Sunday, April 22, 2007

Bela Komjadi: Father of Hungarian Water Polo

Born in 1892 in Budapest, Bela Komjadi coached Hungary's silver medal Water Polo team at the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics and the gold medalling squad at the 1932 Los Angeles Games. He helped Hungary form the non-medalling Olympic teams of 1912 and 1924, and the European Championship teams of 1926, 1927, and 1931, all of which won gold medals.
Bela Komjadi is considered to be the most innovative Water Polo coach of his time. He developed Hungary into a world water polo power and established the educational and organizational system which allowed Hungary to maintain its dominance for many decades.
In 1928, Bela Komjadi invented the "air pass," or “dry pass” a technique in which a player directly passes the ball through the air to another player, who receives it without the ball hitting the water. Previously, players would let the ball drop in the water first and then reach out for it, but the "dry pass" made the offensive game more dynamic.

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