HON PM BAINIMARAMA - OPENING REMARKS ON THE 11TH OCEANIA SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS 2016
6/20/2016
The President of FINA, Dr Julio Maglione from Uruguay;
FINA Senior Vice President Husain al Musallam from Kuwait;
FINA Vice President Dale Neuberger from the USA and FINA delegates from abroad;
The President of the Oceania Swimming Association, Dennis Miller, and visiting Association delegates;
The President of Fiji Swimming, Ben Rova, and the Organising Committee of the 11th Oceania Swimming Championships
Swimmers, coaches, parents, visitors and friends:
Bula vinaka and a very good evening to you all.
Swimming is fast becoming a first tier sport in Fiji – rapidly gaining in popularity as better facilities like this one become available throughout the country. So I’m delighted on behalf of the Fijian swimming fraternity to welcome all of you who have come from throughout the region to take part in the 11th Oceania Swimming Championships.
We are increasingly boosting our profile in international sport by attracting major sporting events like this to Fiji, with all the flow-on benefits for our economy and our regional and global image. And I’m very pleased that Fijian sports lovers are getting to see the very best swimmers in the Pacific performing in the pool here in our capital.
We are certain to see some wonderful competition over the coming days, with the added incentive for our top swimmers to use this as a launch-pad to international events such as the Rio Olympics in August. I know that you will all be swimming as hard as you can for your various countries and I wish you every success.
Swimming is certainly going to be in the spotlight for the next few days and I urge every Fijian to enjoy the spectacle on television and in the rest of the media. I also encourage every parent to make sure that your child learns how to swim. It is a life-skill of critical importance in the maritime nations of the Pacific, many of which like Fiji are also subject to regular flooding. And it happens to be a wonderful competitive sport and a great way to exercise.
Mr President, Ladies and Gentlemen, my Government is steadily upgrading sporting facilities across the nation and part of that means building more swimming pools to enable competitive events to take place in our smaller towns. We, of course, are planning to build more swimming facilities throughout Fiji over time.
My warm thanks goes to FINA on behalf of the Government and the Fijian people for bringing this event to Suva. It is great to be able to host the FINA President and his delegates and also the visiting delegates of the Oceania Swimming Association.
I’d like to make special mention of the FINA Athletes Commission member - the Australian Olympian Patrick Murphy. Patrick learned to swim growing up here in Fiji – as did another Olympic champion, Shane Gould – and the skills he gained eventually propelled him to the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. So welcome home, Patrick. You are a great inspiration to all our young swimmers here that with hard work and dedication, they too can become champions and fulfill their dreams.
Mr President, Ladies and Gentlemen, on behalf of my Government, through the Ministry of Youth and Sports, our Sports Council and National Sports Commission, welcome again to Fiji and I hope you enjoy our world famous hospitality. I wish every competitor and official the very best and now have great pleasure in launching the 11th Oceania Swimming Championship 2016.
Vinaka vakalevu. Thank you.