Vanja Ilić

Croatian-born Vanja Ilić had already graduated with a university degree in economics when he took up swimming at the age of 20. One year later, he won that Yugoslavian national championships in the 200 and 400 metre freestyle events, which earned him a trip to the 1948 London Olympics. There, representing Yugoslavia, he competed individually in the 1,500 metres freestyle, where he was eliminated in round one, and with Ciril Pelhan, Janko Puhar, and Branko Vidović in the 4x200 metres freestyle relay, where they finished fifth.

After the Games, Ilić’s last major international tournament was the 1950 European Championships in Vienna, after which he emigrated to Chile and took up citizenship there. After continuing to swim for that country for several years, and setting a national record in the 400 metres freestyle, he eventually moved to New York, where he worked as a consultant. At the time of his death, in November 2018 at the age of 91, he was the oldest living Croatian Olympian.