ON April 16, 1997, The Fiji Times published an article about Manasa Marisiale, the disabled athlete leaving for the Multi-Disability Championship in Sydney.
Marisiale started swimming young and was noticed by his coach in 1996 where he was asked to start training with the big league despite his disability. He trained hard and qualified for the Summer Paralympics.
“The atmosphere during the 2000 and 2004 Summer Paralympics was unbelievable. There are over hundred countries participating and everyone was just friendly and over hyped,” Manasa shared
In 2000, his events during the paralympics were the men’s 100m freestyle and the men’s 200m medley and also the men’s 50m freestyle.
And in the 2004 Paralympics, Manasa’s first event was the 200m individual medley and he also competed in the 50m freestyle event.
The athlete has made Fiji proud in various occasions, participating in overseas and local events such as the Summer Paralympics and triathlon event in 2014.
During an interview with the Fiji Triathlon Association president Andrew Pene in 2014, he said the Fiji paratriathlon team of Manasa Marisiale, Verayame Naikolevu, and Sili Yabaki showed an impressive performance and would be looking to displace higher ranked teams in the series.
Today, Manasa is 60 years old and a coach at the University of the South Pacific’s swim club.
“I enjoy my work with the students. I show them that even with my disability I can reach the impossible, so it should be possible for them,” Manasa said
Manasa has a green certificate which allows him to coach students to swim and also to prepare them for competitions.
He is also preparing for the next Olympics in Tokyo, Japan and wants to participate in the masters swimming event.
