Dad got the swimming bug and has the swimming genes.
Slaven Šitić was a 9-time national champion and national record holder in Yugoslavia and 16 km Faros Maratón winner in 1984 and finished third in the 1980 and 1982 editions. He later became the coach of Olympians, European champions, and international medalists, and remains a recognized academic, sport mentor, and driving force behind competitive open water swimming in his native Croatia.
Šitić served as the Croatian Long Distance Swimming Federation National Team Head Coach between 2001 and 2014 and was the President of the Long Distance Swimming Club SPLIT. When he was not on the pool deck or shoreline, he serves as an engineering professor, specializing in welding. He has 50 students in a 3-year program that prepares them for projects with Audi and Ferrari. His engineering prowess has led him to create myriad things including a boat and a 2-person submarine.
Multi-talented, he also started a sailing team about 10 years and served as the Conditioning Coach for the Croatian National Sailing Team between 1991 and 1996 – hosts open water swimming camps in Croatia with Josip Aralica, Lucija Aralica, Jakša Arambašić, and Dražen Adžić, and is the race director for the Croatia Open Water – Split 10K.
When swimmers talk about giving back to the sport, Slaven takes it to the next level. He passed down his passion and talent for swimming to his children: Karla Šitić (World Aquatics bio here), Ivana Šitić (World Aquatics bio here), and Ivan Šitić (World Aquatics bio here).
Karla was a professional marathon swimmer who competed in the 2012 Olympic 10K Marathon Swim. Ivana, Karla, and Ivan all competed on the FINA Open Water Swimming Grand Prix professional circuit and the FINA World Junior Open Water Swimming Championships.
Karla also obtained a Ph.D. in Kinesiology and serves on the Faculty of Kinesiology at the University of Split and as General Secretary of the Croatian Open Water Swimming Federation. Similar to her father, Karla served as the National Team Head Coach for the Croatian Open Water Swimming Team.
He also coached Anita Galić at the 2004 Athens Olympics in addition to his daughter Karla at the 2012 London Olympics. He coached Ivan as the 5 km Junior European Champion and Duje Milan as the 7.5 km Junior European silver medalist, promoting multidisciplinary integration into the sport from technical, physiological, and tactical perspectives.
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