From the total number of 15 countries, Pool and open water swimmers are scheduled to race at the 2019 Pacific Games, this week. This event of multi-sport takes place every year preceding to the Summer Olympics, which includes all of the small island countries from all around the Pacific Ocean.
On Monday morning, the first medals were handed out when New Caledonia’s Charlotte Robin continued as the champion in the women’s open water event, which comprises of 3 km but this year it has been extended to 5 km.
Well, on the other hand, talking about the men’s race, Tahitian swimmer Rahiti De Vos won the gold medal, giving Tahiti their first gold medal of the 2019 competition event.
The golden begin for New Caledonia predicts a reprise of the 2015 event, where they have won half medals in swimming that is out of 42 medals they won a total number of 21 medals. In the meantime, Tahiti earns their first swimming medal from the time at least 2007 (records previous to 2011 get sketchy).
Well, it is expected that there is going to be some turnover in this year’s events; for instance, Papua New Guinean swimmer Ryan Pini, who is a 4-time Olympian as well as Pacific Games legend, is not swimming this year, in its place he is serving as the deputy chair of the Pacific Games Council Athletes Commission this year.
While talking about his previous achievements, in the year 2015, he won 6 individual gold medals to go with 3 relay medals. In addition to being absent from this year’s meet is Tonga’s Amini Fonua, who cleared the breaststroke events (comprising Meet Records in the 50 and 100) previous year.
Coming to the women’s side, the star performer Lara Grangeon, who won 11 gold medals in the year 2015, is also going to be absent this year as she is right now in Japan on training camp for getting ready to represent France at the World Championships. Well, New Caledonia is very popular as well as a special collectivity of France along with its athletes who represent France at most international competitions or tournaments.
From the biggest names who are going to return in this year’s event comprises of Emma Terebo, who won 9 gold as well as 1 bronze medals in the year 2015. That also consists of Games Record in the 50 backstrokes (29.18), 100 backstrokes (1:02.60), as well as 50 free (26.26).
Talking about the 2019 Pacific Games, then it is considered to be the sixteenth edition of the Pacific Games. These competitions are helding in Apia. These Games have also seen the Pacific Games return to Samoa for the first time since the year 2007, and the third in general to be held in Samoa.
The event was originally awarded to Nukuʻalofa, Tonga, but the Tongan government formally pull out from hosting it in May 2017, in the middle of concerns that the country may possibly face economic difficulties if it continued.
These Games are also going to see the introduction of an extra discipline for basketball, which is the 3×3 format, along with the return of archery as well as badminton which were not on the Pacific Games program in 2015 edition.
