Pavol Steiner, also Pavel Steiner and Paul Steiner (29 March 1908 in

Bratislava Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, it is estimated to be more than 660,000 — approxim ...

– 4 June 1969 in

Martin Martin may refer to: Places * Martin City (disambiguation) * Martin County (disambiguation) * Martin Township (disambiguation) Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Austral ...

Žilina Žilina (; hu, Zsolna, ; german: Sillein, or ; pl, Żylina , names in other languages) is a city in north-western Slovakia, around from the capital Bratislava, close to both the Czech and Polish borders. It is the fourth largest city of Sl ...

) was a

Czechoslovak Czechoslovak may refer to: *A demonym or adjective pertaining to Czechoslovakia (1918–93) **First Czechoslovak Republic (1918–38) **Second Czechoslovak Republic (1938–39) **Third Czechoslovak Republic (1948–60) **Fourth Czechoslovak Repub ...

Olympic

water polo Water polo is a competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the ball into the opposing team's goal. The team with the ...

player and swimmer. He was also a

cardiology Cardiology () is a branch of medicine that deals with disorders of the heart and the cardiovascular system. The field includes medical diagnosis and treatment of congenital heart defects, coronary artery disease, heart failure, valvular heart d ...

surgeon In modern medicine, a surgeon is a medical professional who performs surgery. Although there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon usually is also a licensed physician or received the same medical training as ...

. Steiner competed in the

1928 Summer Olympics The 1928 Summer Olympics ( nl, Olympische Zomerspelen 1928), officially known as the Games of the IX Olympiad ( nl, Spelen van de IXe Olympiade) and commonly known as Amsterdam 1928, was an international multi-sport event that was celebrated from ...

in water polo, won a

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receive ...

at the

1931 European Aquatics Championships The 1931 LEN European Aquatics Championships were held from 23 to 30 August in Paris, France. Medal table Medal summary Diving ;Men's events ;Women's events Swimming ;Men's events ;Women's events Legend: WR – World record Water polo ...

in swimming, and won five swimming gold medals and one water polo gold medal combined at the 1932 Maccabiah Games and 1935 Maccabiah Games in

Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine ( ar, فلسطين الانتدابية '; he, פָּלֶשְׂתִּינָה (א״י) ', where "E.Y." indicates ''’Eretz Yiśrā’ēl'', the Land of Israel) was a geopolitical entity established between 1920 and 1948 ...

Water polo and swimming career

Steiner was

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

, and was a member of Jewish sport clubs in

interwar Czechoslovakia In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days), the end of the First World War to the beginning of the Second World War. The interwar period was relativel ...

. He competed at 19 years of age with the Czechoslovakia men's national water polo team in the 1927

European Water Polo Championship The European Water Polo Championship is a sport competition for national water polo teams, currently held biannually and organized by the Ligue Européenne de Natation (LEN), the governing European aquatics federation. There are both men's and wom ...

Bologna, Italy Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...

, in which they came in 7th. Steiner competed in the

in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, coming in 9th with the Czechoslovakia men's national water polo team in water polo at the Games. He also competed in swimming, and won a

at the

in Paris in the

100 m freestyle The 100 metre freestyle is often considered to be the highlight (Blue Ribbon event) of the sport of swimming, like 100 metres in the sport of Athletics. The first swimmer to break the one-minute barrier (long course) was Johnny Weissmuller, in 1 ...

with the Czechoslovakia men's national swimming team. Steiner competed in swimming at the 1932 Maccabiah Games in

, the first

Maccabiah Games The Maccabiah Games (a.k.a. the World Maccabiah Games; he, משחקי המכביה, or משחקי המכביה העולמית; sometimes referred to as the "Jewish Olympics"), first held in 1932, are an international Jewish and Israeli multi-sp ...

, and won three

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...

s. He won the 100m freestyle (breaking the record from Czechoslovakia), the 3x100m medley relay, and the 4x200m medley relay. He competed at the 1935 Maccabiah Games. There, Steiner won two gold medals in swimming, in the 100m freestyle and in the 4x200m freestyle relay. He also won a team gold medal in water polo, as Czechoslovakia came out ahead of Austria and Palestine.

Cardiology surgeon

Steiner was a

at Martin University Hospital in

, and performed there the first open cardiac surgery in Slovakia.

References

External links

"Pavol Steiner,"
sports-reference. 1908 births 1969 deaths Cardiac surgeons Competitors at the 1932 Maccabiah Games Competitors at the 1935 Maccabiah Games Czechoslovak Jews Czechoslovak male swimmers Czechoslovak male water polo players Jewish swimmers Jewish water polo players Maccabiah Games gold medalists Maccabiah Games competitors by country Maccabiah Games medalists in swimming Olympic water polo players of Czechoslovakia Water polo players at the 1928 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Bratislava {{Czechoslovakia-sport-bio-stub