‘I’m pretty happy, I haven’t really raced backstroke in a while, so I’m happy with that and yeah, I can’t wait for the rest of the competition.’
This was the reaction of Samoa’s Kaiya Brown after racing in her Heat of the Women’s 50m Backstroke.
The experienced competitor had touched the wall in a time of 33.48 seconds. A time that is just one second outside her personal best, but one that also showed her positive progress this season, beating a time posted in New Zealand in May this year.
Kaiya, always an informative and cheerful interviewee, went on to share her thoughts about her approach to backstroke swimming.
‘Backstroke’s a little bit more tricky for me to kind of slow down or get faster or pace myself. So, I’m quite happy with 50s and the occasional 100. Yeah, technically it was nice. I felt good in the water. Especially leading up to this week. Even though it’s been a long week until my first race.’
How does she cope with that four day wait to race, when most of the team are underway?
‘I have to keep moving, keep in the water. I’ve done a few days out and about, so getting my steps up and still moving around. It’s been a long week, but I’m happy that I’ve got my first race done.’
Dedicated and resilient are adjectives that are made for swimmers. Long hours, hard work, peaks and troughs are all part of a swimmer’s life. Kaiya has been swimming since she was 10 years old and been part of the national set up for the last 6 years, so a later start to competition is not something that particularly phases her.
‘I think being around the people that I am around really helps. Especially here, I get to actually stay with the swimmers and really immerse myself in the experience. So, I’m pretty happy that I get to do that with my friends, and I think that’s kind of what keeps me going, especially during a long week.’
Although still only 21, Kaiya is experienced enough to manage her preparation more, in order to maximise her performance. Many of the swimmers in Singapore also competed at the recent Pacific Mini Games. On this occasion Kaiya opted out of going to Palau, ‘because I knew that travelling a lot this month would put a lot of pressure on me and I think I’ve got to the stage where I know myself a bit better. Earlier on in my career I would have said yes to everything, but now I know when to slow down and when to really pick and choose what events probably mean the most to me and which ones will help me overall.’
Samoa’s 4 x 100m Mixed Medley team of Kokoro Frost, Johann Stickland, Paige Schendelaar- Kemp and Kaiya Brown posted a time of 4-24.22.
First off Kokoro spoke about the value of getting together to race,
‘Yeah, this is the first time that we’ve relayed together so it was just a really good opportunity for each of us and for the team to put our best foot forward.’
Whilst it’s a fun activity it’s still important to be competitive. First Johan and then Paige underlined the importance of this.
‘I’m just honestly trying to get my hand on the wall as fast as I can for my teammate.’ Johan
‘It’s a bit of fun for sure but it helps that everyone just gives their best and we all come together and kind of leave it in the pool together.’ Paige
The Samoa team are next together on Day 7 for the Mixed 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay.
–Ends–
Written by The Reporters’ Academy Photos by Andrea Schuster