A lot of “enthusiasm” shown by swimmers – Bower

The National Schools Swimming Championship got underway yesterday at the Suva Olympic Pool and association president Patrick Bower says working behind the scenes of a big swim meet like this is never easy.

“Hosting and working logistics around the championship has not always been easy,” said Bower.

“To begin with, it was very difficult to find a venue where we could house all the schools that had swimmers coming in to compete.

“The next thing was to make sure that they were securely placed in a safe area.”

Bower said from the competition yesterday, he could tell the swimmers taking part were enthusiastic and looking forward to the two-day competition.

“We could tell from their faces that they were really, really looking forward to the competition this year,” he said.

“From our perspective, this competition is much needed. We have competitions for schools in all sports and it’s good to see that swimming is one of the top competitions.

“It began way back in 1987 and the tradition has held on till this day although we had to stop a few years back due to COVID-19.

“It’s an event students really look forward to and it’s good to see a successful day one.

“The support has really been excellent and it’s good to see people in numbers to support their kids.”