It was a killer weekend for the men's water polo team. The Bears (6-4) swept the North/South Challenge held at the United States Naval Academy with four wins, defeating Johns Hopkins University, No. 16 Bucknell University, Mercyhurst College and George Washington University. Leading the attack was center Svetozar Stefanovic '13, who netted 20 goals and six assists over the weekend. On Wednesday, the Collegiate Water Polo Association named Stefanovic the CWPA Northern Division Player of the Week for his offensive and defensive execution. For his excellent performance over the weekend and his CWPA honor, The Herald has named him Athlete of the Week.
The Herald: So your name is a bit of a mouthful — what do your teammates and friends call you?
Stefanovic: They usually call me Sveta, sometimes it's "The Beast."
O.K., Sveta. You are from Serbia, right? How did you get into water polo?
(Water polo) is pretty big there. It's one of the national sports. We are actually the world champions now — we are really good at water polo. I've loved swimming ever since I was a little kid and swimming as a sport is really boring compared to water polo, so I just started playing water polo. I was probably eight years old when I started playing.
What is one thing you miss about Serbia and one thing you like about Providence?
Well, I usually only miss my parents and my friends, which is pretty expected, but I just love Brown. I would never leave Brown. I would stay here for 10 more years if I could. There is nothing I miss in particular, but maybe the food sometimes. That's what I tell everyone who asks me that, because the Ratty food isn't too good. Serbian food is lots of meat, barbecue, tons of home cooking — I miss my mom's food a lot.
What is your concentration?
Economics and International Relations.
What are your other hobbies or interests besides water polo?
Water polo is pretty time-consuming, so I don't have time for a lot of different clubs. I joined the Brown Investment Group. I am in a fraternity, Sigma Chi. That's a fun experience — since I'm foreign I never actually had been familiar with the concept.
What is your most anticipated game this season?
The final game of the Northeastern Championships. It's hopefully in November. There are three games — it's the main tournament for the East Coast and the winner plays in the NCAA Final Four tournament. We have to qualify for the final game, so we have to win the first two games to play the final game, but I am expecting to qualify. So that is definitely my most anticipated game.
Is it hard for you guys to not have any home games?
Yeah, first of all it's hard to travel almost every weekend because after you come back you have to catch up with school, which can be pretty hard. We are all really excited to play here, and have home games here next year, because we will have a pool. Of course, it's always better to have fans. But on the other hand, it's pretty cool traveling to different places.
O.K., I have to ask: I have noticed that the water polo team is very taken with techno. What's the deal?
First of all, I kind of influenced them because I'm European and then a few guys are also big fans of techno. We really like to play it at some of our parties. What's wrong with some techno?
