Béla of Las Torres

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Béla of Las Torres swim
Bela Las Torres.jpg

Personal information
Surname: Béla of Las Torres
Nation: Hungary
Swimming style (s) : Freestyle
Society: Budapesti Egyetemi Atlétikai Club (BEAC)
Magyar Atlétikai Club (MAC) (from 1908)
Birthday: April 20, 1890
Place of birth: Budapest
Date of death: October 12, 1915
Place of death: Meljine, Castelnuovo
Medal table
Medals

Béla (von) Las-Torres , also Béla Medina de Las Torres , (born April 20, 1890 in Budapest , † October 12, 1915 in Meljine, Castelnuovo ) was a Hungarian swimmer .

Béla von Las-Torres came from a Spanish aristocratic family who - probably as a result of the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714) - had gone to the Austrian court. His father Julius Las Torres owned a porcelain shop in Budapest, which the son ran.

Altogether von Las-Torres won 18 Hungarian championship titles in swimming. In 1909 he won the salt water championship in Abbazia against the 1906 Olympic champion, Otto Scheff . In 1910 he also took part in German swimming championships and won the 1500 meter freestyle title.

Von Las-Torres started freestyle swimming for Hungary at two Olympic Games: 1908 in London and 1912 in Stockholm. In 1908 he won the silver medal together with the Hungarian relay team over 4 × 200 meters. When he started in Stockholm four years later, he was the current world record holder in the 400 meter freestyle with 5: 28.4 minutes. This record was beaten by two swimmers in the games, and Las-Torres finished fifth.

Béla von Las-Torres served in the First World War with the Austro-Hungarian aviation troops , to which he had been drafted as a reserve lieutenant, and was awarded the Signum Laudis . He died of appendicitis on October 12, 1915 in the fortress hospital in Meljina, a district of Castelnuovo in Dalmatia , and was buried in the local military cemetery.

In Budapest XXIII. District is a street named after him Las-Torres Béla Utca . On December 12, 1982 he was honored by the Hungarian Swimming Federation with the title Eternal Swimming Master of Hungary .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b News about the wounded and injured. ANNO. Austrian historical newspapers and magazines, January 4, 1916, p. 4 , accessed December 1, 2013 . The entry reads Las-Tores, Adalbert .
  2. ↑ a b c Allgemeine Sport-Zeitung. ANNO. Austrian historical newspapers and magazines, October 17, 1915, p. 653 , accessed on November 30, 2013 .
  3. ↑ a b Las-Torres Béla. Magyar Vagyok, April 20, 2011, accessed November 30, 2013 (Hungarian).
  4. ^ Swimming - German Championships (men's part 1). sport-komplett.de, accessed on November 29, 2013 .
personal data
SURNAME Las-Torres, Béla of
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Las Torres, Béla Medina de
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Hungarian swimmer
DATE OF BIRTH April 20, 1890
PLACE OF BIRTH Budapest
DATE OF DEATH October 12, 1915
Place of death Meljine, Castelnuovo