Oleksandr Svishchоv: Ukraine in the top 10 best European water polo teams

• Group D: United Kingdom-Ukraine – 8-13 (1-3, 4-5, 2-3, 1-2);
• Group D: Ukraine-Portugal – 10-14 (3-1, 3-6, 3-4, 1-3);
• Group D: Netherlands-Ukraine – 24-3 (6-0, 8-1, 5-0, 5-2);
• 1/8 finals: Italy-Ukraine – 29-4 (6-0, 8-3, 7-1, 8-0);
• Classification of 9-12 places: Switzerland-Ukraine – 1-17 (1-2, 0-4, 0-4, 0-7);
• Game for 9-10 places: Ukraine-Serbia – 4-12 (2-0, 1-5, 0-4, 1-3).

The performance of the women’s national team at the European U-19 Championship was summed up by the president of the Water Polo Federation of Ukraine Alexander Svishchоv.

– Alexander Yuryevich, how do you assess the result of the Ukrainian national team at the European Championship in Israel?

– Given the fact that a full-scale war continues in our country, the girls did not have the opportunity to fully prepare for the European Championship. There were many difficulties in organizing a joint and long-term training camp, because all the players were in different European countries.

The full team trained only in the Netherlands for ten days, and then – official matches. In Israel, I liked the girls ‘ fervor and the character they showed in every match.

The dedication was at a very high level and I think the result is good – Ukraine is in the top 10 best European water polo teams under the age of nineteen.

On behalf of the FVPU Management, Many thanks to the girls and coaching staff that the tasks set for the Championship have been completed.

– How many players from the Ukrainian U-19 national team do you think may soon be in the National Women’s team? 

– Today, I see a very great potential in all the girls, and it is only a matter of time before they will soon be in the main women’s team.

If we analyze our squad, we have a lot of young water polo players, they are two or three years younger in age than their opponents at the tournament. I saw how worried the girls were before every fight in Israel.

– Now it is difficult for us to play and compete with the leaders of the Championship: Italy or the Netherlands, but, on the other hand, the national team played the rest of the matches with dignity against Great Britain, Portugal, Switzerland and Serbia.

Personally, I am happy that the team showed character and fighting qualities in all matches. All the girls ‘ eyes were burning, there was this fervor for victory, the desire to adequately represent our country on the international stage.

For this atmosphere and mood in the matches, I would like to thank the coaching staff – Alexandra Mironenko and Evgeny Skiba. There was a noticeable synergy between the coaches and the team.

The coaches had difficult tasks – to maintain the psychological state of the girls, because a full-scale war continues in Ukraine, and very young girls are without parents for several months.

– Athletes constantly called home to hear the voice of their parents asking if they were doing well and if they were alive and well? Of course, this factor had a significant psychological impact on the team’s preparation, and the coaches supported the girls a lot morally and communicated. Thank you to them for their work and thank you to the girls who adequately represented Ukraine in the international arena.

Now we all want victory and the end of the war. The sports front is behind us. We will make every effort to glorify Ukraine with victories in water polo on the international stage.

– Today we are in the top 10 teams of the European Championship, thank you to the team for the result, the fans for their support in Israel and the coaches for their work. I am sure that our big victories in water polo are still ahead.