Zlatko Šimenc

Zlatko Šimenc
Šimenc in the 1960s
Personal information
Born (1938-11-29)29 November 1938
Zagreb, Sava Banovina, Kingdom of
Yugoslavia (modern-day Croatia)
Died 17 March 2026(2026-03-17) (aged 87)
Height 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Weight 88 kg (194 lb)
Medal record
Men's water polo
Representing  Yugoslavia
Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place1964 TokyoTeam
European Championships
Silver medal – second place1958 BudapestTeam
Silver medal – second place1962 LeipzigTeam
Bronze medal – third place1966 UtrechtTeam
Mediterranean Games
Gold medal – first place1959 BeirutTeam
Silver medal – second place1963 NaplesTeam

Zlatko Šimenc (29 November 1938 – 17 March 2026) was a Croatian water polo player and coach (1969–1975) of Slovenian origin. He was part of the Yugoslav team that won a silver medal at the 1964 Olympics and placed fourth in 1960. He won three more medals at the European championships in 1958–1966.[1][2]

Biography

Šimenc's parents moved from Slovenia to Croatia before he was born. They had three sons and one daughter, with Zlatko being the youngest child. He took up swimming aged 11, and in his twenties changed to water polo and handball. He trained as a water polo defender in the summer and as a handball striker in the winter, and won national titles in both sports with his club Mladost. Between 1955 and 1975, he played 101 water polo and 24 handball matches for the national Yugoslav teams.[2]

In 1958, Šimenc enrolled to study law, but next year changed to the newly established in Zagreb institute of physical education, and graduated in 1966. He later earned a master's degree in social sciences and defended a PhD in kinesiology. Since 1966 until retirement, he worked at the Department of Team Sports of the University of Zagreb, and published ca. 60 scientific papers and books on handball and water polo. In parallel, he served as a sports official at the Yugoslav (1980–82) and Croatian (1992–96) water polo federations and was a member of the Croatian Olympic Committee (1991–95). His son Dubravko also became an Olympic medalist in water polo, while his daughter Iva is a coach and former competitor in synchronized swimming.[2]

Šimenc died on 17 March 2026, at the age of 87.[3]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Zlatko Šimenc". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 4 December 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 ŽIVLJENJEPISI SLOVENCEV V HRVAŠKEM ŠPORTU. slovenci-zagreb.hr (2014). p. 248
  3. ↑ "Sportske novosti - Preminuo Zlatko Šimenc, otac Dubravka Šimenca i jedan od najposebnijih sportaša koje je Hrvatska imala". www.jutarnji.hr (in Croatian). 17 March 2026. Retrieved 18 March 2026.
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