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By Elizabeth Faletti, BASOC Volunteer Writer and Editor
"God respects us when we work and He loves us when we play." These words are dear to Alex Tarics, Hungary's Oldest Olympic Champion (88 years old) and our focus for BASOC's Olympic Icon of the month. They are words by which he has lived his life both personally and professionally. Alex's Olympic story takes us back to pre-World War II Germany and the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games where America's Jesse Owen's made history in what some historians call "Hitler's Games." As a young man of 23, Alex competed for his home country of Hungary in water polo, bringing home a team gold medal.
After a decade of unrest and war, Alex came to America where he eventually become a U.S. citizen, enjoyed a successful engineering career, and raised a family. The balance Alex has found between work and play lends to his vibrancy and continuing contributions to his profession and community. Although Alex officially retired in 1980, he is still active in engineering research, recently receiving two major grants from the National Science Foundation. He currently resides in Belvedere with his wife Elizabeth (who is a Princess of Transylvania) and is an active member of the Northern California Olympians. Alex spoke with me regarding his life as an Olympian in a recent interview.
How did you become a Hungarian Olympian in water polo?
I began playing water polo in high school at about the age of 14. We had high school competitions among the high schools. As the years went by, we got stronger and better. We had clubs like the Olympic Club here and each club had a team. There were competitions for what we called the Hungarian Championships. From those teams they selected maybe 20 players, which was a special group who received special training. They picked 11 players from this group of 20 to go to the Games. Each nation had the right to name 11 players to their team.
What is your most memorable Olympic experience?
When the Hungarian team played against the European country of Malta. One of the Maltese players fainted during the game. He just went down. Then we noticed that there was one less player than there should be and we looked at the bottom of the pool. There was this man who evidently had fainted and was ready to drown and die. So we picked him up and put him on the shore. It was not permitted by the rules to replace a person with another player so the Hungarian captain told one of us Hungarian players to leave the water so that the two teams would be equal. The interesting part of it was that the Hungarian team was so much better than the Maltese team. It was already assured that we were going to win the game but the gesture we made of voluntarily having one of our players leave the water created such an ovation - an ovation that was bigger than when we won the Olympic gold medal! It was a gesture of sportsmanship that the audience really appreciated.
A lot of times team would take advantage of a team being down by one player instead of doing something like that. That is why is was such a noble thing to do and that's how it should be in the Olympic Games.
When did you come to the United States?
I came to the United States in 1948, receiving a professorship which qualified me for a visa. I began my teaching career in Fort Wayne, Indiana having completed a doctorate in engineering. I came to the Bay Area in 1950 and started working for an architectural engineering firm in San Francisco where I became a partner, then chief executive officer, and eventually president and owner of the company. The name of the company was Reid and Tarics Associates, Architectural Engineers. Although we did some work in San Francisco, such as five of the BART stations under Market Street and major building of the University of California Medical Center, the bulk of our work was all over California and the United States.
When did you last visit Hungary?
I went back last year and Hungarian TV did a 20-minute story on me that was shown in Slovakia, Romania, Yugoslavia, and Czechoslovakia. There are pockets of Hungarians living in those countries. It has also been shown several times on Hungarian TV.
How did you get involved with BASOC?
I was on the Board of Directors of the Northern California Olympians and I got to know Anne (Cribbs, BASOC CEO) at that time. I was very excited when I heard about them wanting to bring the Olympic Games to San Francisco because I've lived in San Francisco for 50 years, more than half of my life. My children were born here and I have five grandchildren. I am an American, an American of Hungarian origin, having received my citizenship in 1952.
Why do you think San Francisco should host the 2012 Games?
We have the facilities here, perfect weather, and a good transportation system. We have the charm of California and everybody wants to come to San Francisco. It would bring in a lot of people and that would be good for the economy. Everybody would benefit. We would all feel such pride being hosts of an Olympic Games.
Which event would you like to attend at the Olympics?
Water polo is number one as far as the Olympics goes but I would also like to see tennis.
Thank you, Alex, for your continued support of BASOC and your inspiring life story!
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