Faced with political and economic difficulties following the death of Josip Broz Tito, the lifelong president of SFRY, Milorad Čavić’s father left for Canada in 1981 in search of a better life. In his new country he learnt the mechanic trade and began to subsequently manufacture parts for all kinds of engines, including aircraft engines. After working for two years, he invested money in his own firm in Southern California, as he felt that region was not only better for work, but more pleasant for living as well.
Milorad Čavić − Olympic silver-medal holder, world and European champion and world record holder − was born in Anaheim, California, in the outskirts of Los Angeles, on May 31st, 1984. And while basketball player Vlade Divac was scoring baskets for the Los Angeles Lakers in the same general area, Čavić, after a short stint in basketball, discovered swimming as his inspiration in sport and life.
- Compared with the childhoods of my peers in Yugoslavia, my youth was privileged in many ways. My brother Daniel and I did what other children did − go to school and play with our mates, but we never had to face problems like inflation or wars.
- Today you spend more time in Serbia. What’s the difference between life in California and life in Belgrade?
- In my opinion, the biggest difference between life in California and life in Belgrade is the way of life. There is something about Belgrade which you can’t find anywhere else – it’s got a kind of character, a soul so to speak. People in Belgrade, like people in the whole country, have a very healthy social life that is found in cafés on every corner. I feel that in Belgrade people work to live and not live to work, as they do in many places in the United States. We have one life, and I think Belgrade offers culture and avenues that can fulfill everyone’s interests.
- How would you compare your childhood to your current everyday life?
- Every new day brings more responsibilities and our actions today affect our actions tomorrow. As a child, things were more or less different. Oscar Wilde once said, "Experience is the name every one gives to their mistakes", and I can testify that this is true, with every downfall I experience, whether it is in swimming or in my everyday life. More and more I find that I have less time to enjoy myself and relax as I did while a kid, but I try to find meaning in everything I do.
 - How much have the people and the world around you changed?
- There is a lot that is both positive and negative that comes with success, depending on one’s values. For me, the most positive thing is the support and respect I receive from people who follow what I do in the pool. On the other hand, I find that my personal life is reduced to a minimum and that all too often people are not as they appear to be… real life in many ways proves to be more real and in other ways more fake.
- In an interview for Jat Review last year you quoted the English philosopher Thomas Hobbs: "The life (of man) is nasty, brutish and short." How do you feel about life today?
- Very few things in life are free and among them are love and friendship. For this reason, I feel that as human beings we should fight to give our loved ones the best we can. Now, if we take that hope and multiply it by six billion people, I’d say that we have a worldwide competition! It’s a jungle out there and that’s not going to change.
- You received a degree in political economics from the University of California at Berkeley. How did you choose this field of study?
- I have always had a profound interest in politics and during my studies at Berkeley, I realised that politics is a force driven by economics. The innocence of my adolescence disappeared when I began to perceive the world as it really was via the political economics theory. Every decision, every war, everything, is fueled by economic interest. Although I know that it’s not in my nature to enter politics, which governs the existence of a nation, but I do feel that my future may call me to enter the politics in sports. I hope to become the Minister of Sports in Serbia one day, or the president of Serbia’s Olympic Committee. My heart is in sports and I am committed to everyone who is dedicated to achieving the best, the way I have.
- Political economics, swimming, philosophy... At first glance it doesn’t seem that these fields have much in common. Your comment?
- For me, political economics is the study of one government’s relationship with its people and other nations. Swimming was a hobby for me that turned into a profession and then into service to my country. Philosophy is just a way for me to understand what happens in the first two terms and provides me with ways of thinking about the approach to both, when I have to.
 - What does one need today in order to be successful in a given field?
- To be successful in anything, the most important thing is to first know what, exactly, you want to do. Once you have an idea or a vision, it is crucial to invest 100 percent of your heart in whatever it is that you do.
The final piece of the puzzle is to have a plan on how to accomplish it. Without a vision and heart, your plan will never realise its greatest potential… which is hardly a formula for success.
- Would it be correct to say that success has not changed you and that you are the same man you have always been, and, that you have the same values?
- It’s probably better to put that question to people who are closest to me. In my opinion, I’m still the same person I was four years ago, but I feel that some people who don’t know me well may think otherwise. Like everyone, I’m a man who likes privacy, who loves free time, and who wants to do what he likes to do. I respect others, I help others as much as I can, and I’ve never exactly been a materialistic person. Unfortunately, with success people sometimes forget that I’m only human and that sometimes I’ve got more on my plate than I can handle, and that I cannot cater to everyone’s needs and expectations.
- What do you like in people with whom you come into contact and what don’t you like?
- It fills my heart with strength when people approach me to shake my hand and to tell me they appreciate my work and support me. One thing that I don’t necessarily like talking about is swimming. Yes, I’m a swimmer, but that is not all that I am… its refreshing when someone can bring something else into conversation. The people I work with everyday know that I don’t want to bring the pool with me when I leave training.
- How important are the media in shaping the way we think about ordinary people?
- It depends on the agenda of the media in question. There is nothing worse than allowing tabloids to shape the conscience of everyday people. Their job is to sell newspapers and not the truth. Fortunately, those who are interested in truth always turn to responsible media that provide legitimate or first-hand evidence.
- If you could change anything, what would it be?
- Its cliché to say I would want to bring about world peace, but since that’s not entirely possible, I wish people would just be better and more understanding towards one another, and I would end prejudice. Too often I see people who wish bad upon others or who reduce others for self gain. Put yourself in the position of others before passing judgment and fueling this terrible cycle.
| "During a summer I spent in Serbia when I was twelve years old, I needed to find a place where I could workout so that I would not go three months without swimming, so I began to swim at the Partizan Swimming Club. The results I achieved back then attracted the attention of swimming experts in Serbia and after 2001, when I won a gold medal at the European Junior Championships in the 100m butterfly; I sensed the appeal of triumph and the possibility of positively affecting the development of swimming in Serbia. I noticed some positive responses in Serbian swimming following my results and I hoped that with better results and medals at more important competitions, I could spark a revolution in Serbian swimming. Serbia is a sports nation, and we have talented people who could emerge among the best not only in basketball, volley ball, water polo, and tennis – but also in swimming! In Serbia, there is much to be desired in this respect – there is not enough pool space for swimmers; and secondly, financial funding of development and analytical technologies is also lacking. But one thing at a time – we need to build more pools specifically for competitive/club swimmers and competitive/club swimmers only, said Čavić for Jat Review, in January 2008. | | 
