Six Volleyball legends inducted into Swedish Volleyball Hall of Fame

Two heroes from the men’s national team’s meteoric rise from the bottom to the world elite, a leader who served on the federation board for as many as 40 years, two women who stood out equally in Volleyball and Beach Volleyball, and Sweden’s dominant Beach Volleyball star for more than 20 years. These are the latest inductees to the Swedish Volleyball Hall of Fame, a project started during Swedish Volleyball’s 60-year anniversary in 2021, and now a new group of legends has been announced. The inductees will receive their awards at the Hall of Fame banquet scheduled for January 2027, in conjunction with the Grand Prix in Uppsala.

The six new inductees are:

#25 Jan Svensson
A leader coming from Lidingö SK where as a player he won nine Swedish Championship titles. He served as a board member of the Swedish Volleyball Federation for 40 years, of which four years as President and another nine as Vice-President. He is also a former member of the FIVB Finance Commission.

#26 Tomas Hoszek
An opposite/outside hitter in the squad that took Sweden from a low-ranked nation to the world elite during the 1980s. Unfortunately, his career as a Volleyball player ended prematurely due to an injury. He competed in one Olympic Games and two editions of the European Championships, and played professionally in Spain and France. He earned 185 caps for the national team. Since retiring from his playing career, he has worked in elite Swedish women’s football and as a Secretary General for Lidingöloppet, the 30-km race. He is married to Eva Hansen Hoszek, inductee #7.

#27 Urban Lennartsson
The outside hitter and serve receiver was also a member of Sweden’s golden generation in the 80s and early 90s. He competed in one Olympic Games, one World Championships and three European Championships. He played professionally in Belgium and earned as many as 285 caps for the national team.

#28 Anna Vorwerk (now Areskoug)
National team middle blocker with 131 caps on her resume, which includes a gold medal from the German Bundesliga and silver in the University Championships in USA, together with six Swedish Championships. She was named Sweden’s ‘Player of the Year’ in 1989. Selected to the Second All-American Team, Vorwerk also played in the women’s first professional league contested in the USA. She was successful in Beach Volleyball as well, with a ninth place from the European Championships and victory in the Swedish Beach Tour Finals.

#29 Lotten Wiig Ekström
National team setter with 97 caps, seven Swedish national championship titles and Sweden’s ‘Player of the Year’ in 1990. She achieved success in Beach Volleyball too, finishing ninth at the European Championships, registering one victory in the Swedish Beach Tour Final, claiming two Swedish Championships and playing many international matches. She was named twice Sweden’s ‘Beach Volleyball Player of the Year’. 

#30 Karin Lundqvist
The country’s most dominant Beach Volleyball star for more than 20 years, with ten gold medals in the Swedish Beach Tour Finals and seven Swedish Championships to her name. She received the award for the country’s “Beach Volleyball Player of the Year” as many as six times. She competed in multiple World and European Championships, ranked ninth in the world and secured three fifth places on the World Tour. Until now, she is the only Swedish player to have competed on the Brazilian Tour with great success. She also claimed accolades from the American Tour and one title in the Swedish Volleyball league. Lundqvist worked as a TV commentator during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games when David Åhman and Jonatan Hellvig secured a historic gold medal for Sweden.