He began to swim competitively in 1947, joining the pool of Hungarian swimmers for the Olympics and the Police Sports Platoon. When the latter was disbanded at the end of 1953, he was not hired by the police or allowed to pursue legal studies. He became a materials buyer and then headed an independent scarf-dying establishment. At the beginning of the 1950s, he had joined the so-called Sujánszky group. He was arrested early in 1956 for participation in armed organization and sentenced to six-and-a-half years' imprisonment, but freed on September 31 that year. He lived in the United States from 1956 to 1996.