Stefan Cięszki (English)
Z Historia Wisły
Stefan Cieszyszki (born April 22nd, 1932, died December 26th, 2018 in Kraków) - swimmer, Olympian. Husband of Aniela Kubik, also a Wisła athlete.
Taking the Tram to the Olympics
"I often wonder what was the most important event related to my sports career? It always comes to me that it was participating in the opening ceremony of the Helsinki Olympic Games. I don't remember exactly how many hours it lasted. Maybe around eight, perhaps even ten. But today, after all these years, I can definitely say it was worth the wait. It's an unforgettable experience when you enter the Olympic Stadium, marching. It's something wonderful," Stefan Cięszki recalls the events that took place on July 19, 1952.
Before Stefan Cięszki reached Olympic level, he had to pass through several stages of swimming.
He started relatively late, at the age of fourteen, by learning to swim in courses conducted by the YMCA at the indoor pool on Krowoderska Street in 1946. He enjoyed swimming so much that, at the encouragement of one of his friends, he joined the swimming section of TS Wisła in the same year. There, he was taken under the wing of coach Józef Gryglewski. As he puts it, "It just continued from there. We trained at the YMCA and at the Cracovia pool because there were no others in the city. The first competitions started. And then, the first successes came. After a year of training, during the Polish Championships in Bielsko-Biała, I became the three-time Polish Junior Champion in the 100, 200, and 400 meters freestyle. As a reward, I was called up to the national team and attended training camps in Sieraków and Żerków. I had the chance to meet the old stars as I used to call them back then. It was a big honor."
As an eighteen-year-old in 1950, he achieved his first major success in the senior category. During the Summer Polish Championships held in Krakow, he won the silver medal in the 100m freestyle, and he also made it to the final in the 200m freestyle. It was close to a gold medal in the 4x100m medley relay with the Wisła relay team.
Stefan Cięszki recalls the prestigious race years later: "Not many people could swim the butterfly well at that time. Also, it's important to remember that it wasn't the butterfly as we know it today. It was swum a bit differently. The leg movements were similar to the 'frog' style, and only the arms were used as in the butterfly. The butterfly style that we swim now was first introduced in Poland a while later by the famous Hungarian swimmer Tumpek. But getting back to our relay; because I was the best at swimming the butterfly in our quartet, it was decided that, despite the fact that freestyle was my best stroke, I would swim the butterfly for the last leg, and Staszek Krokoszyński would finish the relay with freestyle. Staszek was strong on middle distances and a bit weaker on the short ones. However, we believed that our strategy would work. It almost did. Staszek was leading just ten meters before the finish line. However, he got tired and let Procel pass him. At first, we were a bit angry with Staszek, but then we got over it. Well, not everyone, but certainly me."
Stefan Cięszki won two silver medals in 1950, but his aspirations were higher. He wanted to be the best in the country. He continued to train for inter-club competitions like the City Cup and played water polo for Wisła (he was even called up to the national team's camp in Karl Marx Stadt in 1950). Then, in March 1951, the breakthrough came. The Winter Polish Championships were held in Bielany, Warsaw. As he says, "I finally achieved my goal. I defeated Procel in the 100m freestyle and became the best sprinter in the country. And then came the World University Championships in Berlin. Swimmers from all over the world participated, but the overall level was quite low. There were, of course, a few exceptions. The socialist bloc countries were very strong, especially the Hungarians, who simply fielded their top team. In the 100m freestyle, I achieved considerable success. I made it to the final and finished fifth. Tołkaczewski was seventh. Then there was the 3x100m medley relay. We knew the Hungarians were in a league of their own, but we thought we could compete with the others. I remember our relay team composition. Boniecki was on the first leg, Dobrowolski on the second, and I anchored the relay. We succeeded! We finished second, and what particularly pleased us was that we beat the East Germans."
After the championships in Berlin, preparations for the Helsinki Olympics began. Initially, the swimming team had around twenty people. Union officials announced that those who met the set minimum standards would go to the Olympics. Stefan Cięszki was determined to make it to the Olympic team. He dedicated everything to the preparation. He passed each test one by one until he ended up at the last training camp in Tuszyn Las near Łódź. The conditions there were terrible, especially the low water temperature, which was only about 16 degrees Celsius. After a few days, Coach Królik decided that it was pointless to train under such circumstances.
"A decision was made that we would train in Łódź. So, we shifted. We trained in the cold water pool, and to get into the pool, we had to travel to Łódź first. Since we were stationed in Tuszyn Las, we had to travel to Łódź by tram every day, about 20 kilometers. Maybe it wouldn't have been such a big deal if not for the fact that the pool was only 25 meters long. Anyone who swam professionally knows that swimming in a short pool is completely different from a long one. And the Olympics are held in a long pool," Stefan Cięszki explained.
