The Fiji Swimming Federation are well known for positively developing their talented swimmers. Looking after anything precious, requires care, attention, understanding and support. Currently, they have a swimmer that is developing very positively indeed, and catching the eye. 15 year old Anahira McCutcheon was already an Olympian at the tender age of 14.
Anahira took to the pool on Day 5 in Singapore in Heat 5 of the Women’s 100m Freestyle. She was the best placed of the Pacific island swimmers, finishing in a time of 57.76 seconds. Having blasted down the first 50m and turning first, she finished a little outside of her personal best of 57.07. Anahira reflected,
‘Not the best I gave it my all, but I probably could have planned out my race better for a faster back end. My main focus for this swim was to take the risk in the first 50 and push with what I’ve got left for the second 50 as well as keeping it long and strong. I may have gotten a little bit excited in the first 50 making the second 50 much harder.’
Having appeared at the Paris Olympics, how did it compare to stepping out at a 50m World Championships?
‘The atmosphere was definitely different to what I’m used to, but when I was walking out to the blocks I put my head down to avoid distractions because I knew looking up at all the room around me would make me more nervous.’
Anahira clearly has a maturity in advance of her years in the way she approaches her swimming. She thinks carefully about how to maximise her marginal gains in the pool by minimising distractions and those natural nerves.
‘I definitely get excited, as well as super nervous before I swim and it’s not easy to take my mind off of the fact I’m racing. My nerves build up around a day or two before I swim, and the people who help me heaps are my teammates. We play cards almost every meal time at the table and these games always take my mind off racing.’
Anahira is based in Brisbane, Australia at St Peter’s Western. In April she,’competed in the Australian Age Nationals and since then the training load has increased quite a bit. Being a boarder makes the balance of school and training much easier as after evening training boarders are required to study for 2 hours so this allows me to finish homework and assignments. ‘
This level of intensity highlights the life of an elite swimmer as Anahira states, ‘goals are achievable at any age if you consistently work hard.’
It’s evident that the Fiji team realise that they have an ‘ace in the pack’ and are wrapping their collective arms around Anahira to not only provide support and development but importantly, that she enjoys her swimming to the fullest. Great teamwork.
The next chance to see Anahira in action is on Day 7 in the Women’s 50m Freestyle.
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Written by The Reporters’ Academy Photos by Andrea Schuster