Youngsters taking over

 THE Papua New Guinea men’s and women’s 4x100m medley relays have seen a young generation of swimmers who will carry the nation’s hopes in coming years.

Though the PNG men’s team did not win gold many commentators have commended their performance against New Caledonia and Tahiti in the pool on Saturday night.

PNG’s Ryan Pini, Ryan Maskelyne, Samuel Segher and Stanford Kawale came close yet were so far behind as the Tahitian team of Teiki Dupont, Rainui Teriipaia-Renter, Hugo Lambert and Stephane Debaere beat them in a new Pacific Games record.

The timings for the three top placings; gold, silver and bronze are under the Games record of 3.56.58.

Tahiti won gold in 3.48,40, while PNG took sliver in 3.49.53 and New Caledonia bronze in 3.51.53. 

The PNG women’s line-up of Jannice Paraka, Savannha Tkatchenko, Teagan MaCarthy and Anna-Liza Mopio-Jane that won silver was awesome.

Apart from seasoned swimmer Mopio-Jane, the trio of Paraka, Tkatchenko and MaCarthy were first timers in the Pacific Games competition.