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Ratko Rudić

Rudić in 2012

Personal information

Born

7 June 1948 (age 77)
Belgrade, PR Serbia, FPR Yugoslavia

Nationality

Croatia / Yugoslavia

Height

188 cm (6 ft 2 in)

Weight

87 kg (192 lb)

National team

Years

Team

1968–1980

Yugoslavia

Medal record

Olympic Games

Silver	1980 Moscow
World Championship
Bronze	1973 Belgrade
European Championship
Silver	1977 Jönköping
Bronze	1970 Barcelona
Bronze	1974 Vienna

Last updated: 7 May 2020

Ratko Rudić (born June 7, 1948) is a famous Croatian water polo coach and a former player. He is known as one of the most successful water polo coaches ever. By 2015, he had won 38 medals at big events as a coach. This makes him the most successful water polo coach in history! He is also the second most successful coach in any team sport.

Rudić won four gold medals at the Summer Olympics with three different national teams. Three of these gold medals were won one after another. He also won three gold medals at the World Championships with three different national teams.

In 2007, he was added to the International Swimming Hall of Fame. They called him "one of the best, if not the best, water polo coach to walk the deck of the pool." He also received many awards in Yugoslavia, Croatia, and Italy for his amazing sports achievements.

In 2012, Rudić stopped coaching for a short time. He became the sports director for the Croatian Water Polo Federation. But in late 2013, he returned to coaching. He took over the Brazilian men's national team to prepare them for the 2016 Summer Olympics. From 2018 to 2020, he coached the Italian water polo club Pro Recco. On May 6, 2020, Rudić announced that he was officially retiring from water polo.

Early Life and Education
Playing Career
Coaching Career
Coaching Style
Quotes
See also

Early Life and Education

Ratko Rudić was born on June 7, 1948, in Belgrade, which was then part of Yugoslavia. His father was a military officer, so Ratko moved around a lot as a child. He lived in different cities like Rijeka, Zadar, Split, and Zagreb.

He started playing water polo in 1958 when he was just 10 years old. He played for a club called Jedinstvo in Zadar. His first game in a top league was in 1963, when he was only 15 years old. He played for VK Jadran Split.

Even though he loved to paint and wanted to study art, he first studied architecture. Later, when he became a professional water polo player, he moved to Belgrade. There, he finished his studies at the Faculty of Physical Education. He lived in Belgrade until 1990. After that, he lived and worked in Rome until 2000, and then in Los Angeles until 2004. He has a daughter named Martina, who is a cellist (plays the cello) in Milan.

Playing Career

Ratko Rudić played for the club VK Jadran Split from 1963 to 1971. Then, he moved to VK Partizan. He chose Partizan because it was one of the few clubs that trained all year round. Many other Croatian players and a coach also joined the team that year.

With VK Partizan, he won many titles:

Eight Yugoslavian championships
Six Yugoslavian cups
Two European Champions League titles in 1974 and 1975

Rudić played 297 games for the Yugoslavian national water polo team. He won several medals, including:

Gold medals at the 1971 and 1979 Mediterranean Games.
A silver medal at the 1975 Mediterranean Games.
Bronze medals at the 1970 and 1974 European Championships.
A silver medal at the 1977 European Championship.
A bronze medal at the 1973 World Championship.
A silver medal at the 1980 Summer Olympics.

At the 1968 Olympics, he was injured before the tournament. So, he couldn't play with his team, which went on to win the gold medal. At the World Championship in 1975, he was wrongly accused of using banned substances. Because of this, the entire Yugoslav team was disqualified. However, a later investigation proved that Rudić had not taken any banned substances. He and his team were cleared of all charges. His case is even used in sports books as an example of a wrong test result. At the 1976 Olympics, he was a reserve player due to an injury. But he still helped the team with their tactics. Soon after, he became an assistant coach at VK Partizan.

