With only 10 swimmers, the Orca Swim Club in Suva had a successful outing at the Fiji Swimming Age Nationals competition, held at the Damodar City Aquatic Centre in Laucala Bay yesterday.

About 193 swimmers participated in the two-day event, with 716 entries from dynamic young swimmers representing seven different clubs.

Assistant head coach for Orca, Sereana Heritage, expressed her pride in the team’s performance, the club fielded a total of 10 swimmers, with eight girls and two boys. The highlight of their participation was the relay team in the 15-16 female category, which showcased the talent and teamwork of their swimmers.

The team managed to secure 14 gold and nine silver medals throughout the competition, a testament to their hard work and dedication. Heritage also highlighted three swimmers, Katelyn Smith, Keiko Smith, and Grace Khelan, who are set to represent Fiji at the Mini Games in Palau next year.

The coaches are diligently preparing them for the competition, aiming for success and medals for the country. One of the notable achievements of the Orca Swim Club was that they did not incur any fines for swimming above the qualifying time.

“Also, we didn’t have to pay a fine, which was a really good thing, because there is a rule if you swim above the qualifying time you will have to pay $30, and to be quite honest really proud of my team, we did get to pay that.”