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Riviera Barracudas are newcomers to the Swiss National League. The club was founded in 1991 by joining the water polo sections of Vevey and Montreux and is the new force in the eastern part of Lac Leman.
The region has some history with Monthey, their neighbors from Canton Valais, being the dominant force in the Romandie in the 1990s and winning the Swiss championship in 1990.
wball.ch talked to Barracuda’s player and president, Loris Sonno, about the current season and their plans for the future.
wball.ch: Congratulations on the recent qualification to the Swiss Cup Final-4 Tournament.
Loris Sonno (Riviera Barracudas): thank you. We showed a good mentality in the quarterfinals against Aquatics Club XXI, returning from the initial result of 7 to 4 after the first quarter. We are looking forward to the semifinal against Kreuzlingen.
wball.ch: how was the club’s journey until the promotion to the NLA?
Loris Sonno (Riviera Barracudas): The club started a new project in 2017 with the goal of returning to the NLB. Many players from the youth team were promoted to the first team, and the new head coach, Daniel Roman, brought new dynamics.
The first years under the new project were positive. The team moved from last to first in the regional league and won the Swiss Cup for regional teams, which motivated the club to continue on this path. We kept adding young players and talented players in our area to the team.
In 2022, Riviera qualified for the NLB, reached second place in 2023 behind Kreuzlingen II, and joined the NLA in season 2023/2024.
We did not plan two consecutive promotions, but given the team’s good results, we took this opportunity, aiming to stay as long as possible in the first division.
We hope to bring more players to the national team in the future.
Loris Sonno (Riviera Barracudas)
wball.ch: Tell us more about the key players on the team.
Loris Sonno (Riviera Barracudas): Damien Pittier Damien Pittier is the goalkeeper who was recently nominated to join the Swiss National Team. He used to play in Monthey and joined our club two or three years ago. We always knew that he was an outstanding goalkeeper, and it’s a great accomplishment for him to be selected for the Nati, and it makes us very proud. We hope to bring more players to the national team in the future.
Quentin Blary is one of our foreign players, joining in 2022. He used to play professionally in France and is coaching our youth players. He brings good energy and experience and is very reliable in difficult moments, making a difference. He was the type of player that was missing from the team.
The second foreign player is Vincenzo Scamarcio, while Remy Petkantchin plays as a Swiss Sport Experience player.
wball.ch: How was Riviera’s start in the NLA after playing the preliminary round and what are your goals this season?
Loris Sonno (Riviera Barracudas): We had some solid games against Kreuzlingen and Lugano, but one month later, we had some bad games against Horgen and St. Gallen.
In Lugano, we played a very close game against Genève but lost against SK Bern in the last game of the preliminary round.
Our goal this season is to point against St. Gallen and Bern, two teams that are within our range.
So far, I think we have underperformed in these games. Maybe we were a bit overconfident due to the results in the last NLB season.
Our opponents showed more intensity and motivation to win at all costs.
It’s a good experience for our team. As we advance, we know there will be no easy games and that we need to fight for every point.
We want to win those matches against St. Gallen and Bern and ideally qualify for the playoffs, ranking 6th.
We also already achieved one goal, which was qualifying for the Swiss Cup Final 4 this year.
Our goal is to have a team that stays in the NLA as long as possible and promotes water polo in our region
Loris Sonno (Riviera Barracudas)
wball.ch: what are the club’s long-term goals for the next 2-3 years?
Loris Sonno (Riviera Barracudas): our goal is to have a team that stays in the NLA as long as possible and promotes water polo in our region.
We currently have a U15 team playing in group West, and finally, there are enough players to participate in the U13 and U17 leagues next season. We would like to have a team in each youth category.
Ideally, as many players as possible would join the NLA team to naturally renew the roster.
The Covid pandemic hit us hard; many kids left our sport after this period.
wball.ch: who does it like with infrastructure and water time in Montreux and Vevey?
Loris Sonno (Riviera Barracudas): Riviera Barracudas is a water polo-only club, but we are attached to Montreux and Vevey Natation. We collaborate with both clubs to introduce water polo to kids in our region.
We have two swimming pools to share with those two clubs, and especially in winter, it can be difficult as we have to share a pool with three water polo teams. In summer, when the outdoor pool in Vevey opens, we can split the training groups more.
wball.ch: thank you for your time, and good luck for the remainder of the season.
Loris Sonno (Riviera Barracudas): thank you, and good luck with your project.
