Team Fiji Swimming concluded 6 days of competition on Sunday, at the FINA World Junior Championships in Budapest, Hungary. The championships started on Tuesday, August 20th and Coach/Team Manager, Mrs. Rosemary Rova shared that “ the team is absorbing the intensity and richness of the experience in and out of the pool and at the core, the learnings have validated Fiji’s ability to prepare and mold elite athletes.”
The championships limit eligibility to 14-17years for Girls, and 15-18yrs for Boys. When on a level playing ground like this, there is a realization that our Fiji Swimmers have the potential to advance beyond their already inspirational. “The development pathway for them to explore their high performance potential is already underway”, Rova added.
The team of swimmers consist of: Rosemarie Rova, Jodie- Ana Puamau, Temafa Yalimaiwai and Hansel McCaig. Coach/Team Manager, Rosemary Rova and team soon return to Fiji later this week. The wealth of experience between the swimmers and their dedicated Coach is quickly expected to surely impact the growth of the individuals and roll onto the Federation soon after.
The Championships have come to an end but soon, we will get to witness just how instrumental it is, in paving a new road for high performance here in Fiji. After four (4)of the five (5) were part of the team to the Pacific Games and were instrumental in the success in Apia, there is already a big future ahead when we realize these athletes are still in a Junior Category but have already planted their footprint at a regional level, in the Open category.
“We are very proud of our swimmers and their coach/manager on tour” – General Manager, David Dugu mention. “We also recognize our coaches, officials, and families here at home, who have tirelessly supported our journey. Our very own Fiji based, home grown swimmers are at these FINA Junior World Championships and competing against swimming powerhouse nations, and Junior World champions.” – Dugu added.
The aim of our swimmers at these Junior Championships is to better their times, secure a world ranking, gain experience in swimming against the world’s best junior swimmers and aiming to qualify for the Olympic Games. Fiji Swimming is incredibly proud of this achievement to send a team of five (5) to a championships of this caliber, as it provides us with insight into the current standards from around the World, how we measure up against them, and how we can narrow that gap.
With this being the third tour after the recent Pacific Games in Apia, Fiji Swimming praises and supports the development programs happening around the country. The three tours prove our ability to deliver effective High Performance programs and produce elite athletes in country, and we will continue. The team under the direction of Coach/Team Manager Rosemary Rova were the third tour, following behind the Team of six (6) to the Elite FINA World Championships in Gwangju, Korea, and the second tour featuring a team of two to the FINA World Masters also in Gwangju Korea.
The team returns to Fiji on Friday, August 30th, and will jump back into the Fiji Swimming calendar of events, entering into the Short Course Grand Prix 2 on August 31st in Nadi.