The 100th anniversary of the Jadran Swimming Water Polo Club was marked last night in Herceg Novi with a championship match at Škver and a festive reception.
The exhibition match "Jadran's Legend" was played between the teams of Bijela Vila and Spjaž, named after the teams that played the first official water polo match back in 1926.
The audience had a unique opportunity to see Vladimir Gojković, Boris Zloković, Miloš Šćepanović, Denis Šefik, Slobodan Sora, Slavko Gak, Danijel Premuš, Ištvan Mesaroš, Siniša Matijašević, Milan Jančić again in the pool, as well as to witness the collision of generations - with them the younger generation of water polo players born in the Adriatic, led by Aleksandar Ivović and Aleksandar Radović, jumped into the pool for the first time.
The list of members of the professional staffs, judges and delegates included water polo legends of the Adriatic - the oldest Adriatic player Boris Čukvas, then Slobodan Pura Uljarević, Zoran Mustur, Stanko Zloković, Zoran Ivanovski, Petar Porobić, Boro Lazarević, Ljubisav Gavrilović, Veselin Krivokapić, Vasko Čerović, Milorad Murišić, Boris Obradović, Draško Vuković, Danilo Odalović...
The final score was 13:11 in favor of the Spjaža team, and the final winner in this match was - Jadran Swimming Water Polo Club.
The match was preceded by a parade of city music and majorettes by Škvero, and then a parade of yachtsmen of all generations, who formed a ring around the pool as a symbol of togetherness, the glorious history and bright future of the club.
The symbolism was retained at the ceremonial reception in the City Tavern, the place where the first Assembly of the club was held.
The reception was attended by the Minister of Sports and Youth, Vasilije Lalošević, President of the Montenegrin Olympic Committee, Dušan Simonović, President of the Municipality of Herceg Novi, Stevan Katić and President of the Herceg Novi Municipal Assembly, Ivan Otović, Vice-President of the Water Polo and Swimming Association of Montenegro, Nenad Vukanić, representatives of the Board of Directors and the Assembly of the club, former and current members of Jadran, representatives of friendly clubs and sponsors.
"Could we wish for a more beautiful celebration of the club than this one, where in our pool in the same game the actors were the champions of the first Adriatic title in 1958 and those who took part in winning this year's title", said club director Miloš Mračević.
Speaking about the connection between the city of Herceg Novi and the Adriatic, the President of the Municipality, Stevan Katic, said that they "last and grow together for a whole century", during which this club became the backbone of the development of sports in the city and the country.
"Jadran and the athletes who appeared on the thirty meters of Novi Škver wrote the history of water polo and swimming sports in our country and region, but also in Europe and the world. Precisely because of them, a small town on the Adriatic with about 30 thousand inhabitants is today recognized as an Olympic city and a kind of phenomenon. It would be redundant and it would take too long if I were to elaborate tonight on all the reasons why Jadran always deserved the support of his city. I will only say that, regardless of the challenges and difficult times that were not uncommon during the past decades, this club has always confirmed two important things with its hard work - that it is big and that it is new", said Katic.
He stated that the new local administration will remain committed to cooperation with Jadran, because this club shows in the best way why sport is an activity of public interest.
"On behalf of the city that is his home, we congratulate our celebrant for the first hundred, proudly celebrating the past, and looking to the future with a smile. Herceg Novi will always be Jadran's superior player, which gives it additional strength for new victories. Long live the Adriatic, long live Herceg Novi!", said Katic.
The president of PVK Jadran and the Water Polo-Swimming Association of Montenegro, Đuro Marić, stated that what arose a century ago on its own initiative, out of love for sport, is today "one of the most respectable sports institutions in Montenegro and the region, a strong sports argument in the wider frames".
"PVK Jadran, the meeting place of swimming record holders and trophy water polo generations, is more about the sport itself. More than a sports game. "Never deviating from sports principles and sports regulations, our club has become an identity symbol of Herceg Novi, a sociological phenomenon that sometimes outgrows the environment in which it exists," said Marić.
He referred to the historical context in which, on July 8, 1922, on Milašinovića beach in Topla, a sports club was founded from which today's PVK Jadran will develop, as well as the decades-long efforts for Adriatic swimmers to swim in a pool suitable for their sporting premises, ambitions and results. As he stated, shortly before the end of a century, Jadran settled in the place where it essentially belongs, on Škver.
"Škver is the soul of the city, and the Adriatic Sea is an inseparable part of that soul. Škver, with his openness, charm and bohemian determination, knew that the Adriatic was sometimes encouraged and encouraged by new objections, sidekicks, but they could not and cannot do one without the other. This very belonging to Škver is one of the explanations for the Jadran phenomenon, its establishment in Novi's identity," said Marić.
Emphasizing that Jadran and Škver have been gathering young people from Novi for decades, he added that the club has always been open to everyone, and from that honest and versatile understanding of the world arose a once strong anti-fascist idea, insisting on social and national equality, which is still an important characteristic today of this sports team.
Marić thanked those who wove their lives into Jadran's lifespan, with the message:
"History, as we said, records and archives. Let it be so now, but we must not put the phenomenon of the Adriatic only within the framework of history. History is being forgotten. The Adriatic is a living and active part and a strong pledge of the sporting and social future."
Enumerating the numerous results and successes of PVK Jadran, the president of the club assembly, Boro Mračević, said:
"That's all from our little Herceg Novi, where the first titles came when it had a few thousand inhabitants, and today, with about 30.000, it stands on an equal footing with Belgrade, Zagreb, Budapest, Athens, Moscow, Barcelona, Marseille, Berlin and other multi-million cities."
Mračević said that the successes were achieved from modest working conditions and even more modest financial resources, from a small base, a small number of children, without the possibility of great selection and selection, and all thanks in the first place to great love.
"Then with innate talent, desire, persistence, combativeness, togetherness, tradition, Novian stubbornness and a big Adriatic heart. Only after that we add great coaching and organizational knowledge, persistent and professional work. This is the recipe with which the people of Jadran wrote their first 100, it should be prescribed for the next century as well," said Mračević.
Gold plaques of appreciation on the occasion of 100 years of PVK Jadran were awarded to: Government of Montenegro - Ministry of Sports and Youth, Montenegrin Olympic Committee, Water Polo and Swimming Association of Montenegro, Municipality of Herceg Novi, Institute Igalo and European Aquatic Federation LEN.
In addition, recognitions that are a sign of strong gratitude were presented to friendly clubs and sponsors who have extended cooperation and support to Jadran over the years.
On the occasion of the great jubilee, a photo exhibition of "Jadran's first hundred" was opened in the city center, and in cooperation with the Post of Montenegro, an envelope was designed in honor of the jubilee, and all the mail that went from Herceg Novi to the world on July 8 has the Jadran stamp.
It was announced that in the jubilee year, a photo monograph on the hundred years of the club and a jubilee postage stamp of Jadran will be published, as well as that Radio Television Herceg Novi has prepared a documentary series, the first episode of which will be broadcast on July 18.
The official part of the program was concluded with the message "Adriatic with heart for Novi - Novi with all heart for Adriatic! Let the star of Škver and the next hundred shine!".
Bonus video:
