By Michelle Jerewai, Port Moresby 2015 Games News Service
PORT MORESBY, July 9 – New Caledonia took out the 4x50m mixed medley relay event at the Port Moresby 2015 Pacific Games on Wednesday evening, the first mixed swimming event in the history of the Games.
And in winning the race in 1m 49.94sec at the Taurama Aquatic BSP Arena, the New Caledonians – Julian-Pierre Goyetche, Suzanne Afchain, Lara Grangeon and Emmanuel Limozin – naturally set a record for the event.
Papua New Guinea won silver in 1:52.04 and Fiji took bronze in 1:54.18.
Backstroker Goyetche was stoked with the opportunity to win another medal and set a benchmark for future Games.
“It pretty unusual because it’s a pretty new event and we are all proud to win and to set a record in this Pacific Games,” Goyetche said.
“We are going to work hard to defend this win in another Pacific Games. It feels good to win another gold for our country and to have had a good challenge with Papua New Guinea.”
“It feels great.”
Each team comprised two male and two female swimmers, and with teams allowed to choose which gender swims each leg, tactics play a huge role in the selection process because it means women can swim directly against men in the event.
The other three countries that stepped up to the starting blocks for the inaugural event were Guam, Palau and Tahiti, who actually had a clear 15m lead at the end of the second leg but faded badly to finish fourth.
And that’s where the tactics come into play.
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