Matelita Buadromo was thrilled to have ranked first in her heat, smashing her qualifying time by almost 10 seconds with a result of 2.27.56 in the 200m Individual Medley. “I just maxed it all the way, and it turned out well!”
The 17 year old viewed this victory as the icing on the cake of an already fantastic experience:
“I’m just so honored to represent my country and to be in the World Championships. It’s great to be swimming amongst the world’s best.”
Matelita thought that her coach would be very happy with her performance after having helped a lot with her race plans – hard work which has clearly paid off today – but there’s no rest for the wicked as Matelita looks ahead, not just to the 200m Freestyle on Tuesday, but to further competitions:
“We are all really geared up towards Rio and the Pacific Games, and the Oceania Championships are next, so as soon as we get back I’ll be straight back in training.”
Fiji also saw Caroline Puamau, who trains with the Dolphin Swimming Club alongside Matelita, in the 100m Butterfly, with a time of 1:04:72, 0:00:81 outside her qualifying time. Caroline will be back in the pool on Wednesday for the 50m Backstroke, trying to beat her personal best.
In the men’s events, Douglas Miller broke the Fiji national record for the 100m Breaststroke, shaving 0.27 of a second off previous record holder Calum Liew’s time, with 1:09:19.
“I got it just in the nick of time, so I’m pretty happy with myself.”
This is the 20 year old’s second national record of the year, after breaking Fiji’s 200m Breaststroke record in April with a time of 2:36:84.
Douglas is also competing in the 200m Individual Medley on Wednesday and is feeling confident.
“The IM is my best and strongest event, so I feel I will put up a better time. I’m looking forward to it.” Douglas hopes to break his second national record of the week on Wednesday, and will have to beat Carl Probert’s time of 2:12:18 to do so.”
Despite today’s success, Douglas remains determined to continue progressing. Describing this World Championships as a stepping-stone in his progression towards future games, Douglas is focused on continuing to improve his times in further training after the event.