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Vladimir Bajkovic made his choices and selected the team that will represent Switzerland at the 2024 LEN European Championship Qualifications this weekend in Otopeni (Romania).
Team Switzerland:
- WSV Basel: Paola De Feo, Melanie Adler
- Carouge Natation: Diana Carballo
- WK Thun: Martina Stucki, Alina Morgenegg Leah Friedman
- SC Winterthur: Fiona Schurter, Meret Schmidt, Lena Oberli
- WBA TriStar: Eliane De Bue
- SC Zug: Amy Nussbaumer
- Firenze: Elisa Capaccioli
- Olympic Nice: Jakie Kohli
- Spandau 04: Athena Grandis
- ZVL Leiden: Lotti Verhagen
We had the chance to speak with the head coach of the Women’s National Team ahead of the departure to Otopeni.
It’s exciting to work with women. From this perspective, if a qualitative group is formed, women can be very mentally strong, even stronger than men. The Swiss team I have now might be even the mentally strongest I ever had.
Vladimir Bajkovic – Head Coach Switzerland
wball.ch: thank you for your time. We know you have a long experience in training women’s teams after being the head coach of the Serbian Women National team. How did it happen to get into Women’s water polo?
Vladimir Bajkovic: I had the chance to take over the Serbian Women’s National Team in an exciting project during a four years cycle. Before that, I was coaching Serbian youth teams and spent some years coaching in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.
wball.ch: What are the differences between coaching women’s and men’s teams? What skills are particularly required?
Vladimir Bajkovic: It’s exciting to work with women. From this perspective, if a qualitative group is formed, women can be very mentally strong, even stronger than men. The Swiss team I have now might be even the mentally strongest I ever had.
We improved technically and tactically to play a good tournament at this level, but we still have room in our physical readiness.
Vladimir Bajkovic – Head Coach Switzerland
wball.ch: You will face Romania, Switzerland, Turkey, and Sweden. Only the two best-placed teams will qualify. How well do you know the teams, and what are the chances of the Swiss team?
Vladimir Bajkovic: The group’s favorite is Romania, and we should be favorites against Sweden. The key game will be against Turkey, which we played against two years ago but with a different team (redactors note: Switzerland won 8 – 5). Since then, we lost Vesselina Velikova, an excellent center forward, and Carina Carballo, an important allrounder who could play a role in defense and offense.
We improved technically and tactically to play a good tournament at this level, but we still have room in our physical readiness. I’m also optimistic about Alina Morgenegg’s development in the center position. We improved our game playing the French league and are extremely motivated.
wball.ch: Women’s water polo is only fully developed in some European countries. As such, the gap between the Swiss team to the other nations is narrower than the one we see with the men’s national team. This is a vast potential for a country like Switzerland to get on the European water polo map finally. What would it take to close the gap and qualify for an EC regularly?
Vladimir Bajkovic: The biggest problem is that clubs in Switzerland do not have enough resources to offer a higher amount of practices to improve the level of every single player.
The players I know are highly motivated, and increasing the amount of practice would be enough to increase the level of Swiss water polo. I think that there is a lot of room for improvement there.
wball.ch: On our poll, 70% voted for a U15 and U17 league rather than U17plus (U17 with two older players) and the rather unnecessary U20 league. What is your opinion on this?
Vladimir Bajkovic: The earlier, the better. I would even like to see a U13 Women’s Championship in Switzerland if possible.
This is why we don’t have a U15 Women National Team and a U17 Women National Team that has only been practicing together for one year. A national team needs at least a two-year cycle to prepare for an important event like a European Championship Qualification.
This is why I usually extend the training of the national teams to the youngest players so that they can have more time to practice.
wball.ch: thank you for your time and good luck with the next games.
