Fiji’s team spirit
Day 2 was an incredibly successful day for Fiji. All their swimmers entering the pool picked up a personal best time. An incredible effort for a team of 16, especially when 50% of the team are classed as Juniors under the age of 18, including a first time championship competitor.
This has been a successful Games for David Young having clinched 3 silver medals ahead of today’s 50m Butterfly Final. Aiming to round the set off with a gold, he was just again squeezed out for the top spot by just over half a second. Another silver in a time of 24.33 seconds.
The distance between silver and bronze was even closer, just 100th of a second, with David just finishing ahead of his compatriot Hansel McCaig. This was the 4th medal of the week for Hansel as part of Fiji’s haul of 14. Whilst they are clearly fierce competitors in the same team, the respect stands out as Hansel underlined,
“It’s a really close race and it’s amazing getting to race with this guy, and with him being on the same team it’s an honour. It was a tough race. We’ve got a stacked field and I’m just happy to get on the podium. ‘
Shortly after the race they rushed off to see their team-mates getting the gold and bronze in the Men’s 100m Breaststroke Final. Samuel Yalimaiwai doubled up this week on Breaststroke golds in 1-01.47 with younger swimmer Don Younger clinching his first medal by just 1/10th of a second. His time was 1-04.19 in the same race.
The importance of team spirit and support was not lost on the McCaig and Young. McCaig commenting,
‘Regardless whether swimming is an individual sport, at the end of the day you have a team and being there for each other to lift each other up, that’s what gets us to the wall. There’s a big support system that goes behind it in swimming and we’re just very thankful to have an amazing team. We’ve got young swimmers. Don Younger. It’s his first Mini Games in swimming, so him getting on the podium for a first individual bronze medal. Wow,’
That sentiment wasn’t lost on Don either, as he celebrated his medal.
‘My teammates have been a major part of supporting me and motivating me to swim, especially my captains. They’ve all been a big help to me. Other than that, my family, my mom and my dad, they’ve been supporting me throughout, encouraging me to keep on swimming. It’s thanks to them that I was able to medal.’
Fiji didn’t have to wait much longer for another swimmer to clinch a place on the top step of the podium, with Kelera Mudunasoko obliging in the Women’s 100m Backstroke. She completed the four lengths in 1-12.01. That’s three races and three medals for Kelera this week.
Marseleima Moss finished 4th in the 200m Backstroke Final in a time of 2-26.41.
Fiji rounded off their third competition day in the pool with their women finishing just outside the medals in the 4x 200m Freestyle Relay. Their time was 9-21.36. The men finished their respective relay over the same distance in 8-15.48.
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Words & interviews: The Reporters’ Academy. Photos: Ryota Nishida