12th Oceania Swimming Championships

Aus dominates final swimming event

The event, hosted at the Port Moresby Naval Base, saw Australia dominate both the men’s and women’s category.

The men’s division was the first to take to the Port Moresby waters at 9am today.

Only four countries had registered for the men’s event, and they are: Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii and Solomon Islands.

Australia’s 21-year-old athlete, Ethan Owens, was the first of the 7 swimmers to complete the 8 laps, clocking 1 hour, 42 minutes and 28 seconds.

Oceania Swimming Championships: Day 3

It was the 4 by 100 metre freestyle races that got the crowd roaring towards the end of the final heats for their respective teams.

Team PNG did well in the 4x100 freestyle relay; it was the men’s race that was every bit a nail-biting experience.

Team PNG’s Sam Seghers opened the race for the lads, maintaining speed with Australia, New Zealand and Hawaii.

Next in the pool was 18-year-old Josh Tarere, who put up a good challenge against Samoa’s Sitivi Sooaemalelagi, and one of Fiji’s strongest swimmers, 18-year-old Taichi Vakasama.

Swimming comp heats up on Day 2

The finals for Day 2 was on fire on Wednesday night, as the qualifying swimmers raced to beat their preliminary times, and pile on the medals at the end of the race.

The finals began with the 50m backstroke. New Zealand topped the race with gold in the women’s event, and also maintained two wins in the men’s event.

Throughout the next six events, the big guns Australia and New Zealand challenged their smaller island competitors well.