Physicist Lucia

Last Wednesday, she celebrated a significant victory with her teammates, winning the Croatian Cup. In a few days, she will be heading to Istanbul in hopes of achieving new Euro successes. However, before all of these mentioned events, the woman we are hosting on our website achieved yet another triumph. Perhaps even her greatest success. But we won't reveal everything in the opening sentences of our new occasional column that we have named "Guest of hvs.hr".

And the first "Guest of hvs.hr" is - Lucia Buljac, the goalkeeper of the Split team Jadran, a team that won the Croatian Cup last week in a penalty shootout drama in the final against Mladost (17:16). It was the third match this season between Jadran and Mladost, with the second victory going to the women from Split.

-"We lost the first match, which was the Super Cup, and felt the lack of training, both individually and as a team," recalls Lucia.
-"From a lack of communication onwards. And this recent victory in the Cup final was the result of us stepping up our training, fitness, but I would say primarily the crucial factor was maintaining a 'clear head.' Especially during the penalty shootout, where we started poorly, and Latica (Medvešek, Mladost's goalkeeper) 'blocked' the first three shots. That's a very bad start. However, in the end, composure, patience, and precision prevailed.

How to defend penalties
Nevertheless, Buljac was excellent in the penalty shootout by saving 2 shots out of the first three. It seemed like a perfect duel between our two best goalkeepers. How do you defend penalties, do you 'study' how opponents usually shoot, which side they choose most often, or do you pre-select sides, or even wait a bit, although that is risky?
-"I personally watched previous game recordings to see how each player takes the penalties. It's a combination of intuition and those recordings, but just before the penalties, my mind is completely 'clear,' completely focused. I usually observe how each player takes their penalties, and I jump in a different way each time to have the best chance of saving it.

Lucia Buljac started playing for Split's Bura. After some time, the entire team switched to a new club, POŠK, and now she is in her second season guarding the Jadran goal. How many years has Lucia been in water polo?
-"More than 10 years, it will actually be 11 in January 2025."

December in Istanbul

We mentioned in the introduction that you will be in Istanbul in a few days. There, on Friday, December 6th, the second round of the Challenger tournament will begin, where Jadran will play against two Turkish teams, Galatasaray and Izmir, and the British team Otter. How far can Jadran go?
-"Our goal, of course, is to qualify for the final round. I think we can, but we need to be more modest. We enter the tournament modestly, but we will fight for the top three places. I expect tense matches and a much higher level of intensity compared to what our league has offered in recent years. That is good for us, for all the girls, and I hope we will learn something new from it.

What do you know about your opponents?
-"This is our first time in a group with clubs we have never played against before. We don't know what to expect, but we have seen some of their games. Otter, for example, played against Mladost at the previous Challenger Cup qualifying tournament in the Czech Republic. So, we know something about them. I think Izmir is much stronger, more prepared than us. It can be seen in their results, and some video clips as well.

You will have a busy December in Istanbul because shortly after this club competition, the Division II World Cup group stage will be held in the largest city in Turkey. This is a competition for national teams, and Croatia is in a group with France and Portugal.
-"Our goal is to beat both the French and the Portuguese, and if we manage that, it would be a significant achievement for the senior national team. It is a big challenge for us.

Academic in the pool
In the opening sentences, we also mentioned another significant achievement, not just the national cup, associated with Lucija Buljac's name. Namely, a little over two months ago, this woman became an academic citizen! On a rather demanding study program.
-"I recently graduated, more precisely on October 1st, in Physics at the Faculty of Science in Split."

With congratulations, this is just one of the many shining examples of the (not just a story) how water polo is also an academic sport. Now, the question is, what's next? Job? How to balance that with water polo?
-"Studying and playing, training was quite challenging. Especially when you want to dedicate fully to both. I managed it, perhaps sometimes more successfully, sometimes less, but I did. I will remind you, before the 2022 Senior European Championship in Split, I broke my finger on one of the last training sessions, so I couldn't play. It was a significant setback for me personally. However, I quickly got back up, and that year, as POŠK, we reached the Cup final. It was a great journey, but with good organization, everything can be done. The passion towards both is what drives me persistently, for many years now. Currently, I am applying for a job, looking for one. Whether in school, in a hospital, or at a university. I have written cover letters, and now I am waiting for responses. However, I would like to stay in sports and continue to 'push' as much as possible, both fields. Because in all these 10-11 years, sports has given me so many beautiful moments and lessons that I can't easily 'let go' of it. I would like to stay in sports as long as I can - Lucia concluded.

We sincerely wish the graduate physicist a long stay in water polo, but also that she receives a positive response soon regarding employment.