During the Paris Olympics, Loyola Alum Marko Vavic ’17 joined elite company in winning the Bronze medal with the United States men’s water polo team. Throughout this arduous journey, Vavic helped the team overcome tough opponents such as Hungry, Italy and Serbia. In the quarterfinals, Vavic found himself with an opportunity to send Australia home in movie-like fashion. He was designated to take the last five-meter, and he buried it.

Water polo head coach Erik Healy mentored Vavic during his Loyola years. Amazingly, Healy was in the crowd during this monumental game.

Healy stated, “I was super happy for him. Having known him and his family for a long time, I was elated for him. He put in a tremendous amount of time and work, and it all paid off.”

When asked about Vavic’s time at Loyola, Healy said, “He loved the game of water polo, being a Cub and his teammates. As a player he was super versatile, so he could play different positions and guard different players. He didn’t have to be the game winning goal scorer, was more focused on defense.”