Ivica Tucak (born 8 February 1970) is a Croatian professional

water polo Water polo is a competitive sport, competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the water polo ball, ball into the oppo ...

coach and former player who has been the head coach of the

Croatia men's national water polo team The Croatia men's national water polo team represents Croatia in international water polo competitions and is controlled by the Croatian Water Polo Federation. They have won gold medals in the Olympics, World and European Championships, FINA Worl ...

since 16 September 2012. Winning the gold medal at the

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

and 2024 World Championship, silver medal at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

, the gold medal at the 2022 European Championship, and the silver medal at the

2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

, he is regarded as the most successful coach of the Croatia national team.

Playing career

Tucak started his professional playing career with the junior team of his hometown club VK Šibenik, where he stayed until 1989, playing together with the famous Croatian player,

Perica Bukić Perica Bukić (born 20 February 1966) is a Croatian former professional water polo player and politician. He represented Yugoslavia at the 1984 and 1988 Summer Olympics. Bukić was given the honour to carry the national flag of Croatia at the ...

. In 1989, he signed with

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

-based club

Crvena zvezda Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club), commonly referred to as Crvena zvezda () and colloquially referred to as Red Star Belgrade in anglophone media, is a ...

. In 1991, he went to Switzerland and signed for Bissone Lugano. In 1993, he returned to his home–VK Šibenik–and stayed there for two years. Tucak then went to Italy and stayed there for seven years, playing for Talimar Palermo, Como Milano, Snam Milano and Sori. In 2002, he returned to Croatia and played for VK Medveščak until 2004. He finished his career in 2005 at his hometown club VK Šibenik. During his professional career, he was not a member of the senior

Coaching career

Tucak started his

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

ing career at his hometown club VK Šibenik, managing them to reach the

LEN Euro Cup The European Aquatics Euro Cup is the second-tier European water polo club competition run by the European Aquatics for those clubs who did not qualify for the European Aquatics Champions League. The cup was inaugurated in 1992. From 2024, afte ...

final game in the 2006–07 season. In 2009, he became head coach of

Montenegrin First League The Montenegrin First League (Montenegrin language, Montenegrin: ''Prva crnogorska fudbalska liga'' — ''Prva CFL'' — ''1. CFL''; ), referred to as the Meridianbet 1. CFL for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional Association football, ...

club

PVK Jadran PVK Jadran is a professional water polo club based in Herceg Novi, Montenegro. As of 2021–22 season, the club competes in the Montenegrin League and Regional League A1. PVK Jadran is a 16-time winner of the National league (10 Montenegro, 2 S ...

, with which he won two Adriatic Leagues and one

national league National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

and

cup A cup is an open-top vessel (container) used to hold liquids for drinking, typically with a flattened hemispherical shape, and often with a capacity of about . Cups may be made of pottery (including porcelain), glass, metal, wood, stone, pol ...

title.

National team coaching career

In 2005, Tucak started to work as coach of the junior men's Croatia national team along

Veselin Đuho Veselin Đuho (Веселин Ђухо, born 5 January 1960) is a Croatian professional water polo coach and former player who was a two-time Olympic gold medalist for Yugoslavia at the 1984 and 1988 Summer Olympics. Đuho was born in Foča but ...

, winning the bronze medal at the 2008 European Championship in

, and the gold medal at the 2009 World Championship in

Šibenik Šibenik (), historically known as Sebenico (), is a historic town in Croatia, located in central Dalmatia, where the river Krka (Croatia), Krka flows into the Adriatic Sea. Šibenik is one of the oldest Croatia, Croatian self-governing cities ...

. From 2010 until 2011, Tucak worked as assistant to the head coach of the senior Croatia men's team,

Ratko Rudić Ratko Rudić (born 7 June 1948) is a retired Croatian water polo coach and a former water polo player. , he has won 38 medals as a coach at major events, making him the most successful water polo coach in history, and second most successful team ...

, while in September 2012, he succeeded him. With Croatia, he won the 2017 World Championship tournament in Hungary. He won another world championship in 2024 in Qatar, and in 2022 he was also the European champion!

Personal life

Born in

, Tucak graduated from the

at the Zagreb Faculty of Kinesiology in 2013, where his mentor was the famous Croatian water polo player,

Dubravko Šimenc Dubravko Šimenc (born 2 November 1966) is a former Croatian water polo player who competed for both Yugoslavia and Croatia, and later water polo coach. Dubravko Šimenc's father Zlatko was a water polo player who won the silver medal at the 1 ...

. In 2010, City of Šibenik awarded Tucak for the best coach in Šibenik in 2009. Tucak, with his wife Marijana, had a daughter Tena who died tragically in June 2005, at the age of 3. Tucak is awarded for the best coach in the world by

FINA World Aquatics, formerly known as FINA (; ), is the international federation recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for administering international competitions in List of water sports, water sports. It is one of several interna ...

, in December 2017.

Honours

Coach

VK Šibenik NCP *

runner-up: 2006–07 PVK Jadran * Regional League A1: 2009–10, 2010–11 * Montenegrin League: 2009–10, 2011–12 *

Montenegrin Cup The Montenegrin Cup (Montenegrin language, Montenegrin: ''Kup Crne Gore'') is the national football cup played in Montenegro, established in 2006. The winner of the cup is awarded a spot in the first qualifying round of the UEFA Conference League ...

: 2010–11

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tucak, Ivica 1970 births Living people Sportspeople from Šibenik Croatian male water polo players Croatian water polo coaches Croatia men's national water polo team coaches Water polo coaches at the 2016 Summer Olympics Water polo coaches at the 2020 Summer Olympics Water polo coaches at the 2024 Summer Olympics