The first day of the 2024 World Aquatic Swimming Championships (25m) in Budapest was a celebration of resilience and achievement for Vanuatu. Chloe Ameara and Leo Lebot both hit the water with determination, and the results were a testament to their hard work: personal bests, setting the tone for an exciting week ahead.
A smiley Ameara was, rightfully so, “happy with my time” in the Women’s 100m backstroke but was quick to add “the last 25 metres was a bit of a struggle.” A surprising reflection considering Ameara finished the event in 1:25:21 which was almost 10 seconds faster than her qualifying time, making it a personal best for the young swimmer.
Ameara stated “A pretty decent personal best, but I could have been a little faster” with the plan being to “work on my start and underwater” with her coach. In the next breath, it was great to see the swimmer praise herself on her efforts in the pool “but we’ve been working on my rotation and I think that went pretty well.”
Next up was 17 year old Leo who swam the Men’s 50m butterfly event, who’s 18th birthday comes shortly after the championships finishes, completing the event in 29:29:00.
Following in the same humble steps of his team mate, Lebot described his time in the pool as “I feel really good. I think I could have been faster on the end but I’m still really happy.” A fitting statement considering the swimmer achieved a personal best. A very successful day in the pool for Vanuatu.
The pride Lebot has for his island became apparent during his interview as he could not help but reflect on the differences between regional and World competitions, “It’s really different, usually we have 20-30 people around, but here you have 5 cameras on you, a full crowd and lights everywhere! It’s really scary but you’ve just got to ignore everything and concentrate on your race.” And as for his biggest inspiration, his coach Joanne, what would she think of his performance on behalf of Vanuatu? “She’ll probably say I need more training but we have a huge lack of facilities in Vanuatu so I think she’ll understand.” Finally adding, “She’ll be really proud of me.”
One of Lebot’s swimming goals is to attend and compete in as many competitions on a variety of scales as possible and he already had the next event in mind “This competition has been amazing. For Vanuatu, we do lots of regional competitions in the Pacific. We’re looking to go to the Pacific Mini Games in Palau next year and try to get new PBs for Vanuatu and new National records.”
With their first swim in the bag, this was the perfect opportunity for Ameara and Lebot to share their advice to their fellow Pacific islanders ahead of their upcoming heats. Ameara wants her fellow islanders to “have a lot of fun!” adding “we may not be the best of the best out there but it’s always really good to gain experience at meets and make lots of new friends.”
Lebot, with his obvious determination, wants his fellow islanders to not let obstacles get in their way when it comes to achieving their sporting dreams “even if you don’t have a pool, find time… Do anything you can; swim in the ocean or a pool, and get the training done.”
Ameara and Lebot will be back in the pool later this week, with Ameara competing in the 100m Medley on December 12 and Lebot in the Men’s 50m Freestyle on December 14. With these two inspiring athletes leading the way, Vanuatu’s presence at Budapest is already a success story.