A new change of sport nationality in water polo is on the horizon.
Dejan Savic, the head coach of Montenegro, has announced the list of candidates for the team at the World Championships in Singapore, and Dmitrii Kholod’s name appears on the list for the first time.
Shortly after his appointment, Savic requested that the Water Polo Federation initiate the process of granting a Montenegrin passport to Kholod, born in Russia 33 years ago.
The Russian athlete, who joined Jadran Herceg Novi in 2022 after leaving Spandau, last played for Russia in 2021. Since 2022, Russian athletes in team sports have been suspended due to well-known reasons.
A few months ago, World Aquatics relaxed its rules regarding changes in sports nationality. Now, an athlete who changes citizenship must observe a waiting period of twelve months between representing two different countries. Between 2023 and 2025, this waiting period was three years.
Therefore, it is possible that Kholod will be eligible to play for Montenegro this summer.
If World Aquatics allows Kholod to play for Montenegro and Savic selects him for the squad for Singapore, Dmitrii will compete in his third World Championships (following the 8th-place finish in 2017 and 14th-place finish in 2015 with Russia).
The players called up to the preparations – goalkeepers: Petar Tesanovic, Darko Djurovic, Lazar Andric, field players: Vladan Spaic, Miroslav Perkovic, Dusan Banicevic, Savo Cetkovic, Aljosa Macic, Dimitrije Obradovic, Matija Sladovic, Jovan Vujovic, Marko Mrsic, Vasilije Radovic, Strahinja Gojkovic, Danilo Radovic, Dusan Matkovic, Nikola Moskov, Filip Gardasevic, Djuro Radovic, Petar Vujosevic, Balsa Vuckovic, Vuk Draskovic, Dmitrii Kholod.
