Today, 25 March 2008, the Slovenian swimmers, top athletes employed by the Police, who achieved excellent results at the European Swimming Championship in Eindhoven, Netherlands arrived at Jože Pučnik Airport.

Sara Isaković won first place in the 200 m freestyle, thus garnering the gold medal and title of European champion in this discipline. Peter Mankoč came in second in the 100 m butterfly and won the silver medal, and Matjaž Markič was 5th in the 50 m breaststroke.

After arriving at the airport, the swimmers were heartily greeted by their relatives and friends, as well as by police representatives, all of whom congratulated them for the excellent results

Sara Isaković, employed by the Police only since 1 February of this year, said after returning to the homeland: "The feelings are phenomenal, I feel great. I would like to thank everyone, since I am living my dream. I improved the state record by 7 tenths of the second. After 27 years, I am the first Slovenian swimmer to give Slovenia a new gold medal in a European championship. At the moment, the most important thing for me is to stay on firm ground and to continue training. There are still three or four hard months in front of me. Surely this is the most positive stimulation for the future, either for the world championship or for the Olympic games."

The top athletes were received by Franc Rožman, Head of the Top Athletes Division at the Police.

As Peter Mankoč said, he had to jump into the water three times and all his plans were realised. "All went as planned. Because of the medal the joy was even greater. This is surely a good sign for the future. In addition, I would like to thank my family, who have supported me from the beginning of my career, and to my club, which makes great efforts for us. I am really glad that I have such a good and coordinated team behind me. I am glad that I succeeded in proving that I can also achieve exceptional results in a 25-metre pool, which is, in my opinion, equivalent to the 50-metre one."

Peter Mankoč and Franc Rožman

Matjaž Markič is also very satisfied with his result, since the competition was very strong. "For the bronze medal, the swimming had to be quicker than for winning the world championship and this says it all. I hope that I can continue this trend. I reached the Olympic norm in December, so I can now prepare for the Olympic games in peace, as I would like to improve my personal record by half a second. Big merit goes of course to the police, where I have been employed already for two years, and I hope we will continue to cooperate that well. I am also very proud to be a police officer and that I can represent the Slovenian police and swimming in the world."

Matjaž Markič and Franc Rožman

The leadership of the Slovenian Police also congratulated the three athletes on their achievements.