Janos "Jim" Nemeth became center forward of the Hungarian National Water Polo Team in 1929 and quickly established himself as the top goal scorer of all time.  For the next 10 years (1929-1939), Hungary lost only one of 110 matches with Janos Nemeth as center forward.  this string included two Olympic championships (1932, 1936), a string of Olympic victories stopped by World War II.

In 1939, the Hungarians defeated the European All-Star team 9 to 2 with Nemeth scoring 8 goals.  It is no wonder that the Hungarians were overwhelming favorites to win the Olympics again in 1940, Olympics which were moved from Tokyo to Helsinki and finally cancelled.

In 1948 Nemeth led Hungary to a second place Olympic finish and for this he was held in official national disgrace until he defected to Great Britain and then to Spain following the 1955 Hungarian Revolution.  He has been Spain's water polo coach since 1956 and is now a Spanish citizen.  Thirty years after his heyday as a player, his daughter swam for Spain in the 1968 Mexico City Olympics.

Hungarians and the world continue to recognize Jim Nemeth as water polo's all-time greatest goal scorer.  For this he has been selected as Honor Water Polo Player by the International Swimming Hall of Fame.