| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | November 7, 2002 Belgrade, Serbia |
| Education | Princeton University |
| Sport | |
| Country |  United States |
| Sport | Water polo |
| College team | Princeton Tigers |
Jovana Sekulic (born November 7, 2002) is a Serbian-American water polo player. She was selected as part of the United States team at the 2024 Summer Olympics.
Sekulic was born on November 7, 2002, in Belgrade, Serbia. [1] [2] Her family moved to the United States in c. 2014, settling in Media, Pennsylvania. [2] [3] She played water polo in Serbia, a country in which that sport was very popular, and struggled to find a club when she moved to the U.S., later joining that country's Maverick Water Polo club. [4] Early on in the U.S., she often played against boys due to her advanced skill level, and still was successful. [4] She attended Episcopal Academy in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, where she competed in water polo, track and swimming, [5] and was a member of its Vocal Ensemble. [3] In water polo, she was selected twice to the All-Eastern first-team, was a two-time Eastern most valuable player and led her team to three Eastern championships. [5]
Sekulic was a member of the U.S. women's youth national water polo team in high school. [5] She graduated from Episcopal in 2022 and enrolled at Princeton University, where she continued her career. [5] In the 2022 season at Princeton, she played 27 games and scored 74 goals, being named the Collegiate Water Polo Association Rookie of the Year, third-team All-American, first-team All-Conference and first-team CWPA All-Tournament. [6] The following season, she played 28 games and recorded a team-leading 76 goals, being named second-team All-American, first-team CWPA All-Tournament, first-team NCAA first-team All-Tournament, first-team All-Conference and the CWPA Player of the Year. [6]
Sekulic was selected for the U.S. national team which competed at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships. [4] She scored two goals at the World Aquatics Championships and also competed at the 2023 World Aquatics World Cup, scoring twice. [7] She redshirted at Princeton in 2024 to focus on international competitions. [2] She scored four goals for the U.S. at the 2024 World Aquatics Championships and later was chosen for the U.S. squad at the 2024 Summer Olympics. [2] [7]
The NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship is an annual tournament to determine the national champion of NCAA men's collegiate water polo. Beginning in 1969, it has been held every year except 2020, when it was postponed to March 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. With a limited number of NCAA water polo programs at the national level, all men's teams, whether from Division I, Division II, or Division III, are eligible to compete each year in the National Collegiate tournament. The tournament was expanded from a four-team bracket in 2013 by adding two play-in games that are contested by the bottom four seeds, effectively creating a six-team bracket with a first-round bye for the top two teams. This makes it the sport with the fewest teams reaching the NCAA tournament; this is because there are only 43 men's water polo teams between all three NCAA divisions.
The NCAA Women's Water Polo Championship has existed since the 2001 season. Seven conferences have teams competing in women's water polo: the Big West Conference, the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA), the single-sport Golden Coast Conference, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC), the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF), the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) and the Western Water Polo Association (WWPA). Some teams compete at Division III either as members of the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference or independently. Teams qualify by either winning their respective conference tournament or receiving one of the few at large bids available. Unlike most NCAA sports, only one National Collegiate championship is held each season with teams from Division I, Division II, and Division III competing together.
Brenda Villa is an American accomplished water polo player. She is the most decorated athlete in the world of women’s water polo. Villa was named Female Water Polo Player of the Decade for 2000-2009 by the FINA Aquatics World Magazine. She is one of four female players who competed in water polo at four Olympics; and one of two female athletes who won four Olympic medals in water polo. She is a leading goalscorer in Olympic water polo history, with 31 goals. In 2018, she was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame and the USA Water Polo Hall of Fame.
Sofia Evgenevna Konukh is a Russian water polo player, who won the bronze medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics, the first Olympic women's tournament in history. She is one of four female players who competed in water polo at four Olympics. She is also a leading goalscorer in Olympic water polo history, with 31 goals.
Natalie Golda is a former American water polo player and currently the head coach of the newly formed Fresno State Bulldogs water polo team to begin competition in 2018. Considered one of the greatest women's water polo players of all time, her senior leadership helped guide the 2005 UCLA Bruins to their seventh national championship. In May 2005 Golda received the Peter J. Cutino Award, given to the best player in women's collegiate water polo. She was also a member of the US Water Polo Team that won the bronze medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics and the silver medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. In 2015, she was inducted into the USA Water Polo Hall of Fame.
