In 2004, Boldizsar Kiss reached the pinnacle of swimming competition: the Summer Olympic Games in Athens, where he placed 38th in the 400-meter freestyle. Now, two and a half years later, the freshman is serving his punishment – handed down from the NCAA – at Syracuse, where he is nearing the end of a season of ineligibility.

Kiss, who hails from Budapest, Hungary, opted to swim for his country instead of going immediately to college from high school. Because of this, he became ineligible to compete in his first year of college swimming under NCAA Bylaw 14.2.3.2.

The Syracuse swimming team will race against Colgate in an un-scored invitational meet at Webster Pool on Saturday at noon.

Kiss will get his first chance to swim in a meet this season on Saturday. The meet will serve as an opportunity for other swimmers to achieve qualifying times for the Big East Championship, which begins on Wednesday.

In order to be eligible for Saturday’s meet, Kiss must compete as an unattached athlete. Since NCAA rules prevent him from swimming for SU, head coach Lou Walker has invited him to swim at the meet as an individual not affiliated with a team.

The NCAA rule applies to swimmers and tennis players, and states that upon high school graduation, students have one year to enroll in college or they will forfeit a year of eligibility. For each subsequent year in which they do not enroll, they lose an additional year of eligibility.

Despite his success on the international level, Kiss, now 21, said his only full scholarship offer came from SU. Head coach Lou Walker decided that despite his eligibility issues, he was still a good investment.

‘This scenario is that you’ve got an Olympian,’ Walker said. ‘Is it worth that investment to have a year in training and not competing for a year and then have an Olympian competing for you the next year? My assessment is yes. The answer to that is yes.’

That decision by Walker allowed Kiss to come to Syracuse this fall and begin serving his year of ineligibility. Kiss said that since he knew his eligibility issues before he came, he was prepared for a year without competition.

‘They told me before I came here, so it wasn’t a surprise for me,’ Kiss said. ‘I expected this.’

Saturday’s meet is Kiss’ only opportunity to compete this year. While he cannot travel with the team, he is allowed to watch the home meets with his teammates on the pool deck.

‘When I just sat on the bench, I wished I could swim,’ Kiss said.

The situation Kiss faces is familiar among college swimming programs. Walker cites similar cases at Pittsburgh and West Virginia this year.

‘They’re everywhere,’ Walker said, adding that they often go unnoticed since they do not compete.

While it is difficult to track progress without competitions, Kiss’ accomplishments on the international level bode well for his career at SU. At the 2006 European Championships, held less than a month before Kiss came to SU, he turned in a 200-meter freestyle time of 1:52.82. When that time is converted to yards, it becomes faster than any 200-yard freestyle time by Syracuse this year by nearly five seconds. It would also qualify him for the NCAA Championships. In the last four years, Luk Boral is the only SU male swimmer to accomplish that feat.

Kiss will remain in Syracuse during the summer to train with Walker and said he is looking.

‘We feel fortunate that he’s here,’ Walker said. ‘We’re excited about giving him a chance to swim unattached this weekend, and we’re looking forward to having him with us next year.’

Published on February 7, 2007 at 12:00 pm