Serbia & Montenegro Prepares for Athens

Mladen Stegic (left) and Nikola Stojic, rowing in Kotor
© Rowing Federation of Serbia and Montenegro

The former Yugoslavia cut its rowing teeth as a newly titled nation by successfully hosting last year’s World Under 23 Rowing Regatta in capital city Belgrade. Serbia and Montenegro then went on to secure the first ever gold medal by winning the men’s coxed pair at the Junior World Championships in 2003. They are now looking towards Athens with hopes and expectations firmly pinned on the men’s pair.

Under the former Yugoslavia the pair of Nikola Stojic and Djordje Visacki were the nation’s rowing flag bearers. They had achieved more success in rowing than any other athlete by breaking into the international scene with a bronze medal at the 1998 World Championships.

But the road for the pair has not been smooth. Visacki suffered a back injury in 1998 that set him back for a season but along with Stojic, the pair came back to finish a proud fifth place at the 2000 Olympics reaffirming their place in Yugoslavia’s rowing history. In the following year they added silver to their medal collection by finishing behind Great Britain’s Matthew Pinsent and James Cracknell at the 2001 World Championships.

Injury again however impacted on Visacki. In 2003 he was forced out of the pair one month before last year’s World Championships. Mladen Stegic stepped into Visacki’s shoes and, along with Stojic they finished 7th at the 2003 World Championships thus securing a position for the boat in Athens.

Despite being out of the pair, Visacki speaks highly of his teammates and is proud of Stegic and Stojic’s results that now include a silver medal behind Italy’s top pair at the Memorial Paolo D’Aloia Regatta last week.

The pair is part of a small national team made up of 11 athletes under head coach Nebojsa Ilic. They currently train full-time with two sessions each day. From January until March the team spent 55 ?working days? in Kotor on the banks of the Adriatic Sea going through a selection process that whittled the squad down to it’s current 11 members. Ilic hopes to qualify two more boats for the Olympics ? a men’s four and lightweight men’s four ? to add to the already qualified pair.

Since Yugoslavia became Serbia & Montenegro, rowing has felt the benefit of government support. National team athletes are able to train full-time as they receive national-level funding. There is also financial support for athletes from the capital city of Belgrade who have qualified for the Olympic Games.

Rowing holds a strong position from the dedication of those who genuinely love the sport. Rowers who are good enough can earn rowing scholarships to study at foreign universities. The United States is the most common destination: Stojic, Visacki and Stegic have all been educated at leading Universities in the US.