Vuk Celic acknowledged the risk inherent in his decision.
Things were going just fine for the Serbian swimmer in the leadup to the Tokyo Olympics. A member of national delegations to major meets, the national record holder in the 800 and 1,500 freestyle, Celic entered 2020 with an Olympic A cut in the 800 to his name. Whatever he was doing at his former club, PK Vojvodina, it was working.
But Celic sought a new challenge, namely swimming in the NCAA. And the UNLV grad student is making that decision work for him.
Photo Courtesy: Vuk Čelić Instagram (@vuk_celic)
“It is a lot of risk, but I had so many talks with all the coaches from UNLV, and I was and am completely confident that I made the right decision,” Celic told Swimming World last week. “I always thought that you cannot profit in life if you don’t take some risks. I took a lot of risks last year, maybe, but I’m positive that I made the right decision for this year training and the experience.”
Celic will take the next step this week at NCAAs, the only UNLV swimmer in the field. The 24-year-old is seeded 33rd, the final swimmer above the cutline, in the 500 free and 17th in the mile. His time in the 500 free, 4:16.75, set a WAC conference and meet record.
“I’m really looking forward to the competition and competing on such a high level and representing my university at the NCAAs,” Vuk Celic said. “My emotions for now are pretty calm. I’m taking it one day at a time. I have some training left to do and try to work on the little details, so I’m pretty excited.”
Celic has taken his strengths from training in his home country and parlayed them into NCAA success. A major in public administration, Celic competed at the 2017 and 2019 World Championships for Serbia. He’s guaranteed to be part of their Olympic delegation. The training conditions there, of long-course meters and club swimming separate from the academic realm, suited him just fine.
But the chance to compete in the NCAA and expose himself to different training methods is something the 6-foot-6 distance specialist couldn’t pass up.
“There were so many factors in making the decision to come to the U.S.,” Celic said. “Probably the biggest thing what trying to compete at the NCAAs. It is a new challenge for me to swim in short-course yards. Before I was focused only on long-course meters, so it’s a different kind of a challenge for me and I’m really excited to show my work, our work, in the last year.”
Rather than a risk, Vuk Celic sees the change as fitting in perfectly with his Olympic prep. With a cut in hand, he’s looking for ways to improve before Tokyo. The wrinkles to his training are part of that.
“For me, probably, the way of training here is pretty different than back home,” he said. “I have learned so many new things. I’m not only working hard, I’m working smarter now. I think that is the biggest thing I needed to adjust. And I think the adjustment for me from meters to yards is done naturally, and every time I swim a race, it’s getting better and better.”
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