Balázs Makány

Who is Balázs Makány?

Balázs Makány is a Hungarian swimmer, who specialized in sprint and relay freestyle events. Makany is a member of Kőbánya Swimming Club, and is coached and trained by Gyorgy Turi. He is also a varsity swimmer for the Texas A&M Aggies, and a graduate of computer science at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas.

Makany made his official debut, as a 17-year-old, at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, where he competed in the men's 4×200 m freestyle relay, along with his teammates Balázs Gercsák, Tamás Szűcs, and four-time Olympian Tamás Kerékjártó. Swimming the third leg, Gercsak recorded a split of 1:52.75, and the Hungarian team went on to finish heat two in last place, for a total time of 7:31.78.

At the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, Makany qualified as an individual swimmer for the men's 100 m freestyle by clearing a FINA B-standard entry time of 49.79 from the national championships in Budapest. He challenged seven other swimmers on the fifth heat, including Czech Republic's Martin Verner and Shaune Fraser of the Cayman Islands. Makany raced to a second-place tie with Lithuania's Paulius Viktoravičius, posting a personal best of 49.27 seconds. Makany, however, failed to advance into the semifinals, as he placed twenty-eighth overall in the preliminary heats.