Coaching Career

Ratko Rudić

Ratko Rudić in 2010 with Croatia

Club information

Current team

Retired

Teams coached

Years

Team

1984–1988

Yugoslavia

1990–2000

Italy

2001–2004

United States

2005–2012

Croatia

2013–2016

Brazil

2018–2020

Pro Recco

Medal record

Olympic Games

Gold	1984 Los Angeles
Gold	1988 Seoul
Gold	1992 Barcelona
Gold	2012 London
Bronze	1996 Atlanta
World Championship
Gold	1986 Madrid
Gold	1994 Rome
Gold	2007 Melbourne
Bronze	2009 Rome
Bronze	2011 Shanghai
FINA World Cup
Gold	1987 Thessaloniki
Gold	1993 Athens
Silver	1995 Atlanta
Silver	1999 Sydney
Silver	2010 Oradea
FINA World League
Gold	2012 Almaty
Silver	2009 Podgorica
Bronze	2003 New York
Bronze	2010 Niš
Bronze	2011 Florence
Bronze	2015 Bergamo
European Championship
Gold	1993 Sheffield
Gold	1995 Vienna
Gold	2010 Zagreb
Silver	1985 Sofia
Silver	1987 Strasbourg
Bronze	1999 Florence
Pan American Games
Gold	2003 Santo Domingo
Silver	2015 Toronto

Last updated: 7 May 2020

During his career, Rudić coached five national teams: Yugoslavia (1984–1988), Italy (1990–2000), USA (2001–2004), Croatia (2005–2012), and Brazil (2013–2016). As a coach, he was known for his detailed preparation. This included special training, tests, tactics, and technique. He was one of the first coaches to have a team of experts working with him. This team included psychologists, who helped players with their mental game. He focused on long-term plans that would help national teams for many years.

Rudić is the most successful water polo coach in Olympic history. He led three different men's national teams to win four gold medals and one bronze medal at the Summer Olympics. He is also one of the few athletes who won Olympic medals in water polo as both a player and a head coach.

Coaching Yugoslavia

Rudić began his coaching journey with junior teams at VK Partizan from 1980 to 1983. Then, from 1983 to 1984, he coached the Yugoslavian junior national team. This team won silver medals at the World (1983) and European Championships (1983, 1984). Many of these young players, like Dubravko Šimenc, Perica Bukić, and Igor Milanović, later became key players in Yugoslavia's "golden period."

He earned the nickname "Tiranin" (Tyrant) because he asked for a lot of hard work and discipline from his players. He coached the Yugoslavia men's national water polo team from 1984 to 1988. During this time, they won:

Two gold medals in a row at the 1984 and 1988 Summer Olympics.
A gold medal at the 1986 World Championship.
Two silver medals in a row at the 1985 and 1987 European Championships.
A gold medal at the 1987 World Cup.

Coaching Italy

After coaching VK Partizan from 1988 to 1990, Rudić became the coach of Italy in 1990. At first, his demanding training style was new to the Italian players. They had good skills but were not used to such intense physical work. However, once they accepted his tough training, they became the best national team of that time. They were the first national team to win all major titles in one Olympic cycle.

In 1994, after winning the gold medal at the 1994 World Championship, Rudić changed almost the entire team. He brought in many younger players. This decision was criticized by sports journalists in Italy. But despite the criticism, his new team still won a gold medal at the 1995 European Championship.

His time as Italy's coach ended with some disagreement. At the 2000 Summer Olympics, Italy lost to Hungary in the quarterfinals. Rudić felt that the referee decisions were unfair to his team. This led to him being suspended from all competitions for a year by FINA.

As the coach of the Italy men's national water polo team, he won:

A gold medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics.
A bronze medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics.
A gold medal at the 1994 World Championship.
Gold medals at the 1993 and 1995 European Championships.
A bronze medal at the 1999 European Championship.
A gold medal at the 1993 World Cup.
Silver medals at the 1995 and 1999 World Cups.

