Croatian Sport – Dragutin Surbek and Veljko Rogosic (C)

Dragutin Šurbek – a serial medal winner who pushed the boundaries
From a ruler for a net and a racket made of plywood, to the world's winning podiums few athletes' CVs stand as such convincing testimonies of the power of hard work and perseverance as the life story of Dragutin Šurbek. Born on 8 August 1946 in Zagreb, in the working-class neighborhood of Trnje, which by its very name ("thorns") symbolizes his hard beginnings, Šurbek started playing table tennis in the attic of a primary school. One of the greatest careers in the history of Croatian sports began at a table discovered by mere chance.

Šurbek was not a wonderkid. He did not win big junior titles or believe that talent is the key to success. “I believe only in work and sweat,” was his motto. He more than made up any perceived lack of natural talent with fanatical training, pushing the limits of his own endurance. He also brought a new dimension to table tennis: while generations of players before him primarily relied on technique, a feeling for the ball and flair, Šurbek turned physical fitness into the cornerstone of his game. He ran, lifted weights and trained to exhaustion, and became the most physically fit table tennis player of his time.

That was his attitude at the table as well: powerful, temperamental and tireless. A devastating forehand spin was his trademark, but his greatest weapon may have been something else never giving up. Never walking away. Journalists called him the "champion of bloody knees" and "tireless warrior", while in China he was known as the Tiger of Zagreb. His sporting philosophy was best summed up in one word: fight to the last breath.

With a career spanning four decades, he marked the most dynamic era of table tennis, and his results have ranked him among the greatest. He won a total of 36 medals at world and European championships. He was the European singles champion in 1968, and the world doubles champion with Antun Stipančić in 1979 and Zoran Kalinić in 1983. He won 112 international tournaments. He was also the star of the famous Zagreb team Vjesnik, a triple winner of the European Champions Cup, which achieved a stunning series of 122 consecutive victories in domestic and international competitions in the first half of the 1970s.

Šurbek's long career was almost as exceptional as his medal collection. He played 503 times for Yugoslavia, adding 15 appearances for Croatia after its independence. When he went to the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona at the age of 46, decades of competing at the highest level were behind him, but the desire to compete was still there.

Dragutin Šurbek died on 15 July 2018 in his native Zagreb. He left a legacy of titles, medals and records, but also something that cannot be expressed in numbers he remained an example of an athlete who built his own greatness through tireless work. From a boy with a plywood racket to a role model and idol to young people around the world. In the history of Croatian sport, few have embodied the perseverance, passion and winning spirit as strongly as Dragutin Šurbek.

Romana Eibl, journalist and former table tennis player

Veljko Rogošić – the legendary "Dolphin of Kaštela"
Just as Croatian sports fans were anticipating and delighting in the most beautiful sports stories and celebrating new medal-winning heroes at the London Olympics, painful and sad news came from Split on 7 August 2012. At the age of 72, after a long and difficult battle, the heart of Veljko Rogošić, one of the greatest swimming and sporting heroes of Croatia and the former Yugoslavia, gave up. Since that unfortunate moment, more than 14 years have passed, and a full 85 years since his birth in Kaštel Lukšić, but the memory of one of the greatest Croatian athletes ever does not fade, and rightly so.

The old Croatian swimming ace appeared for the Yugoslav national team at two Olympics, and later honorably held the status of a member of the Croatian Olympians Club. Swimming in 400 m and 1500 m races, his greatest successes did not come in Rome in 1960 and Tokyo in 1964. They came with his marathon endeavors, with which he brought together many destinations, primarily those on his native Adriatic Sea. Thus, Rogošić connected Europe and Africa, and was among those who swam across the mythical La Manche. He wanted to bring people together, regardless of nation, religion, skin color... An athlete to the core, never a quitter, he won the world championships in long-distance swimming four times in a row from 1971 to 1974.

He became the first man to swim more than 200 km without any breaks. He did this by swimming from the Grado near Trieste to Riccione near Rimini, setting a world record of 225 km. On that occasion, according to contemporary reports, he lost as much as 16 kg of body weight. This feat, achieved in 2006 at the age of 66, is still listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the longest distance swam on the open sea without fins or any additional aids. To do this, Rogošić swam for a full 50 hours. Exactly 34 years ago, in 1992, he was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He swam La Manche in 2004, at the age of 63. He swam from Sicily to Cape Bon in Tunisia in 2008, reaching Africa on his 67th birthday.

He was a beacon of positivity and a man who wanted to help everyone in his private life. He achieved all his great records and incredible feats under the motto: "Let’s build bridges between people and nations through sports". My Favorite Miles from 1974, Stronger than the Sea from 1975, In the Wake of Partisan Ships from 1977, One Sea – Two Shores from 1979, La Manche from 2006 – these are just some of the titles of the books and publications inspired by his achievements. In 2023, Miro Branković made the documentary film Veljko of the Sea, in honor of his life in sport.

Rogošić was a sporting myth, a true "man of the sea"; his mustachioed smile shining in countless TV commercials of his time, as well as was one of the icons of the former common state of Southern Slavs and later independent Croatia. In recent history, he was one of the founders of the Croatian Navy, a veteran and a patriot. The first Croatian president Franjo Tuđman awarded him the Homeland War Memorial decoration and the rank of a frigate lieutenant. He also received numerous awards from another Croatian president, Stjepan Mesić. The biggest Croatian sports award, the Franjo Bučar State Award for Lifetime Achievement, was presented to him by the Croatian Olympic Committee in 2006.

Still, recognition and praise by ordinary people meant to Rogošić more than anything else, primarily from those older generations, who grew up with his impressive swimming and sports achievements. Who could forget the magnificent celebration when 50,000 people welcomed him in Split on the Riva promenade after swimming from Vis!? How big were that man's heart and lungs to swim a thousand kilometers in stages from Savudrija to Prevlaka in 2005, traversing the entire Croatian Adriatic?! Despite the fact that many have achieved great swimming and many other sporting feats before and after him, Veljko Rogošić will remain in the collective memory as one of the greatest.

Predrag Žukina, journalist, Jutarnji list