Last night we sat in front of the TV and watched school children give their best in the pool.
I am very grateful to Fiji Television for televising the National Schools Swimming Championship 2017.
This broadcasting has lifted the profile of the sport and thus not only celebrating the sport and just how many young competetive swimmers we have, but also the need for proficiency in swimming. This was not not just elite schools and swimmers... there were children from smaller schools, not heard of in athletics or rugby, that were stamping their mark.
I only ever swam twice in the schools swimming competition in my day, an event so small it was a National Swimming Carnival. I still think the only reason I won my final in the 100m Beeastroke was that it was a mixed final and I couldn't allow myself to come second to my sister from another mother, Angela Birch.
But for as one half of a team of parents who, like many others I would guess, would like their children to belong to a sport that is non contact, teaches proficiency in a life skill, and which instills discipline, the motivation to do your personal best, focus and get totally fit... this is the sport.
Long after the years of competitive swimming are over... the pool remains... swimming for health, for fitness, for reflection and relaxation and for fun.
As a parent who wakes up at 4.30am to get his kids to the pool by 5.30 almost every morning of the year, who has seen his children grow and develop in so many ways because of this sport....
Thank you Fiji One. You have taken a big step by not just waiting for a sport to become popoular but by recognsing the potential of a sport and promoting it. You're still my number one.
