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| Human Interest | |
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Further Personal Information | |
| Residence | Brisbane, QLD, AUS |
General Interest | |
| Hobbies | Wakeboarding, kitesurfing, snowboarding, skiing, motorcycle riding. (guysofficial.com, 22 Dec 2015) |
| Injuries | He had his appendix removed only eight weeks before the 2015 Pacific Games in . (guysofficial.com, 22 Dec 2015) He had three shoulder surgeries between 2005 and 2009. He had a fourth operation in January 2011. (Facebook, 18 Jul 2011; pina.com.fj, 29 Feb 2012) |
| Memorable sporting achievement | Qualifying for the 100m butterfly final at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. (guysofficial.com, 22 Dec 2015) |
| Famous relatives | His father and brother have both competed for Papua New Guinea in swimming at the Pacific Games. (Samoa 2007, 25 August 2007; guysofficial.com, 22 Dec 2015) |
| Awards and honours | He was named Male Athlete of the 2015 Pacific Games. (guysofficial.com, 22 Dec 2015) In 2015 he was named an Officer of the Order of Logohu [OL] for his work and commitment as a sportsman. (guysofficial.com, 22 Dec 2015) He was named Papua New Guinea's Sportsman of the Year from 2000-08 and in 2010. (PNG Post-Courier, 30 May 2011; Facebook page, 07 Jun 2016) He was Papua New Guinea's flag bearer for the opening ceremony of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. (Xinhua, 08 Aug 2008) In 2006 he received the Queen's Honour Award for Sport, and was made an Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire [MBE]. (Facebook page, 07 Jun 2016; bsp.com.pg, 22 Sep 2012) |
Sport Specific Information | |
| Name of coach | Rick Van Der Zant, AUS, from 2010 |
Further Personal Information | |
| Languages | English |
General Interest | |
| Sporting philosophy / motto | "You have to work twice as hard as everybody else if you want the rewards." (PNG Post-Courier, 19 Feb 2007) |
| Other information | RETIREMENT AND COMEBACK He retired form swimming after the 2012 Olympic Games in London. However, he decided to return to the pool in 2013 with the aim of competing in front of his home crowd at the 2015 Pacific Games in Papua New Guinea. "I retired with the idea of coming back to the pool, but I knew I wasn't able to let it go and retire fully. I knew I wanted to swim in the [2015] Pacific Games in my home country so it wasn't a tough decision to return to the pool." (qatarswimming.com, 07 Dec 2014; radionz.co.nz, 14 Aug 2013) STAYING HUMBLE Despite his high profile in Papua New Guinea, he tries to remains humble about his achievements. “I don't think I could ever get desensitised to being recognised. It can be someone on the street asking for a photo or giving me a gift, to the International Olympic Committee awarding me for my accomplishments. All of the awards have special meanings and memories. It is so important for me to remain humble, I want all of Papua New Guinea to be able to realise that they can achieve what I have, that you don't have to be a superstar and have the connection taken away from the grass roots level. I can race at the Olympics and two weeks later race at a small competition back home in PNG without thinking I am too good for it all." (guysofficial.com, 22 Dec 2015) |
Sport Specific Information | |
| Why this sport? | His parents introduced him to swimming. |
General Interest | |
| Ambitions | To compete at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. (guysofficial.com, 22 Dec 2015) |
Sport Specific Information | |
| Training Regime | He does pool sessions nine times a week, swimming about 35 km each week. He also does two gym sessions a week and yoga on Fridays. |
| When and where did you begin this sport? | He took up swimming at age six. |
Further Personal Information | |
| Occupation | Athlete |
| Family | Wife Carly, son Nate |
| Higher education | Griffith University: Brisbane, QLD, AUS |