Coaching United States

Rudić lived and worked as a coach in the United States from January 2001 to 2004. Water polo in the USA was mostly played at the college level in Southern California. Rudić found that the way the sport was organized and the competition system were not very strong. There were also not many players. He said his first years there were the hardest part of his career.

However, he praised the strong work ethic of the American players. This helped him during his time there. Players like Wolf Wigo and Tony Azevedo recognized how effective his coaching methods were. He helped organize the entire professional system for water polo in the USA. This included working with young players, choosing and training coaches, and preparing players for games.

As the coach of the United States men's national water polo team, he won:

A gold medal at the 2003 Pan American Games.
A bronze medal at the 2003 World League.

Rudić had a plan called "Project Gold" to lead the team through the 2008 Summer Olympics. He signed a four-year contract before the 2004 Olympics. But in late 2004, the President of Croatia, Stjepan Mesić, asked him to coach the Croatian team. Rudić accepted this new challenge. Even after he left, the USA team continued to follow his program and won a silver medal at the 2008 Olympics.

Coaching Croatia

Rudić found that motivating the Croatian national team and making them work together was surprisingly challenging. He also felt that the team did not get enough money or support, especially considering how well they performed compared to football teams. The Croatian Olympic Committee recognized him as the most successful Croatian coach in both 2007 and 2012.

As the coach of the Croatia men's national water polo team, he won:

A gold medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics.
A gold medal at the 2007 World Championship.
Bronze medals at the 2009 and 2011 World Championships.
A gold medal at the 2010 European Championship.
A silver medal at the 2010 World Cup.
A silver medal at the 2009 World League.
Bronze medals at the 2010 and 2011 World Leagues.
A gold medal at the 2012 World League.

Coaching Brazil

Rudić became the coach of the Brazil men's national water polo team in November 2013. He led the team to some impressive results:

A bronze medal at the 2015 World League.
A silver medal at the 2015 Pan American Games.

He was even named the best coach by the Olympic Committee of the host country for the Olympic Games. Brazil was placed in Group A for the Olympic competition. They played against strong teams like Australia, Greece, Hungary, Japan, and Serbia. They achieved a big win against Serbia, beating them 6-5, even though Serbia had been unbeaten for over two years!

Coaching Pro Recco

Rudić came out of retirement again in June 2018, at the age of 70. He became the coach of the Italian water polo club Pro Recco. With this club, he won one Serie A1 championship and the Coppa Italia. He also won a bronze medal at the 2018–19 LEN Champions League.

On May 6, 2020, Rudić announced that he had officially retired from water polo. He was nearly 72 years old.

Coaching Style

Many people believe that Rudić is the main reason for the modern style of water polo, even though he didn't invent it. Rudić built on the Yugoslavian system and style. Because of his great success, many other coaches tried to use his methods and style.

However, some, like Dante Dettamanti, have said that his style can be too "static" and "vertical." This means it works best for players who are physically big and strong, rather than those who are fast. The style tends to favor size over speed.

Another well-known part of Rudić's system is his long and very tough training sessions. He is famous for these. They can include 8 hours a day of swimming, heavy weightlifting, leg exercises, and sessions focused on skills and tactics. Layne Beaubien, a player from the United States, remembered that in American colleges, a normal daily swim was 3,000 meters. But under Rudić, it started at 5,000 meters and sometimes went up to 18,000 meters! Beaubien said, "it's all mental. That's all it is. That's why he makes us do it. Being able to push yourself when you're so tired, being able to push yourself to the next level." As Ricardo Azevedo pointed out, "if a player quits in practice, he will eventually quit in a game." Dettamanti, however, thought that such extreme methods were not always needed for international water polo. He believed Rudić's success came more from his deep knowledge of the game, and his ability to teach skills and tactics.

Quotes

The team has to 'feel' that the attention of the entire organizational structure are addressed to them. The work environment is the first motivational factor. The motivation is the decisive factor in the victory of a team.

—Ratko Rudić