![]() |
![]() |
Considered by many to be the best water polo player of the past decade, Denes Varga announced his retirement from the highest level of competition following the Paris Olympic Games.
The 37-year-old Olympic Champion from Beijing 2008 and two-time World Champion in 2013 and 2023 ends his career with Ferencvaros, the team he has represented for the past seven seasons.
Throughout his career, Varga has achieved numerous national championships with his clubs and country. He has won the Hungarian championship 12 times with three different clubs Vasas SC, FTC, and Szolnok—the latter he lead to winning the Champions League in 2017. After moving to Ferencvaros, he continued his success, winning 2 Champions League titles, including the most recent one this past weekend in Malta.
An Olympic champion from Beijing, the brother of Daniel began his water polo career in Ujpest. By the age of 17 in 2004, he was already a member of the adult national team. The following year, he moved to Vasas, where his career truly took off. In 2006, he earned a silver medal at the European Championship and won the Hungarian Super Cup in November.
The next year, he secured his first Hungarian championship and a silver medal at the World Championship. He also excelled in the Junior World Cup, winning gold and being named the best player. By 2008, Varga and Vasas finished third in the Euroleague, while the national team won bronze at the European Championship and gold at the Olympics.
In the subsequent years, successes alternated with challenges. He finished fifth at the World Championship, fourth at the European Championship, and fourth again after the 2010 World Championship. In the 2010-2011 season, he joined the Croatian club VK Primorje Rijeka.
In 2012, Varga achieved third place at the European Championships and fifth at the Olympics, in addition to a runner-up finish in the Champions League with Primorje. The year 2013 marked a significant improvement for Dumi, with Varga becoming a World and European Champion.
In the 2014 season, Varga earned a silver medal at the European Championship in Szolnok and was named the tournament's best player. His outstanding performances culminated in Szolnok lifting the Champions League in 2017.
However, Varga faced a setback during national team preparations when he sustained a knee injury in June 2020, which eventually required surgery. Despite this, he returned to form, winning the European title in 2020 and claiming an Olympic bronze in the postponed Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
In the latter years of his career, he became a World Champion for the second time in Fukuoka 2023 (a decade on from his first). Finally, the last season of Varga's club water polo career included a treble with Ferencvaros—winning the Hungarian Championship, Cup, and the Champions League.