Éva Székely

Éva Székely (3 April 1927 – 29 February 2020) was a Hungarian swimmer. She won the gold medal at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki and the silver medal at the 1956 Summer Olympics, set six world records, and won 44 national titles. Her mother was Orthodox Jewish from Upper Hungary, while her father was from Transylvania. As a child, she competed for a local swim team and was soon expelled from the team because of her religion. Their daughter Andrea Gyarmati, born in 1954, was a backstroke and butterfly swimmer who won two medals at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. She was named as one of Hungary's Athletes of the Nation in 2004, and received the Prima Primissima award in 2011.

Publications Székely authored three books, one of which was translated into other languages:

Only winners are allowed to cry! (Sírni csak a győztesnek szabad!) Budapest, 1981, Magvető Kiadó I came, I saw, I lost? (Jöttem, láttam… Vesztettem?) Budapest, 1986, Magvető Kiadó I Swam It/I Survived (Megúsztam) Budapest, 1989, Sport Kiadó