{"id":604541,"date":"2025-02-08T21:10:18","date_gmt":"2025-02-09T04:10:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=604541"},"modified":"2025-02-08T21:10:18","modified_gmt":"2025-02-09T04:10:18","slug":"bea-ortiz-dusan-mandic-named-world-aquatics-water-polo-athletes-of-the-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/bea-ortiz-dusan-mandic-named-world-aquatics-water-polo-athletes-of-the-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Bea Ortiz, Dusan Mandic Named World Aquatics Water Polo Athletes of the Year"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bea Ortiz, Dusan Mandic Named World Aquatics Water Polo Athletes of the Year<\/strong><\/p>\n

Spain\u2019s Bea Ortiz<\/strong> and Dusan Mandic<\/strong> of Serbia were named Water Polo Athlete of the Year this week by World Aquatics<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Mandic led Serbia to a third straight Olympic title. Mandic was the top scorer of the tournament with 26 goals and was elected the most valuable player of the tournament in Paris. He scored seven goals to navigate trouble in Serbia\u2019s opener, a 16-15 win over Japan. Serbia lost three of its five group-stage matches but scraped into the knockout stage.<\/p>\n

Mandic scored five times in a 12-11 win over Greece in the quarterfinals. He had two assists in defeating the United States in the semifinals, then a goal in beating Croatia, 13-11, for gold. It avenged a loss in the quarterfinals of February\u2019s World Championships, which saw Serbia slump to a sixth-place finish.<\/p>\n