Akos Toth, a defining figure in Hungarian swimming, has died in Budapest aged 83.
A former member of the European Aquatics Technical Swimming Committee (TSC) and swimming competition director at several European Aquatics Championships, Toth worked tirelessly for his sport.
He held several important positions across the decades, including an eight-year-long tenure as head coach of the national team between 1977 and 1984.
Later he became the head of the swimming faculty at the University of Sport and Physical Education in Budapest and prepared generations of coaches to nurture the future greats of Hungarian swimming.
Toth was one of the pioneers who insisted on producing videos about best practices in teaching swimming techniques.
He spent three years in Greece where he helped to elevate the local elite swimmers to new heights between 1998 and 2001.
Returning to Hungary, Toth oversaw four editions of the European Aquatics Championships as swimming competition director.
All these events – three long-course editions in 2006, 2010, 2012, each time in Budapest, and one short course championship at Debrecen in 2007 – were a tremendous success.
This led to an even bigger honour when he and his experienced team delivered another smoothly organised event when Budapest hosted the 2017 World Aquatics Championships.
During these busy years Toth was a member of the EA – thenLEN – Technical Swimming Committee, where his knowledge and expertise was highly appreciated.
For his extraordinary services across the 12 years in the TSC (2004-2016), he received the Silver Pin from European Aquatics.
He crowned his service to the sport by being one of the masterminds behind the Learn-to-Swim programme launched in Hungary which now offers free weekly swimming classes for 50,000 children every year.
He insisted that only licenced tutors could teach basic skills to the youngsters.
This was part of his steadfast mission. to ensure that only people with proper background and professional knowledge should work in the learning pools.
In May this year he decided to leave the University where he had spent 60 years. No one thought that within months, family, friends and colleagues would be bidding a final and painful farewell to Akos Toth.
In these sad moments, the European Aquatics community sends its deepest condolences to his family.
Gergely Csurka for European Aquatics
