 He was also a successful water polo player and won the Italian Championship of 1951 with the Canottieri Napoli club.In 1951, he moved to Canada after defecting from the former Yugoslavia.Once he arrived in Canada he competed in swimming and water polo for the university of Toronto and went on to be the head coach of the Arvida swimming club "Les Ouananiches" for 17 years(1968-1985).