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Road to Swiss Cup Final 4
Every water polo enthusiast in Switzerland that follows youth leagues could notice an interesting phenomenon. Kreuzlingen and Lugano were the first teams to seriously invest in youth teams and create excellent programs. For years they dominated the championships from U11 to U17 and played in almost every final. We see now that youth teams from the Romandie are taking the top 4 positions regularly. One of the masterminds of the renaissance of youth water polo in the French part of Switzerland is our next guest Zoltan Hyc from Lausanne Aquatique.
wball.ch: welcome Zoltan. We are interested to hear where and how you started water polo and how was the journey that ultimately brought you to Lausanne.
Zoltan Hyc: I started playing water polo in Szentes (Hungary), where is also signed my first professional contract as a water polo player. After Szentes, I played for Kecskemét, Hódmezővásárhely and Saint-Jean-d’Angély (France). In 2007 I accepted the offer from Carouge, where I played and coached the first team. 4 years ago, I moved to Nyon, and since the season 2022/2023, I’ve been with Lausanne.
wball.ch: How is Lausanne doing in the B Championship? Tell us a bit about the team.
Zoltan Hyc: when I arrived in Lausanne, the best five players moved to Riviera Barracudas. We are a U20 team, except for our team captain Bojan Jagodic. Our best players are our lefthander, former U18 French international Moussa Benyassine Ilyés, and former Carouge player Levente Szabo. Unfortunately, Levente will not be available in Horgen for the Cup Semifinal.
Our primary focus is on the young players so that in 2-3 years, they can play in the men’s team.
wball.ch: You recently ranked 2nd in Switzerland at U11, qualified for the U13 Intermediate round as first in the group, qualified for the U15 Final tournament without losing a game, and the U17 are qualified for the intermediate round. Tell us more about your excellent work with the youth teams in Lausanne.
Zoltan Hyc: thank you for the question. I’m happy to present our program. The loss in the U11 final was unfortunate, as we were leading by two goals. At the U15 level, we currently have 25 players. We need to work for two seasons to let the young players grow. The Vaudoise Arena, where the ice hockey team plays, has recently built a swimming complex where we received additional practice space. My brother Tamas and I train all the kids and the women’s team. We are particularly proud to have the only women’s team in the Romandie.
Our primary focus is on the young players so that in 2-3 years, they can play in the men’s team.
With the addition of two foreign players, this team will be able to qualify for the NLA in 2-3 years.
wball.ch: Looking at the pool of talent building up in Lausanne, what are the long-term plans for the first team, which is currently in the middle of the B league?
Zoltan Hyc: My main objective is to give playing time to young prospects. This season we are not interested in the ranking at all. Or goal is to form players individually and as a team. With the addition of two foreign players, this team will be able to qualify for the NLA in 2-3 years.
wball.ch: What potential has water polo in the Romandie? We see Carouge doing exceptionally well, Geneva, Aquatics (La Cote), and Nyon working well. Do you think that in 10 years, there will be more Romands teams in NLA than today?
Zoltan Hyc: the problem so far was the continuity. We saw teams in the Romandie that worked well but dropped the ball after a few years. It’s possible to play well in the NLA if the base of homemade players is there and the club can finance two good foreign players.
We must establish a pyramid system between clubs, regions, and national teams.
wball.ch: What is currently your involvement with the national teams?
Zoltan Hyc: following the suspension of Goran Sablic, I returned to the staff of the U15 until the end of this season.
The national team coach should issue a concept to all clubs on how Swiss Waterpolo is played.
wball.ch: What should we do in Switzerland to improve the level of our water polo, especially when we are talking about the national teams?
Zoltan Hyc: I see it very clearly as I’m in the middle of it. We must establish a pyramid system between clubs, regions, and national teams.
The base and the main work happens with the club. Here I mean the physical, technical, and tactical work. The second step is to form training groups on a regional level, where the best talents get the chance to train in addition to the club work. The national team should be the final step where all the work is finalized.
The national team coach should issue a concept to all clubs on how Swiss Waterpolo is played. We lose a lot of time once the players join the national team or change in category to bring all players to the same system.
wball.ch: thank you very much for the interesting conversation, and see you in Horgen.
Zoltan Hyc: thank you for having me.
