Six former Olympians were part of the Masters Swimming time trials yesterday at the Damodar Aquatic Centre in Suva.
They were among the 25 former swimmers that registered for the event with the oldest being a 70-year-old.
Five time Olympian and Fiji Swimming record holder Carl Probert was one of the six that graced the pool, getting a sense of competitiveness after years on dry land.
“We think that there is an opportunity to try and get people that retired from sport or anybody that wanted to stay active to create some sort of competition or at least participate,” Probert said.
“I think people finish school, start work and there is not really an avenue for them to stay competitive and social so this is one way we thought would get people engaged.”
This is not the only reason why the Masters event is being encouraged.
“The Masters competition is as big as the Olympics or probably even bigger. We got 25 today (yesterday) but I’m sure the next tome we host there will be a lot more. I hope that this is a stepping stone towards sending a masters team to represent Fiji to Singapore next year.
“We have former Olympians in Sharon Smith, me, Foy Chung, Jason Chute, Jason Chute and well there’s quite a few of us actually so something for the Olympians to do after retirement,” Probert added.
There are plans to have a formal Masters competition at the conclusion of the Olympic Games in France.
“The times set at that competition will be Fiji records because I don’t think we have any formal Masters records.”
This will set the benchmark for the World Masters next year which will require swimmers to qualify on merit.
