimately finished in twelfth place.

The Hungarian rowing team in Indianapolis

Upper line, from the left: Gyula Budai (lightweight men's double sculls, 12th place), Gábor Mitring (heavyweight men's double sculls, 4th place), László Szögi (heavyweight men's single sculls, 10th place), Károly Szabó (coach)

Middle line: János Veress (team doctor), Dóra Ferenczy and Krisztina Kulifai (heavyweight women's double sculls, 9th place), Zsolt Dani (heavyweight men's double sculls, 4th place)

Bottom line: Mónika Remsey (lightweight women's single sculls, 7th place), Zsolt Darvas (lightweight men's double sculls, 12th palce), László Ficsor (coach)

Cleaving through the water with Gyula Budai

After Final B: A disheartened team

1996 Olympic Qualification Regatta, Luzern, Switzerland

Lightweight double sculls: 4th place. The top 3 places qualified for the Olympic Games.

Crew members: Gyula Budai, Zsolt Darvas

There were two routes to qualify for the Atlanta Olympics: by achieving a certain position at the 1995 World Rowing Championships (top 12 for the lightweight men's double sculls) or by achieving a certain place at one of the continental qualification regattas held in early summer 1996 in Asia, Africa, Europe, and Latin America. These regattas were open only to countries that had not yet qualified. In 1995, when I stepped away from the national team due to other priorities, the Hungarian lightweight double sculls team performed below expectations at the World Championships (24th place). Seeing an opportunity, I decided to return and try to qualify for the Olympics. I resumed intensive training and arranged to switch my full-time job at the central bank to part-time, allowing me the time to train twice a day.

Our preparations with Gyula Budai, my teammate from the 1994 World Rowing Championships, went exceptionally well. We were both physically and mentally strong, and our boat felt almost like it was "flying" beneath us.

In the preliminary heat, where only the winner qualified directly for the final, the Italian team was clearly faster than us, but we comfortably held second place. The next day, we relatively easily won the repechage, where the top two teams advanced to the final. In the final on the last day, the first three teams qualified for the Olympics. We finished fourth, just 0.65 seconds behind the third-placed New Zealand team, ending our Olympic dream.

The first sentence I wrote in my training diary after the race was: "We have never rowed such a perfect race in our lives." We had a strong start, then settled into a powerful cruising speed at 35-36 strokes per minute, accelerating to 38-39 for ten strokes at the 1,000-meter mark, then back to 36. In the final 500 meters, with the New Zealand team a boat length ahead, we progressively increased our stroke rate from 37 to 43. As we closed the gap, both Gyula and I believed we could make it, and we gave it everything—but it wasn’t enough.

Sports teach you to celebrate victories, accept defeats, and, most importantly, appreciate good health, favourable conditions, and the privilege of competing at a high level.

Results:

7-9 June 1996, Olympic Qualification Regatta, Rowing, Luzern, Switzerland

Lightweight men's double sculls

Preliminary heats (the two winners qualified for the final)

Heat 1 Heat 2

1) Italy 1) United Kingdom

2) Hungary 2) France

3) Turkey 3) Portugal

4) New Zealand 4) Romania

5) Yugoslavia

Repechages (the first two from each heat qualified for the final)

Repechage 1 Repechage 2

1) Hungary 1) France

2) Portugal 2) New Zealand

3) Romania 3) Turkey

4) Yugoslavia

Final (the first three boats qualified for the Atlanta Olympics)

1) Italy 6:19.72

2) United Kingdom 6:21.86

3) New Zealand 6:24.40

4) Hungary 6:25.05

5) France 6:27.91

6) Portugal 6:41.01

1992 World University Rowing Championships, Poznan, Poland

Lightweight singe sculls: Gold medal

Victory ceremony

The flags

1993 World University Games (Universiade), Buffalo, USA

The rowing races were in St Catherines, Canada

Lightweight singe sculls: Sixth position

I was happy to qualify for the final, but unfortunately, I couldn’t achieve a position better than last (6th) there, no matter how hard I tried.

The Hungarian rowing team in Buffalo

From the left: Zoltán Peszleg (Lightweight double sculls, 11th place), Zsolt Dani (Heavyweight single sculls, 9th place), Géza Horváth (Lightweight double sculls, 11th place), László Ficsor (coach), Zsolt Darvas (Lightweight single sculls, 6th place), and our guide, Andrea Marschalkó, a Hungarian rower living in Canada, and her daughter

1994 World University Rowing Championships, Gorningen, The Netherlands

Lightweight singe sculls: Bronze medal

Victory ceremony

The flags

With László Ficsor (our coach, middle) and László Szögi (gold medallist in heavyweight single sculls, right)

Some remarkable moments

Farewell present from my colleagues when I left the central bank in 2005

Crew members (from bow):

1) Anna Naszódi, PhD CEU 2008, one of my best students, worked together at MNB for 2 years

2) Balázs Világi, PhD Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona 2005, worked together at MNB for 3 years

3) István Kónya, PhD Northwestern University 2001, worked together at MNB for one year

4) Csilla Horváth, PhD University of Groningen 2003, one of my best students, worked together at MNB for 2 years

5) Péter Benczúr, PhD MIT 2001, worked together at MNB for 4 years

6) Viktor Várpalotai, PhD Corvinus University 2007, one of my best previous students, worked together at MNB for 6 years

7) Eszter Szilágy, the best secretary, worked together at MNB for 11 years

8) Zsolt Darvas

Rowing away from the Central Bank of Hungary

Summer Santa Claus

Loosing weight with György Vámos in Villach, 1999

Lightweight rowers must meet a strict weight limit (for men, 72.5 kg per rower, with a team average not exceeding 70 kg) during the official weigh-in, held one to two hours before the race. For most lightweight rowers, who already have low body fat, losing even a few extra grams is challenging. The main strategy involves reducing food intake in the days or weeks leading up to the race, though this risks a loss of strength. The final method is excessive sweating just before weigh-in, followed by rehydration afterward. This is best achieved by wearing multiple layers of clothing and doing light exercise, such as a gentle 30-minute run. Based on my experience, this technique can temporarily shed around 1 kg without compromising performance. Since many races take place in hot weather, heavily dressed rowers using this method are sometimes called "Summer Santa Claus."

My hands after 172 km of rowing

In August 1992, I participated in a long-distance regatta down the Danube from Budapest to Baja in single sculls. My total time was 11 hours and 25 minutes, but I paused on the water every hour for a few minutes to drink and, starting from the fourth hour, to eat. Excluding these breaks, my rowing time was 10 hours and 56 minutes. Reaching the finish line required 14,241 strokes, averaging 21.7 strokes per minute. I was the fastest among the single scullers, and only two quadruple sculls finished ahead of me by 5 minutes and one minute, respectively.

Even though I was well-trained and my hands were accustomed to intense rowing, they began blistering after three hours. By the end of the race, the blisters became painful, and I could hardly hold my sculls.

Despite drinking about seven litres of fluids, I still lost five kilograms on that hot and sunny day. However, the lost fluids were quickly replenished in the following days.

A homemade indoor rowing machine, 1986

Due to financial and administrative constraints, my club was unable to purchase a professional indoor rowing machine in the 1980s. However, my first coach, Zoltán Lengyel, was a talented handyman and built one himself using a bicycle wheel. My brother, Attila, contributed by designing a performance monitor that measured distance and stroke rate per minute. This makeshift machine became a highly useful tool for indoor training – and, as the picture shows, for rowing in the clubhouse garden as well!

Nowadays, I use a modern indoor rowing machine from Concept2 at home.

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