Salt Lake Telegram | 1936-07-22 | Page 16 | 'Wrong Way Olympic Champ" Spins Yarn

Wrong Way Olympic Champ Spins Yarn B By JOE WILLIAMS Special to The Telegram Frankly an old athlete can be bo bea boa a great guy or a a. great bore It all depends on the gents gent's point of view If Ie his memories memories and and what would an timer old be without them them consist mainly of oC an enumeration enumeration enumeration enu enu- of his personal triumphs with emphasis on how he whipped the rabble you can write him off as a a waste of ot time On the other hand the veteran who tinctures his reminiscences with a R. sense of humor and an appreciation ap ap- ap- ap pre predation atlon of oC situations which didn't happen to reflect glory to him can be intensely interesting and a swell combination i for tor foran an idle hour or two A fortnight b before for sailing on the Manhattan for Cor tho the Olympics I encountered en on- countered just such a person an old Olympian I met him burL in a low- low Hungarian restaurant on the upper cast side A steaming plate of ot g goulash sent eddies of vapor up from the red print tablecloth tablecloth tablecloth table table- cloth and there was a R. light laughing laughing laugh laugh- ing note in his voice as ho began to talk His name was Zoltan do Holmay and eventually I learned he was Hungary's Olympic hero of 30 years ago and one of the greatest of the early Olympic swimmers Zoltan de Holmay they Holmay-they they call him simply Toby at Union Temple in Brooklyn where he is s a a. member of the athletic staff participated In itt three Olympics Olympics- 1904 at St. St Louis 1906 at Athens and 1908 at London In l 1904 1004 O he won von the yards freestyle free free I style in without even using a kick kick but but that is another paragraph and and In 1906 1006 he anchored a winning winning winning win win- ning meter relay team after atter swimming second to A. A C. C Daniels of America in the meters But this mountainous man with a Kris countenance enjoys talking about tho the races race's races he ho didn't win The surprising tings lings they were the funniest he says with witha a European inflection Toby likes to tell about the tho meter race at Athens It was in open water on a largo large bay He drew drewan an outside position and had scarcely scarcely scarce scarce- ly taken three strokes before a surging wave carried him over to the side off the course He didn't realize what had happened and ploughed straight ahead Most of ot the swimmers knowing knowin him and re respecting respecting respecting re- re his ability disregarded all signs and followed Do De Holmay Toby and his field swam 00 meters inthe in inthe inthe the wrong direction before someone stopped them And by that time me the few who stayed on the course had finished I was the wrong way champion ho smiles but there were lots of them fighting for Cor the title The meter relay at London also had a weird windup Toby was swimming anchor against Daniels the tho American Twenty five yards from the finish he had a a. yard five lead and was stroking easily Suddenly Suddenly Suddenly Sud Sud- denly someone in the crowd uttered a shrill scream scream Toby looked up open mouthed and gulped hard With tho the gulp ho he swallowed a mighty mouthful and before he could spit out the water and re regain regain regain re- re gain his stroke Daniels was past him and the race raco was lost At Athens ho recalls the tho scene of ot th the swimming races was 30 miles from the cit city No conveyances were wore provided for the swimmers and each contestant was given so much money to hire hiro a a. carriage Prices varied so the shrewd bargainers amon among the athletes wound up each day with a few tew extra drachmas Toby derived a world of oC t e amusement amuse amuse- ment from the enthusiasm of oC tho the generous but sports sports ignoring ignoring Greeks After his relay victory several several sev sev- eral peasants rushed to the prize stand and presented each bewildered member of the team with a bleating white goat Could I bring a goat into my mothers mother's Budapest parlor he asked rhetorically No so when everybody everybody every every- every every- body left leCt I took look the he goat into a afield afield afield field and set it free tree I dont don't like goats goat's milk anyway