Bandovic Shines In and Out of The Pool

There have been plenty of successful high school athletes to come out of Port Washington, but not all of them go on to compete at the college level. Ivan Bandovic is one former high school star to successfully make the transition.

Competing on the Men’s Swimming and Diving team at SUNY Stony Brook, Bandovic has taken on an integral role in the team as a freshman. Competing in the back and fly events, as well as in several of the relays, Bandovic helped lead the 400 free relay team to a third place finish against Boston University and the 200 medley relay team to a second place finish against St. Francis, as well as the team overall to a fifth place at the America East Championships last month.

“I fit right into the program here,” said Bandovic. “It’s close enough to be able to go home on weekends, but far enough away where I can do my own thing. They also have a great program for medicine and lots of benefits for athletes like free tutoring.”

Born in Belgrade, Serbia, his parents immigrated to Port Washington when Bandovic was a young child. He took up swimming shortly after and quickly excelled in the sport.

As a senior at , he held nine records on the swim team, including six individual records and three in relays. All of those records remained intact after the most recent high school swim season.

Bandovic said his strongest races in particular were the 200 IM and the 100 Fly.

“I really enjoyed my time on the team at high school,” said Bandovic. “That being said, I think what really got me ready for the college level was the practices with my club team (Manorhaven Swim Team) and the coach there (Maxwell Todd).

Bandovic’s life as a student-athlete at SUNY Stony Brook is one that has become highly regimented. In addition to daily practices and weightlifting several times per week, he also takes part in mandatory study halls for all athletes while taking on a challenging course schedule.

“I think that I’ve gotten used to the routine of balancing everything, but it’s still challenging,” said Bandovic. “It’s just become really important to make the most of my free periods and get as much done as possible during the day.”

Bandovic said he intends to graduate with a degree in medicine before going to North Shore-LIJ for their graduate medical school program.