István Hernek

István Hernek competed at the 1954 World Championships, winning a silver medal in the C1-K and a bronze in the C1-10K. After the 1956 Olympics he defected to the United States, as did many Hungarian Olympians in response to the Soviet repression of the Hungarian October Revolution. In the United States he coached canoeists at a kayak club in Ohio and spent 32 years as a hydraulic engineer. He married Mary Ann DuChai, a 1960 US Olympian, and together they’ve run a riding resort on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula for over 50 years. Well into his 70s, Hernek also served on the ski patrol at HoliMount Ski Area near his home in upstate New York.