It was the busiest day yet in the pool in Kazan for the Pacific island swimmers. The Oceania representatives had no fewer than 17 athletes competing across four events.
Samoa’s Winter Heaven is keen to lead by example at these championships for the young team around him. He currently holds six national records, reward not only for his dedication and commitment but also for the importance he has always placed on representing Samoa.
The 21 year old posted his personal best and national record in the 100m Freestyle at the Oceania Championships of 2014 in New Zealand. A time of 53.01 seconds. That had disappeared by 10am on day four in Kazan, with Winter racing home in 52.77 seconds. He was tired but clear in his reflections straight after the race,
“ I’m pretty happy with it. It’s a best since I came back to the sport. It was a fun one, it’s always fun racing in the next lane to Ifa (Ifa Paea from Tonga) but it hurt, it hurt a lot. “
His drive was evident as he began to outline the next steps to success,
“There’s still some small conditioning issues I need to work on but that’s just going to come with time and as part of training. I’m pretty happy with my technique, I’m feeling good in the water. So now it’s just the little things, like hitting the wall a little better, bringing it home in the last 15m and being a bit stronger.”
The former Utah College student, who has been swimming for just ten years is next in the pool on day six where he will line up in the 100m Butterfly.
“ I got a chance to look at my ‘Fly this week which has been helpful, to work on a few things that we’ve pointed out in practice. Hopefully, I can transfer that to a race”
The 50m Backstroke was the first event and Evelina Afoa of Samoa lined up alongside two other Oceania swimmers from the Marshall Islands and Federated States of Micronesia.
Evelina was seeking her second personal best and national record in just three days having set a new mark in the 100m Backstroke.
In the end, she was just 0.07 seconds outside the record finishing in 31.74 seconds.
For someone who holds multiple national records and sets her standards admirably high she was a little frustrated afterwards at narrowly missing out,
“It was alright, my start was pretty good but I could feel myself slowing down. I can’t be too disappointed, I’m pretty happy overall with my performance this week.”
She has now finished competing at these championships and although the disappointment of the 50m was understandably uppermost in her mind she remained positive,
“This week has been quite good, I would have liked to have PB’d in the 50m but I went close to my time, so I’m not too disappointed. I’m happy with my 100m so I’ve just got some things I can take away and look to improve which is good. It’s been so much fun and such a great experience, I’ve really, really enjoyed it.”
This was a positive championships for Evelina, it was only at the Barcelona World Championships in 2013 that she remarked how her 50m Backstroke was stronger than her 100m version. She can now reflect that through her hard work she has two strong suits in her swimming pack.
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