The oldest competitor Donald Robertson and the youngest Keely Williams swam on the opening day of the swimming competition.
Friday 4 November
By Ellen Baker
The 2016 Jupiters Pan Pacific Masters Games (JPPMG) welcomed both the youngest and the oldest competitor on the opening day of the swimming competition at the Gold Coast Aquatic Centre in Southport.
Keely Williams 18, from Rowville in Victoria, and Donald Robertson 91, from Runaway Bay, Queensland are competing in the three day swimming event in multiple races.
Gold Coast local Donald said he began swimming at a young age and first competed at a district level in his hometown of Newcastle.
“I grew up participating in surf life saving and swimming in the surf. I then joined the swim club and that’s where I developed my love for the pool,” Donald said.
Despite his age, the veteran has been swimming every morning in the lead up to the JPPMG to stay in shape for the multiple swimming races he will be competing in over the weekend including backstroke, freestyle and breastroke.
“I was awake early this morning for training and went for a 300 metre swim, but normally I would swim one kilometre,” Donald said.
Donald has been competing in the JPPMG for the past six years and spoke of his first unforgettable experience in the pool.
“I was contacted and asked to join a relay team for the JPPMG swimming event in Miami on the Gold Coast and we ended up breaking a Fina wold record,” Donald said.
Donald finished second behind Ossie Doherty in the men’s 90 – 94 50m freestyle.
With 73 years difference, Keely is the youngest competitor at the world’s biggest and best biennial masters games this year but is no stranger to the sport.
“I have been a competitive swimmer since I was seven years old, I wanted a holiday so I thought why not,” Keely said.
“It is exciting but it is weird in a way being the youngest. People keep looking at me.”
As well as studying Occupational Therapy at university, Keely spends her spare time as a lifeguard and shares her swimming passion by coaching at her local swim school.
Keely finished third in the women’s 18 – 24 400m IM and fourth in the 50m butterfly.
Both Keely and Donald are already looking forward to the 2018 Jupiters Pan Pacific Masters Games.
The swimming competition continues tomorrow Saturday 5 November and Sunday 6 November.
The 10th biennial Jupiters Pan Pacific Masters Games will be held 5-13 November 2016 on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia.
The Jupiters Pan Pacific Masters Games will showcase competition in 43 team and individual sports and attract more than 13,000 participants from Queensland, interstate and overseas.
