Vele continues family legacy in pool

 FOR young Georgia-Leigh Vele, pictured, swimming is part and parcel of her life. 

It has been part of her life with her father Warwick and mother Nicole Vele as former swimmers in their own rights. 

Vele’s dad and her brothers and her mother were swimmers in their hey days. 

Swimming is and has always been a part of her life and she cannot recall when she first got  into a swimming pool.

Her parents played an influential role in pushing her to swim competitively especially her dad and his brothers, who were all former Papua New Guinea swimmers who competed at regional and international events. 

Vele idolised her father because he was a swimmer and instilled a love for the water and was always behind her pushing her to do better and to never give up.

Her other idol is Jamaican swimmer Alia Atkinson. 

Atkinson, who was the first black woman to become a world champion, breaking the world record in the 100m breaststroke, showed that sheer determination could break boundaries. 

“I think that her humbleness and her determination is something all swimmers can learn from,” Vele said.    

She has attended numerous national championships since she started swimming in early primary school. Whenever she competes, she always aims to set new personal best times (PB) and she was happy to be part of the relay team at the TNT-sponsored national swimming championships in Port Moresby ealrier in the year.

There she set a new record, which is her first national record in swimming. 

Her preferred stroke is the  butterfly. 

Vele said the Pacific Games would be her first Games but she has represented the country on three occasions.