Wednesday 11th December 2024
Maraseleima Moss has made her debut alongside teammate Hansel McCaig to proudly represent Team Fiji at the World Aquatics Swimming Championships in Budapest. Maraseleima raced in the women’s 100m freestyle and Hansel in the men’s 100m freestyle.
Maraseleima took to the pool first with an outstanding finishing time of 1:00.48, she left the pool beaming with positivity and excitement, marking a significant milestone in her swimming career. For Maraseleima, this competition is more than just a race; it’s her first big international meet. Reflecting on her experience, she shared, “It’s really exciting to see everyone compete and get behind each other.”
Maraseleima kicked off her race with remarkable intensity, clocking a good reaction time of 0.75 seconds. Her powerful entrance propelled her through the water with incredible speed, as evidenced by her rapid and consistent split times. She stormed through the first lap with a time of 13.88 seconds, followed by strong performances of 15.18, 15.53, and 15.89 seconds for the remaining laps. This excellent pacing showcased her strength and determination, as she maintained her momentum throughout the race.
The key to Maraseleima’s success, both in terms of her performance and her positive mindset, can be attributed to the sound advice received from her supportive coach. She emphasised that “as long as I enjoy it and try my best, that’s the main thing.” This mantra clearly resonated with her, as her infectious positivity radiated following her swim.
Delighted by her performance, Maraseleima even surprised herself with how well she had done. When asked what spurred on her success, she remarked: “The pool is really great, and just my nerves…nerves can be a bad thing, but in this case, they’re really good.” Hansel is no stranger to international events and says you get used to stepping out in these spaces but nerves are always still there. He was happy to enter the arena and see there was a massive crowd, which he saw as a good turn out for heats.
Hansel hit the water with an outstanding reaction time of 0.58, the quickest off the block in his heat. After this great start, he continued to use that power to bring in impressive split times of 11.13, 12.68, 13.29 and taking his final lap of 13.37 to deliver a brilliant overall race time of 50.47.
This is a particularly great performance considering three weeks earlier Hansel suffered a broken hand and only just recovered in time to even compete in his world class competition. Reflecting on this, when asked about the race he said “this was pretty tough so I’m happy with the result”.
When asked about his advice for any swimmers following in his footsteps he offered, “swim your own race, do whatever you’ve been doing in training and it’ll always pay off.” He also acknowledged that being surrounded by the world’s best is tough, it is a great opportunity for all competitors to gain insight and inspiration from others.
While at the championships, Maraseleima is keenly taking inspiration from the elite athletes around her. She eagerly plans to watch the semi-finals and finals, looking forward to witnessing more world records being broken.
Hansel’s next swim, men’s 100m IM is tomorrow, fortunately he is happy to compete in back to back races so he goes into that event with great composure. Maraseleima’s final heat in the women’s 200m backstroke is scheduled for the last day of the competition, providing her with ample opportunity to take in the thrill of elite swimming while mentally gearing up for her race. With their positive attitudes and unwavering spirit, Maraseleima Moss and Hansel McCaig are set to continue shining brightly later in this competition.