Pini encourages team

By ISAAC LIRI
TEAM Papua New Guinea swimmers completed day three of the Oceania Championships yesterday without a medal but there was a host of personal bests achieved which impressed former star Ryan Pini.
Pini described the PNG side as a young developing team competing against Oceania’s best from Australia and New Zealand and were using the championship as a preparation for upcoming events including next year’s Pacific Games in Samoa.
“We have quite a new team and the level of competition here is high and to see most of them do personal best times is good because it’s going to give them motivation in the lead up to the Pacific Games,” Pini said.
PNG swimmers who got personal bests last night included 14-year-old Rehema Kalate in the women’s 50m breaststroke and his older brother Leonard, who swam 30.67 in the men’s 50m breaststroke.
PNG’s most experienced swimmer Sam Seghers finished fifth in the men’s 50m butterfly with a time of 57.25 behind Australia’s Oliver Nash (gold) 54.68, New Zealand’s Wilrich Coetzee (silver) and Australia’s Alex Quach (bronze) 55.53.
In the men’s 4x100m relay, Team PNG came close to winning a bronze however were six seconds behind third placed Hawaii who clocked in 3.34.35 to claim third place while the home side finished with 3.40.34.
New Zealand won gold with a time of 3.25.38 while Australia settled for silver in 3.28.05.
Pini was happy no one broke his Oceania record in the men’s 100m butterfly which he set in 2008, however he challenged swimmers from the Pacific and Oceania to do their best to set new records.
“I am happy to see my record in that event stand but I’ll be thrilled to see that record fall,” Pini said
“For me breaking that record in 2008 was a huge step leading to the Olympics where I made the finals, so anyone who breaks that record, I believe has the potential to do something great at the World Championships or even the Olympics,” Pini said.
With day four events scheduled for tonight at the Taurama Aquatic Centre, Pini was confident that the hosts would win a medal especially Seghers in either the men’s 50m freestyle or the men’s 200m butterfly, however the 36-year-old admitted it would be a huge task for Seghers.
Australia dominated the pool in last night’s events winning four gold medals and five silver medals while New Zealand won three gold, four silver and two bronze.
Fiji, on the other hand, were impressive winning their first gold last night in the men’s 50m breaststroke to Epeli Rabua clocking a time of 29.34 while Cook Island’s Wesley Roberts won gold in the men’s 400m freestyle with a time of 3.56.01.
Today’s final events will feature the mixed 4x100m relay, women’s 800m freestyle, men’s and women’s 50m freestyle, men’s and women’s 200m butterfly and men’s and women’s 4x100m individual medley.