By Ben
Peter Fogarassy is my grandfather. He has been my idol forever. He is like Superman to me. My mom tells me his stories all the time and they always amaze me. When we visit Joan Fogarassy, his wife, she shows me his trophy room. There are tons of awards, medals, trophies, plaques, newspaper articles, All-American awards, ribbons, photographs, and even one of my elementary school art pieces. His story is very inspirational and that is what I will share with you.
As just a teenager, Peter Fogarassy escaped his native country Hungary during dangerous Hungarian revolts against Soviet Union rule in the October of 1956.
His father Lazlo had always pushed him to be his best. In his time living in Hungary, his father told him he wanted Peter to become excellent and something unique. Swimming was never very popular in Hungary at the time, so he chose that. Not only did he choose to swim, but he chose a stroke to specialize in that was particularly uncommon – breaststroke. He was coached by John Leonard in Hungary and both of them left Hungary for the United States around the same time.
When Peter first arrived in the U.S., he stayed at Camp Kilmer, a refugee camp in New Jersey. After staying in the camp for a little he got in touch with his former swim coach from Hungary, John Leonard. Leonard was able to get Peter a work scholarship to Cheshire Academy in New Haven. This is where his first of many swimming accomplishments started. As a senior, he won the 1959 New England school-boy breaststroke title and All-American honors. This is when he became noticed by many colleges.
My grandmother told me that he had a ton of offers to swim in college. She told me he received about 15 offers but the one that stood out to him the most was North Carolina State University. At the time, NC State had an amazing swimming program coached by one of the greatest swim coaches in the country, Willis Casey. Even today, the aquatic center on NC State’s campus is named after him, as Willis R. Casey Aquatic Center. During the 1959 USA National AAU Indoor Championships, Peter was being recognized by Coach Casey. Casey states, “I realized there was no limit to his greatness in the breaststroke.” My mom told me that one day Willis Casey invited him to dinner to have some steak with him. This is when coach Casey offered him a life-changing opportunity, to swim at NCSU. Since he didn’t know English and didn’t know what to say, he stuck his hand out to shake hands and the next thing he knew, he was attending NC State. In the fall of 1959, Fogarassy boarded a bus for Raleigh with a small satchel containing a bathing suit, a pair of shoes and a change of clothes.
From 1959 to 1963 Peter became recognized as one of the best swimmers in the country and was ranked among the best breaststrokers in the world. During his time at NC State, he broke two world records and at one time he even held six American records. My grandmother likes to brag that he never lost a race. That statement isn’t completely true, but he has won seven ACC individual titles and has never lost a race in ACC dual-meet competition. Casey later stated in 1963, “Peter Fogarassy is the greatest swimmer I ever coached,” and “As far as a specialist is concerned, he’s the finest swimmer I’ve ever had in one stroke.”
Unfortunately, Peter was unable to participate and compete in the 1960 Summer Olympics held in Rome. This was the one thing that I couldn’t find when scanning through his medals on his trophy wall. Since he was not yet a U.S. citizen, Peter was ineligible to compete for either the U.S. or Hungary. However, he would compete at another major international competition, the Maccabian Games in Tel Aviv, Israel. He won the gold in the 200-meter breaststroke, setting a record that stood for 12 years. It wasn’t until January 11, 1963, that Peter was sworn in, along with his broth Andre and his parents, as a U. S. citizen. In 1964 Fogarassy graduated from NC State with an education degree too.
After marrying Joan Shapiro in 1969, he worked in sales for Levi Strauss & Co. from 1966 to 1999. He had two daughters Lisa and Mara and six grandchildren; Lexi, Madison, Ben, Owen, Drew, and Nate. At age 65, Peter didn’t stop swimming. He gave lessons at the North Raleigh YMCA and even competed in North Carolina and U.S. Master’s competitions. After battling pancreatic cancer for a couple of years, Peter died in 2010.
Today you can find his banner being hung in the halls of the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame in the North Carolina History Museum. Walking down the halls in the aquatic center at NC State you can find his name many times on record boards or All-American lists. His story inspires me to always work my hardest and that handwork does pay off. I know he would be very proud of me and my brother’s athletic accomplishments in and outside of the pool.
