Into a Jewish family of modest means. A multi-sport talent from an early age.
1891
Tragedy turns him to the water
At 13, after his father drowned in the Danube, he vowed to become a strong swimmer, and took the name Hajós, Hungarian for “sailor.”
1896
First Olympic swimming champion
At 18, in the freezing, 4-metre swells of the Bay of Zea near Athens, he won both the 100m (1:22.2) and 1,200m (18:22.1) freestyle. He was the first modern Olympic swimming champion, and Hungary’s first Olympic champion.
1899
Becomes an architect
He graduated in architecture from the Budapest Technical University, later working under Ödön Lechner and opening his own practice specializing in sport facilities.
1924
A medal in art, too
At the Paris Olympic art competitions he won silver for a stadium design, making him one of only two people ever to medal in both sport and art at the Olympics.
1930
He built what lasts
His National Swimming Stadium opened on Margaret Island in the Danube. Renamed the Alfréd Hajós National Swimming Stadium in his honor in 1975, it still hosts championships today.
Alfréd Hajós (1878–1955)
About
The first modern Olympic swimming champion, who became an award-winning architect. He swam, and he built.
At the 1896 Athens Games he won the 100m and 1,200m freestyle in the open sea, the first swimmer ever crowned Olympic champion. He was 18. He then trained as an architect under Ödön Lechner, and in 1924 took Olympic silver in the art competitions for a stadium design, one of only two people ever to medal in both sport and art.
That dual legacy, champion in the water and craftsman on land, is exactly what we named this company after.
1896
First Olympic champion
2×
Golds in Athens
Sport + Art
Olympic medals in both
“
My will to live completely overcame my desire to win.
Alfréd Hajós, after surviving the freezing Bay of Zea to win the first Olympic swimming championship, 1896
Why his name?
Born Arnold Guttmann, he took the name Hajós, Hungarian for “sailor”, after his father drowned in the Danube and he vowed to master the water. He was one of only two people ever to win Olympic medals in both sport and art.
He didn’t just compete in the water; he built the places where the sport lives. His National Swimming Stadium still stands on Margaret Island in Budapest, named in his honor. Champion and craftsman in one person.
That’s the standard we hold ourselves to: honor the race, and build the thing that lasts. We carry the name with respect, and a little awe.
Why his story matters to us
Hajós learned to swim because his father drowned. More than a century later, drowning is still one of the leading preventable causes of death for children, and swimming remains one of the least accessible sports, largely closed to Latino, Black, and other communities of color. As a Latina founder, that stays with me. If Hajós ever grows into something that can give back, making swimming more accessible is where we’d want to start.
Historical details drawn from public records including the International Swimming Hall of Fame, Olympics.com, and Britannica. Hajós is an independent company and is not affiliated with the Hajós family or estate; we use the name as a tribute.
