Team Fiji Swimming successfully completed 7 days of competition on Saturday, July 27th at the 2019 FINA World Championships in Gwangju, Korea. Team Manager, Mrs Marlene Blake shared that “the team was focused on improving their times and world rankings in their events. The pressure to improve times after the recent Pacific Games was a big challenge, but we had been preparing prior to entering into the Pacific Games – the swimmers were fantastic”. Head Coach, Mr Willie Elaisa adds “The most valuable takeaway has been the ability to mentally prepare, and perform in the face of back-to-back elite level, high intensity competition. We are very proud of our swimmers.”
The team entered into the FINA Worlds boosted from the positive results in Apia, however the FINA Worlds comes with a different set of expectations. The caliber of competition features the best from around the world, with swimmers aiming to qualify for the 2020 Olympics and others wanting to set new World Records. Team Fiji at these FINA Worlds include:
Swimmers: Matelita Buadromo, Moana Wind, Taichi Vakasama, Netani Ross
Officials: Mrs Marlene Blake (Team Manager) and Mr Willie Elaisa (Coach)
We are very proud of our swimmers and officials on tour, and we also recognize our coaches, officials, and families here at home, who have tirelessly supported our journey. Our very own Fiji based, locally trained swimmers are at these 18th FINA World Championships and competing against swimming powerhouse nations, and World champions. The attendance is more than just to compete. Our attendance at a championships of this caliber is to provide us with insight into the current standards from around the World, how we measure up against them, and how can we narrow that gap.
Clocking Personal Bests so soon after the Historical performances in Apia, Fiji Swimming is proud to announce the performances at these World Championships have validated the findings from the 2019 Pacific Games – Fiji Swimming has the ability to deliver effective High Performance programs. Fiji Swimming can produce elite athletes in country, and we will continue.
The team returns to Fiji on Tuesday, July 30th, and will jump right into the Fiji Swimming calendar of events, entering into the Short Course season starting on August 10th with Grand Prix 1 in Nadi.
We continue to thank our sponsors and friends who have been very supportive in our journey towards sporting excellence.