Anikó Pelle is a Hungarian and Italian water polo player who played for the University of Southern California from 1999 to 2002, and the Hungary women's national team in the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. In 2000, Pelle received the Peter J. Cutino Award as the nation's top women's collegiate water polo player.
Margaret "Margie" Dingeldein is an American water polo player who won a bronze medal in the 2004 Athens Olympics. Her position is attacker, and she is considered an excellent perimeter shooter.
Kelly Kristen Rulon is an American water polo player. She won a gold medal with the United States at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the water polo competition. She is also a bronze medalist from the 2004 Summer Olympics. Her position is driver.
Thalia Janina Ormbsy (Munro) (born March 8, 1982, in Santa Barbara, California) is an American water polo player for the UCLA Bruins and the US National Team, who won the bronze medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics. Her position is utility/driver. She now is a 6th grade teacher.
Elsie Ann Windes is an American water polo player. After playing for the University of California, Berkeley, she joined the United States national team in 2006. She helped the U.S. win a silver medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics and a gold medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics.
Slobodan Nikić is a Serbian professional water polo player. He is currently free agent and he is a long-standing member of the Serbia men's national water polo team. His most notable achievements with the national team are the gold medal from the Olympic Games in 2016, silver from the Olympic Games in 2004 and bronze from the Olympic Games 2012, three gold medals from the World Championships in 2005, 2009 and 2015, and five gold medals from the European Championships in 2003, 2006, 2012, 2014, and finally in 2016.
Bronwen Knox is an Australian former water polo centre back/centre forward. She played for the National Water Polo League's Queensland Breakers before switching to the Victorian Tigers for the 2012 season. In 2013–14 season, she played for the Greek powerhouse Olympiacos in the European competitions, winning the LEN Trophy.
Melissa Jon Seidemann is an American water polo player. She won the National Championship with Stanford University in 2011. She also won the gold medal with the United States national team in the 2012 Summer Olympics and 2016 Summer Olympics.
Margaret Ann Steffens is an American professional water polo player. She won the gold medal with the United States at the 2012, 2016 and 2020 Summer Olympics. At the 2020 Summer Olympics, Steffens set a new Olympic record for the most goals scored by an individual player in women's water polo at the Olympic Games.
Montenegro competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. This was the nation's third consecutive appearance at the Summer Olympics since it gained independence from Serbia in 2006.
Kiley Susan Neushul is an American water polo player and a graduate of Stanford University.
Ashleigh Elizabeth Johnson is an American water polo player of Ethnikos Piraeus team, who is considered by many to be the best goalkeeper in the world. She was part of the American national team that won the gold medal at the 2015 World Aquatics Championships. In 2016, she became the first African-American woman to make the US Olympic team in water polo. She was part of the gold-medal winning 2016 and 2020 U.S. women's water polo Olympic teams, and earned a spot on the 2024 U.S. women's water polo Olympic team. She is a 2017 graduate of Princeton University. She is 6'1" tall and her team nickname is "Ayay."
Madeline Musselman is an American water polo player. Maddie was named Woman's water polo MVP after her USA Team won gold in Tokyo at the 2020 Summer Olympics. She was one of the highest leading scorers with 18 goals. It is the fourth time in her career that she has been named the MVP of a major international tournament as she was named the MVP of the FINA World League Super Final in 2019 and again in 2021. She was also named the MVP of the FINA World Championships in 2017 where Team USA won gold; scored 16 goals in six games, including hat trick in 13–6 final-round win over Spain. Additionally, the four-time First-Team All-American, at UCLA, was also named the 2021 and 2022 Women's Total Player of the Year by (Total Waterpolo).
Jordan Raney is an American water polo player who is a member of the United States women's national water polo team. She was part of the gold medal-winning American team at the 2017 World Aquatics Championships in Budapest.
Sienna Rose Green is an Australian female water polo Olympian, who plays the centre back position. She is competing for Australia at the 2024 Summer Olympics in the Water polo women's tournament at the Paris Aquatic Centre and Paris La Défense Arena from 27 July to 10 August 2024.
