Late last month, Guam competed in the 13th Oceania Swimming Championships at Gold Coast Aquatic Center in Southport, Queensland, Australia.
During the high-level competition, which attracted swimmers from 14 nations, Guam’s contingent comprised Amaya Bollinger, James “Jimi” Hendrix, Benjamin Ko and Israel Poppe.
Guam, out of all the competing nations, smashed personal records, made one podium and placed sixth overall.
Poppe, who earned the silver medal in the 200-meter individual medley, finishing the race in 2 minutes, 14.01 seconds, told The Guam Daily Post he was pleased with his results.
“Thanks to my coaches and my parents motivating me to do better, I was able to improve my technique and conditioning,” he said.
Leading to the championships, Poppe said he spent seemingly countless hours in the pool, working on perfecting his skills and improving his craft.
“I have put a lot more work into my IM than I usually do,” Poppe said. “I train hard so it doesn’t matter how I feel in the water. I have to rely on my technique-conditioning that I’ve worked for so I don’t have to worry about if I can bring it back harder in the last 50.”
Graciously, Poppe thanked the Guam National Olympic Committee, his coaches at Guam Aquatics, formerly known as the Guam Swimming Federation, and his parents for “giving me the opportunity to represent and swim for Guam.”
Bollinger, the team’s lone female, also enjoyed success down under. In the women’s 100-meter butterfly (1:06.71), 100-meter freestyle (1:03.95), and 200-meter butterfly (2:34.27), she set new personal records.
"Going into this meet, I was, of course, looking for an opportunity to break my best times. I was really happy with the results of the meet as I was able to break all three of my previous PRs and even get an island medal (an inter-competition achievement which doesn’t include powerhouses Australia and New Zealand).
“I definitely reached my goals and I would like to thank my swim and strength coaches for pushing me and believing in me, my parents for always supporting me, my teammates for pushing each other and making these meets memorable, and to GNOC and Guam Aquatics for always supporting the athletes and giving us these amazing opportunities,” she said.
