Friday 13th December
An early morning mixed relay for Team Samoa, saw Kaiya Brown, Paige Schenderlaar-Kemp, Hector Langkilde and Kokoro Frost take on the mixed 4x50m freestyle event. As always, the team was joyous at the experience of competing together at the World Aquatics Swimming Championships in Budapest. Narrowly missing a new national record for the event, the team were full of good spirit as they finished their heat. Their energy is infectious as they describe how it feels to do these mixed relays “we’ve been able to bounce off each other’s energy and that’s been reflected in our swims”.
With a final time of 1:39.76 it is evident that their supportive approach to the event has paid off. Reflecting on their approach to these team events they shared that they “push each other to the best of our abilities”.
Following the fun of the morning race, Paige went on to compete in her individual women’s 100m butterfly heat. Undefeated by going a little over her best time, she revelled in the incredible opportunity of being able to swim in the world championships “this whole experience and every race, no matter the result, has been an enjoyable experience as a whole’.
Paige was first to enter the water with a brilliant reaction time of 0.64. This gave a smooth start which continued into her first 75m, taking strong split times of 12.73, 15.46 and 16.09. A final push in the last lap of 17.56 gave a final overall time of 1:01.84.
As Paige approaches the end of her time at her first world championships she reflects on some of her stand out memories of her time, describing the high energy of her team, it has been being part of Team Samoa that has really made this experience for her. In preparation for her first meet representing Team Samoa she describes her goal for her time “take every moment and enjoy it and learn from it”.
There is a relaxed energy about Paige as she’s now completed her individual events, and has the opportunity to relinquish some of the pressure of individual races “even though you’re swimming for your country, you are out there on your own. So I’m excited to be out there with the three of them again tomorrow”. As Samoa looks ahead to their next mixed relay event the following day, the camaraderie and positivity amongst the swimmers is undeniable. The experiences they’ve shared so far have strengthened their bond and fueled their determination to support one another in every race.