Tonga’s Finau Ohuafi, 24, took on the Men’s 50m Butterfly in Singapore, marking his return to the World Championships following an appearance last year in Budapest and more recently at the Pacific Mini Games in Palau. Finau is joined in Singapore with fellow Tonga teammate Charissa Panuve, who will swim later this week.
Known for his calm confidence, Finau entered the pool with a strong reaction time of 0.69. This bold start led to a great race, taking home a personal best time of 25.53 – shaving a point off his previous best he achieved earlier this year at the Australian Open Championships.
As Finau positively reflected on his race, it was the three simple elements that took his race to the next level to beat his previous best “good breakout, good 50 then finish strong”. Confident preparation has been key to Finau’s success, training hard at university is a clear recipe for success “I train hard with my coaches back at Bond in Australia, preparing for this, it’s been a lot of plans, a lot of what to eat for nutrition and then it’s just a lot of planning but it’s been good, it’s all worth it once you swim it and then finish”.
Finau’s training is not all technical, the strong focus from Finau’s coach comes from his background as an open water swimmer. Learning to swim and having swam most of his life in the ocean has been a learning curve for Finau, and one that continues to have an influence on his swimming style. With a smile he shares one key factor his coach would like to see a change with “ ‘Stop moving your head around. That’s your only problem!’ ”. You could see the light in Finau’s face light up as he described his background with open water swimming, changing the habits of a lifetime is no easy transition “I grew up swimming in the ocean, like open water. So swimming in the ocean my head’s just up; have a look at what’s in front of me and then go down. But then training here, it’s a pool, not open water. So my head’s just automatically used to up or moving, checking, and then just moving around, basically. So that’s what my coach has been telling me. ‘Just don’t move your head. If you don’t move your head, you’ll do a good time’ ”.
Though he comes from ocean swims, it is clear Finau is at home in the pool at this international level, taking all this competition has to offer and feeling the privilege of being part of this massive event. “It’s a different feeling every time, in Singapore, no words to describe how grateful I am to be here and represent my small country.” And represent he does, shining bright and bringing home the accolades to the Kingdom of Tonga.
Finau is back in action on Day 4 for the 100m Freestyle, bringing experience and energy to the pool.
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Written by The Reporters’ Academy