Sharon Pickering made her debut as a national representative on home soil as a young 12-year-old swimmer at the 1979 Suva South Pacific Games.
During the 1987 Noumea South Pacific Games, she was the toast of Team Fiji, having bagged two gold, two silver and two bronze medals in the pool, also breaking the South Pacific Games records in the 100m and 200m backstroke.
“I was very honoured and proud to wear the Fiji uniform when representing our nation — all the hard work in the pool paid off,” Sharon shared.
The determined young lady dominated every swimming competition at the Suva Olympic Pool guided by the man behind many Fiji swimming champions, Horace Petersen.
For Sharon, her proudest moments were winning her first ever South Pacific gold medal in 1987 with her mother there watching from the stands and second being inducted into the hall of fame in 2007, recognised for all her hard training over the 13 years and competing. She became an Olympian at the tender age of 17 years when she attended her first Olympic Games in 1984 in Los Angeles and her impressive swimming career spanned over three Olympiads.
On May 28, 1992, The Fiji Times published an article about Sharon preparing to represent Fiji for the last time at the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games.
After retiring from competitive swimming in 1992, Sharon put back what she had gained from the sport by contributing her time as a coach.
“I coach swimming full-time with the Dolphin Swimming Club at the DNAC in Suva. I teach swimming as well to children as young as six months old to masters swimmers over 50 years old,” Sharon shared.
“I am also the head coach for Fiji Swimming.
“It is satisfying when my swimmers swim their personal best times in training as well as during competition and when my swimmer makes the Fiji Team.”
