Hillcrest Swimming Club

By Aruna Lolani 15 July 2017, 12:00AM

A family-friendly community swimming club located in Hillcrest, Hamilton New Zealand has visited Samoa for a week. 

They were hosted by Piula College and will be heading back home tomorrow. 

The club has offered training sessions with the local Samoan swimmers, each lasting an hour. 

Swimmers may attend as many or few of these sessions as they wish.

The team, as well as the coaches have really enjoyed the Tuanaimato pool facilities.

“There are 23 swimmers and we’ve got three New Zealand champions in there in different disciplines but they’re all training next weekend for the Short Course Nationals in October,” said Jamie Soo Choon, the Swimming Club Organizer.

“So the next major is in October 3rd and we’re looking forward to getting some better results. 

“It’s been good and we’ve coordinated our training sessions with the locals and our coach Matt has put some sessions together.

 “As a team, this is our first time in Samoa. It’s been great watching these kids experiencing new things and getting used to the heat. 

Using the different lanes of the pool, coaches Matthew Teokotai White and Kelsi Mackay divide swimmers into groups so that they swim with people of a similar speed.  

Jamie the swimming club organizer, is endlessly creative when devising swim sets so there is always something new to try. 

“If you are working towards a particular goal, you will do anything and everything to reach  success,” he said.

“We’re been here for a week and so far the kids are enjoying their small camping trip.  

“We decided to put this trip together and come after planning it for a couple of months. 

“I have been here several times before with my daughter and we love exploring around Samoa. 

“I learned about the swimming complex here and I thought it would be good for all our kids to experience something aside from our boring camping in New Zealand. 

“We have come to a tropical island instead and here we are; the kids love it! 

He said while it’s been fun, everything comes with challenges. 

“Yes planning has been a challenge at times, but speaking for myself, most of it has transitioned really smoothly and we’ve been just doing interesting things every day. 

“We’ve been to Paradise Resort, Piula, ToSua and Lalomanu Beach. We stayed at Tafua last night so we’re just getting around and seeing the country side. 

The team has donated a whole lot of shirts from their swimming camp to the college at Piula, the Methodist church. 

By Aruna Lolani 15 July 2017, 12:00AM
Samoa Observer

Upgrade to Premium

Subscribe to
Samoa Observer Online

Enjoy unlimited access to all our articles on any device + free trial to e-Edition. You can cancel anytime.

>