Morning Program of the 1943 Novi Bečej Swimming Meet – Results and Historical Report

The competition began in the morning at 10 o’clock with a ceremonial parade of all participants in front of the stands by the Tisa River, which were filled to the last seat. After the presentation of plaques and commemorative awards, the start of the event was officially announced. The jury consisted of the leader of the Belgrade club Bob, Đorđe Paljić, and the event organizers Brana Kiselički and Vasa Nićin.

This is how reporter Vasa Mikić begins his extensive three-page report published in the Belgrade newspaper Sport (“Novo vreme”), issue no. 57, dated August 31, 1943.

Morning Race Results

200 m – Freestyle (men)

1. Stevan Kiurski (Zvezda) – 2:56
2. Beroš (Bob) – 2:56.5

50 m – Backstroke (men)

1. Đorđe Paljić (Bob) – 40.2
2. Radomir Ivanić (Zvezda) – 40.4
3. Hicl (Bob) – 40.5
4. Dušan Ivanić (Zvezda) – 42.0

50 m – Breaststroke (women)

1. Belovuk (Bob) – 50.2
2. Olga Marticka (Zvezda) – 52.0
3. Nada Ćeremov (Zvezda) – 54.0

25 m – Freestyle (sub-juniors)

1. Plavšić (Bob) – 19.0
2. Mihajlović (Bob) – 21.0
3. Vladimir Kiselički (Zvezda) – 24.0
4. Marko Žarin (Zvezda) – 24.0

50 m – Freestyle (juniors)

1. Filipović (Bob) – 32.8
2. Radonić (Bob) – 34.0
3. Vuksanović (Bob) – 35.0

3 × 50 m Medley Relay

1. Bob (Paljić, Bjelić, Nikolić) – 1:50.0
2. Zvezda (Radomir Ivanić, Aleksandar Marčić, Petar Džigurski) – 2:00.3

Overview of the Morning Program

A total of six races were held during the morning session: five individual events—including one women’s race—and one relay.

The opening 200-meter freestyle race proved to be the most exciting. Stevan Kiurski, the strongest swimmer from Novi Bečej, won by a single arm’s length against Belgrade junior Beroš, boosted by enthusiastic home-crowd support. It was also the only victory for the local competitors at this swimming meet.

Another strong performance came from Radomir Ivanić in the 50-meter backstroke. The race was extremely close, but Đorđe Paljić from Belgrade’s Bob team finished just two hundredths of a second faster, leaving Ivanić in second place.

Water Polo Match

The morning program concluded with a water polo match. Since Novi Bečej did not have a complete team to compete directly against the Belgraders, two mixed teams were created—“White” and “Colorful”—each including only three players from Novi Bečej.

Team lineups:

• “White”: Terzić, Đorđević, Ivanić, Paljić, Hicl, Kiurski, Đukić
• “Colorful”: Vučo, Filipović, Srećković, Marčić, Vuksanović, Bjelić, Nikolić

The “White” team proved more successful, winning 7:2 (3:1).

Source: “Sport”, Belgrade, Issue 57, August 31, 1943.