Fiji Splashes gold
It was a one-two in the Men’s 50m Breaststroke Final for Fiji. Having claimed the fastest three qualifying times in the morning’s heats, Samuel Yalimaiwai and David Young led the six finalists home in times of 27.74 seconds and 28.63 respectively.
We caught up with Samuel straight after his race and he was quite rightly delighted,
‘I’m glad to win the gold medal, especially with the time. I was aiming for 27, and I’m glad I managed to pull that off. All the hard work has paid off, so I’m happy with it. I’m happy to get a gold for the team. The crowd was amazing, a lot of supporters came out here in numbers and I think they really pushed us to perform really well tonight. You can hear them throughout the whole race.’
Speaking before the Games, coach Cheyenne Rova remarked how excited she was with the ‘mix’ of the team. With first time performers through to seasoned Olympians competing. Sure enough it wasn’t long before the Fijian flag was being raised not only by Samuel but also Kelera Mudunasoko in the Women’s 50m Breaststroke.
The new gold medallist and the first ever in this discipline at a Mini Games shed light on how she felt;
‘I was really nervous but then I just had to calm myself down, just visualise what I had to do. I’m very happy about it. All the training and sacrifices I’ve made have paid off. I’m really grateful. It’s really a pleasure.’
18 year old Vivita Bai reached her third final in two days finishing 5th in the 100m Women’s Butterfly in 1-06-06, just over 2 seconds away from a medal. Her male counterpart in the same discipline, Hansel McCaig snatched a bronze medal in 54.95 to add to his bronze and silver medals already won. The 21 year old will be hoping to get that elusive gold on Day 3 in the 50m Butterfly event.
Marseleima Moss was yet another swimmer to make the podium for Team Fiji. This time in the 800m Freestyle, clocking 9-43.53 for a well earned silver. Taking Fiji swim team’s haul to 9 medals in two days.
Marseleima was yet another athlete who highlighted the difference the spectators make at these Games,
‘I think you have to be here in person to really understand, because there’s just so many countries that are cheering for you. Even if they’re not in Team Fiji. So it’s just really amazing and really fun to be around. To everyone cheering at home I just want to say thank you so much. You guys are so supportive and we all couldn’t be here without you.’
Shout out also to 16 year old Jeremiah Rova who qualified for his first final at these Games in the 400m Individual Medley, completing the 16 lengths in 5-20.46. All completed in front of his sister and National Coach at these Games, Cheyenne Rova.
To round off things, the team came together for the 4x50m Mixed Medley Relay in the form of Theola Kwong, Jonalese Vatubua, Samuel Yalimaiwai and David Young. A time of 1-49.68 saw them separate Tahiti and Samoa to take silver.
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Words & interviews: The Reporters’ Academy. Photos: Ryota Nishida