On November 29 and 30, 2024, the 8^th UniSport H2O National Student Swimming and Water Polo Championship was held in Vukovar. The hosts of the event were the Croatian Academic Sports Federation and the Student Sports Association of the University of Applied Sciences “Lavoslav Ružička” in Vukovar.

Eight teams representing higher education institutions, with over 150 competitors, participated in the competition, which took place at the Vukovar swimming pool in Borovo Naselje.

The official opening was attended by the representative of the City of Vukovar, Ruža Veselčić-Šijaković, the envoy of the Mayor of Vukovar and a representative of the Department of Education, Sports, and Veterans, Igor Gavrić, the envoy of the Vukovar-Srijem County Prefect, and Haris Pavletić, the President of the Croatian Academic Sports Federation. The honor of officially opening this significant sports event was given to the Dean and President of the Croatian Conference of Universities of Applied Sciences. Assist. Prof. PhD Željko Sudarić, prof. of profess. Stud.

The water polo competition saw teams from the University of Osijek, the University of Zagreb, and the University of Rijeka competing for the title of the best student team. The final rankings were as follows: 1. Zagreb, 2. Rijeka, 3. Osijek.

In the swimming competition, male and female teams from eight higher education institutions participated: Technical University of Applied Sciences Zagreb, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, University of Dubrovnik, University of Rijeka, University of Split, University of Zadar, University of Zagreb, and the home team from the University of Applied Sciences “Lavoslav Ružička” in Vukovar.

The University VEVU team included Toni Crnković, Fran Lukić, Marko Radojčić, Dario Tumbas, Petra Zrno, and Dajana Duspara.

A remarkable and historic success was achieved by our student, Toni Crnković, who won two events: 50m backstroke and 100m backstroke, and secured third place in the 100m individual medley.

With a total of two golds and one bronze medal, Crnković was the most successful swimmer at the championship, and we sincerely congratulate him on this outstanding athletic achievement.

In the overall medal standings for both male and female competitions, the University of Zagreb claimed first place, while our team ranked fifth.

The home team from Vukovar was led as always by Dražen Pejić, mag. cin., senior lecturer, and Marko Kunac, mag. cin., lecturer.