The final tests went well, and ultimately, eight swimmers, six men and two women, were chosen for the Olympics. Stefan Cięszki was among them.
In early July 1952, the team moved to Warsaw. The swimming authorities decided to continue with the Lodz training model. Our representatives were accommodated in the AWF buildings in Bielany and were supposed to train at the Legia swimming pool. So, to get to practice, they had to go through the entire city of Warsaw. How? Tram, of course. It was only in the last three days of the training camp that they were given money for taxi rides.
And finally, the day came. The day when the final roster for the Olympics was to be announced.
Stefan Cięszki: "President Gruda came to us and said, 'Swimmers won't go to the Olympics. I mean, they'll go, but in a reduced lineup. So Milnikiel, Gremlowski, and Petrusewicz will go. The rest won't.' 'Why?' Then Petrusewicz stood up and said, 'If they're not going, please scratch me too.' Gruda was furious. He said, 'What do you have to say about it? It will be as I said. Goodbye.' After he left, I went to Marek and told him, 'Don't be a sucker. Go. You might not have another chance like this.' An hour later, Gruda came back and said, 'You're all going.' I felt a great relief. Petrusewicz really impressed me a lot."
Then there was the swearing-in ceremony and the departure. Our Olympians went to the Eastern Railway Station, from where they traveled to Leningrad. There, they were "packed" into tightly closed train cars and, over the next three days, in forty-degree heat, they made their way to the capital of Finland. "When we arrived at the destination, a different world appeared before our eyes. I had never been to the West before, so it was something extraordinary for me. The whole world changed. I remember when we saw the pool, we didn't really know how to get into it," Stefan Cięszki tells about his first hours in Helsinki. And he continues, "Despite the fact that the countries of the people's democracies had a designated zone (the Olympic Village Otaniemi), we could move relatively freely. There was a lot of goodwill from the Finns, who often stopped and gave us rides. Because we had to go about twenty kilometers to get to the pool." Stefan Cięszki didn't bring back just positive impressions from Helsinki. He ultimately didn't participate in the Olympics. Our officials failed to complete the formalities for his entry into the 100m freestyle race in time, and he didn't find a place in the 4x200m relay team. As he says, "Although there was some regret, it won't change the fact that I was an Olympian. And the fact that I didn't compete, well, that's how it goes."
He continued competing after the Olympics. He won a few more medals for Wisła, mainly in the Gwardia Association Championships. On the sidelines of these achievements, he emphasizes that for most of the athletes of that time, Biała Gwiazda (White Star) was always Wisła. And that it was named Gwardia for a while? It doesn't matter. "We were Wisła players. We always felt like Wisła," says Stefan.
He also owes his life choices to Wisła. At the pool in 1950, he met his future wife, a representative and record holder of Poland, Nela Kubik. Nela broke the national record at the unusual distance of 500m in breaststroke and, at that time, specialized in a style called "gleich." It was a backstroke style, with movements made like a frog.
The Cięszki couple fondly remembers the days of their youth. Propaganda trips to the provinces were frequent. As Nela says, "We went to different towns, both small and large. For those relatively close by, we went by truck with a tarpaulin. For more distant ones, like Łomża or Krotoszyn, we took the train. The locals were greatly impressed because swimmers from Krakow came to visit. There was a lot of competing, and we received various prizes. I still have the camera I won – I don't remember where now. My husband and I collected two suitcases full of medals. We'll have to do something with them someday."
Stefan Cięszki ended his swimming career about two years after the Helsinki Olympics. He became a coach at Wisła, while also playing water polo in the team. He played his last matches in 1960. Two years later, he was convinced to make a cameo appearance for the opening of the TS Wisła indoor swimming pool. His final race ended with success – he won the 50m freestyle event.
In 1974, Stefan Cięszki graduated from the AWF in Krakow. He moved on to work in the Krakow Sports Federation, and in 1979, he became the Deputy Director for Sports at the School of Sports Excellence on Grochowska Street. He pursued his lifelong passion there, contributing to the training of swimmers like Agnieszka Czopek, Robert Kominiak, Konrad Gałka, and many others. Stefan Cięszki is still in excellent physical condition and doesn't rule out standing on the starting block again someday. After all, the Wisła masters section is doing very well. Taking his age into account, he sees one problem with returning to competitions. "Getting into the water may not be a problem. The important thing is to find someone to help me get out," he concludes with his inherent sense of humor.
