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Dejan Savić (Serbian Cyrillic:Дејан Савић; born 24 April 1975) is a Serbian professionalwater polo coach and former player.
During his playing career, he was part of two Olympic bronze medal squads, one forFR Yugoslavia at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, the other forSerbia at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, and one Olympic silver medal squad forSerbia and Montenegro at the 2004 Olympics in Athens.
Savić started training with thePartizan water polo club at the age of five and he debuted for the first team (seniors) at the age of thirteen, while still a pupil in elementary school. His last club wasVK Crvena zvezda where he was team captain. He retired from active playing at the end of the 2010/11 season. At international level, Savić representedFR Yugoslavia,Serbia and Montenegro andSerbia, in 444 matches and scored 405 goals. He is the most capped player in Serbian water polo.
He began coachingVK Crvena zvezda in 2011 and stayed there until 2015. He also became head coach of theSerbia men's national water polo team in autumn 2012 and stayed until 2023.
In 2011, after finishing his long playing career, Savić remained with his club Crvena zvezda in the position of head coach. In 2015, Savić left the position in Crvena zvezda. In February 2022, he returned to Crvena zvezda as head coach.[1]
Savić is one of a few sportspeople who won Olympic medals in water poloas players and head coaches.[2][3]
Savić made his debut for the national team in 1994, during a time ofsanctions forYugoslavia, following All-Star selections in a tournament inItaly. He became the standard no. five (wing) player for the team almost without a break over the whole of his national career. Holding the record for the highest number of matches played (444), and also being a highly successful scorer (405 goals), he is considered to be among the true legends of Serbian sports. During his career,from a player in charge of sifting the opposing networks,[clarification needed] he developed into the strongest pillar of Serbia's defense in front of the goal. With his power and imagination, he was a prominent member of the team. From 1997, Savić was part of the Yugoslav/Serbian water polo team in every competition in which they won a medal. In a duel withMontenegro at the 2008 Olympic Games, he was one of the players most responsible for Serbia's triumph when they won the bronze medal that year. Savić played his last match with the national team inChina in 2011.
Savić was named as head coach of theSerbia national team afterDejan Udovičić left the position in 2012. Under Savić's leadership, the national team won the2020 and2016 Olympic Games, the2015 World Championship, three European Championships (2014,2016 and2018), and sixWorld League titles (2013,2014,2015,2016,2017 and2019). In little over twelve months, between August 2015 and August 2016, the Serbian national team won consecutively all four of the biggest titles in Water Polo – the 2015 World Championship, the 2016 European Championship, the 2016 World League, and the 2016 and 2020 Olympic Games – an unprecedented achievement.
It was announced on 1 June 2010 that Dejan Savić won the national sports award, which includes lifetime monthly fees. Savić was honored for winning a silver medal at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens.[4]