Clock fast times to qualify, says official

The Fiji National Primary and Secondary Schools Age Group Swimming Championship will be a qualifying platform for our swimmers, if they want to be selected for international tours. This was the gist of Fiji National Primary and Secondary Schools Age Group Swimming president Salaseini Lele’s interview with SUNsports yesterday.

“We are expecting to have a very stiff competition among our swimmers who are already in the aquatics platform, and they will have to fight for their spots if they want to be selected to go for international competition,” said.

“This is especially, the Junior Pan Pacific competition from August 17-20 in Vancouver, Canada and also the Australian Schools Swimming competition.”

Lele said if they need to be selected, then this competition would be their qualifier for both primary and secondary schools, but they must meet the required time if they are to qualify.

“They need to make faster times in this one in order to get selected for international competitions. A lot of international competitions are coming up. I believe our 17 to 19-year-olds will be coming to those events as they have the best time,” she said.

Lele said their preparations toward the national school’s competition are on track. She confirmed that 54 schools will be participating this year.

“It’s a public holiday, so I would like to request those who have the time in Suva to come over and watch our swimmers showcasing their talent in the water,” she said.

The two-day competition starts today at the Damodar Aquatic Centre, Laucala, Suva.