Ádám Steinmetz Leaves Water Polo While Szeged Are in Trouble

Waterpolo.hu brings news about the career end for an Olympic champion and one of the biggest Hungarian players— Ádám Steinmetz.

The fight for 11th place between Vasas and Szentes swung the way of the former at the weekend with an 8-7 home win in Budapest but the headlines mostly talk about Ádám Steinmetz on his retirement. Elsewhere, UVSE defeated Szeged 11-5 in the first leg of their relegation contest.

Vasas Sport Club president László Markovits was among the administrator and coaches who paid tribute to Ádám Steinmetz, the Olympic champion who says he is retiring from active water polo to pursue other challenges.

“In the interests of this, I needed to come to this painful decision. I say painful because I have played water polo for 28 years, of which 24 were spent playing amongst the very best in the top tier. A long and very intense carrier is coming to an end. I have a lot to thank the club for. Independently of this, water polo will remain in my heart after this and I wouldn’t rule out returning as a sports administrator or coach,” Steinmetz told M4 Sport.

A Big Man and a Great Player

The 194cm-tall water polo player thinks he’s enjoyed even more sporting success than he has painful defeats in his career. “I have no regrets. I’ve achieved everything which was possible. I step into my life as a rounded individual, as a parliamentary representative, a member of numerous committees and leader of an electoral district so I don’t think there’s room for proper, regular training sessions, without which a person cannot exist in water polo.”

Furthermore, he talks about his success. “Obviously the Athens Olympic gold medal was the most memorable. At the club level, two come to mind; the Champions League win with Primorac Kotor where I played for three seasons and when we at Vasas won the league title for the first time in 18 years, in the process defeating Honvéd who possessed the spine of the national team and with us having lost the previous five finals. That was a pivotal moment and thus followed a period of Vasa’s domination which included five league titles in six years.”

Steinmetz’s Vasas defeated Szentes 8-7 in the first leg of their 11th place play-off on Saturday with Ádám scoring the winning goal!

In the UVSE vs Szeged match, the stakes were higher with both teams seeking to avoid relegation from the first division. UVSE, led by Zsolt Németh who will be replaced by former national team head coach Tibor Benedek in that role at the end of the season, fought hard for an imposing 6-1 half-time lead and eventually prevailed 11-5, Simon Vogel netting four goals for the lilac and whites.

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