Benedek Baksa: Ink, identity and the hunt for Hungarian gold

DUISBURG – To watch Hungary’s men’s water polo captain Benedek Baksa in action is to see more than an athlete in motion. His tattoos speak quietly of a deeper story: of home, of an Olympic champion who shaped him, of history that flows through every shot.

“Every tattoo you see is like my history on my body – personal and Hungarian history,” Baksa (picture above) told FISU Games News Service (FGNS) ahead of his team’s quarter-final tie on Wednesday against Chile at the Rhine-Ruhr 2025 FISU World University Games.

“Mostly, I’m not that big of a creative person but these tattoos are a way of me expressing my story and explaining it through my body.”

He begins with his biceps. “This tattoo here is the Margaret Island in Budapest, which is where I am from, and this is the Water Tower, a famous landmark on the island, at the end of it,” Baksa said.

“And the eight dots on the circle (attached to the Island) are because of my previous coach, Olympic legend Benedek Tibor, who passed away five years ago. He made a big impact on my life, so this one is in his honour.”

Castle warrior

The 25-year-old’s forearm carries another chapter, related to the Siege of Eger. “I got this tattoo, with castles in it, because I played four years in Eger, Hungary, and those four years that I stayed there were really big four years in my career,” Baksa.

“And the other reason is my father had read a history book in our Hungarian history about the Turkish army fighting in Eger, and in it there was a Benedek Baksa, a castle warrior.

“My father read that book when he was 18, and right at the time he decided that if he had a son, he would name him Benedek. So, I am named after that warrior.”

The design is still evolving. “The person in this tattoo is me walking on the steps alone,” Baksa said. “For now it’s only me but maybe in the future it could be my fiancée or children.”

A little twist of the arm and another story unravels. “This tattoo at the back of my forearm, which has these arrows, is for my younger sister,” Baksa said. “The (age) gap between us is four years, four months, and four days.

“This was the first tattoo I got and she was the most important person in my life until I met my fiancée.

“Hopefully, my sister won’t be mad that I’m saying this – that the order of preference has changed a little bit but she’s really close to me and I wanted the first tattoo to be about her.”

Spots and sports

These marks are more than ink: they are Baksa’s way of carrying Hungary into the water with him and adding fuel to his pursuit of excellence. At the last FISU Games in Chengdu 2021, Hungary pushed all the way to the final before falling short against Italy. That memory of settling for silver lingers.

“The loss in the final was hard to get through,” Baksa said. “It was an amazing opportunity for us to be in China.

“It’s really far away from Europe, so it was a really big thing for us to go there. But then losing that gold-medal match was like finishing our tournament with a bit of a sour taste in your mouth, after giving it everything and then it went down.

“It was hard to get over, but now it gives us a lot of motivation to be better. Hopefully, it will change this time.”

A new story

That ambition pulses through the group now competing at the Rhine‑Ruhr 2025 Games. “Representing Hungary and the Hungarian University Sports Federation is a big thing for me, for our team,” he said.

“The World University Games – it’s like a small Olympics. It’s the closest competition to feeling like you are at an Olympics. It’s a long competition. I’m hungry to win this time.”

Yet, while he carries Hungary’s hopes in the present, his mindset is grounded in his past. “I don’t really think I’m a Gen Z person,” he said. “In some ways, I’m a little old-school, a bit behind because of my family and how they raised me.”

Still, a modern quirk slips through. “I use AI to do everything,” he said, smiling. “Speaking with it, getting examples of where I should go now in Germany, what could be the good spots – everything.”

A leader in the water, a storyteller through ink and memory. Baksa now chases one more chapter – a golden one.

Water polo continues in Duisburg on Wednesday. Get your tickets here.

FGNS ag/cc/mb

Photo: © Annesha Ghosh / Rhine-Ruhr 2025