Our Junior Pan Pacs team has returned home with some great results and wonderful memories from the 2018 Junior Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in Suva, Fiji from 22-26 August.
After a 3-day staging camp in Brisbane, the team travelled to Fiji where they were invited to afternoon tea at the Australian High Commission, along with the Fijian team. It was a once in a lifetime experience for the young swimmers that will certainly stay with them for many years.
When the competition kicked off, the swimmers came out firing and it was Nunawading’s Brendon Smith (coached by Scott Talbot) who was one of Australia’s top performers. Brendon swam a PB in the 400m Freestyle to take home the Silver in a time of 3:52.67. He was also part of the Bronze medal-winning 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay team, along with fellow Victorian, Silas Harris (Northcote, coached by Ashley Delaney), who was also a finalist in the 200m, 400m and 1500m Freestyle events.
Thomas Pearson (Melbourne University Propulsion, coached by Seb Bettiol) just missed out on a medal in the 4 x 100m Medley Relay with the Australian team finishing in 4th place behind a strong field. He made the final of the 100m Breaststroke, finishing in 8th place, touching the wall at 1:04.31. He also made the final of the 200m Breaststroke but withdrew from the event to focus on his relay swim.
Our girls had strong swims, with Tara Kinder (DVE Aquatic, coached by Brian Miller) finishing in 7th place in the 200m Breaststroke final (2:32.51) and Kayla Costa (Nunawading, coached by Scott Talbot) placing 8th in the 100m Butterfly final (1:00.94).
Team Manager, Kirsty West was proud of our Victorian swimmers and their performance both in and out of the pool. “Junior Pan Pacs is a huge stepping stone for our Victorian athletes and coaches, and often the first time our athletes are exposed to international competition. The team environment and support for one another was outstanding and the experience for Brendon, Kayla, Tara, Silas and Tom will no doubt motivate them to go further” said West.
For full results, click here.
