By Cira Olivier

All three students from a Fiji school competing in this year’s Zespri AIMS Games have been diving into the swimming competition, and hope to one day make it onto the world stage.

It’s the first time the pupils from Stella Maris Primary School in Suva have attended the tournament. They’ve been training vigorously six days a week, resting only on Sundays.

For Ki’eli a lagi Solomona-leqa, 12, swimming is “very calming, and an escape”.

“There’s a bunch of chaos in the world … it’s affecting me and also my country,” he says, explaining supplies and fuel have been low in the cost-of-living crisis. 

He’s competing in every stroke across all four days of the swimming competition, but his favourite is the 400m individual medley.

While Ki’eli doesn’t have time for another sport, he loves drawing, especially the characters from sci-fi action movie, Pacific Rim. Art’s not really offered at school, so he gets it in whenever he can, bringing sketchbooks with him to New Zealand to draw between swims.

He’s been to New Zealand four times with his Pukekohe-based aunty and cousins, although he’s already declared he’s keen to move to Tauranga.

He’s excited to see all the other swimmers at AIMS, and he and his teammate, Henry Tabua, hope to come again next year.

Fiji recently had two athletes compete in swimming at the Commonwealth Games, which brought swimming to the spotlight.

“I felt really proud, I saw some people that I knew in the team.”

Henry, also 12, has been competitively swimming for 18 months and loves it.

“I like the water, and how fast you make friends.”

Flying to New Zealand without his family, however, was initially terrifying.

“I was nervous and scared about leaving,” he says. “My tummy was aching on the plane.”

But he spent the flight watching Avatar and is now loving his first time in New Zealand.

Joseph Ah Sam, 13 and Stella Maris’ head boy, competed in swimming on Saturday and cross country on Sunday. He couldn’t be more excited about the new experience, seeing all the people, “and having a good time”.

“It’s my first time travelling. I was kind of nervous because I’ve never been outside of the country,” he says. “Everything is so much bigger here … and there are so many people. We went to Kmart, and as soon as we entered, we were like, woah, this is way bigger than Fiji.”

He’s also noticed the cold, but is happy the pools are indoors.

“In Fiji, the pools are outside, and it’s cold, so you have to keep going faster to warm your body up.”

His training schedule is busy: as well as swimming with his teammates, he does weights twice a week and runs three times a week.

Ki’eli’s dad, Joeli Leqa, is their coach and says a friend sent over information about the AIMS Games, and the rest is history.

Fundraising has been hard but they’ve had some amazing local businesses and individuals sponsor them.

The boys have had a week of long hours in the pool, with some PBs secured, as well as one unfortunate DQ.

Joeli says back home they’re allowed five minutes to have cry and be upset about it, but then they have to move on. Which is what they did here.

“It’s what sport is all about … the highs and the lows.”

They’ll be squeezing as much out of their trip as they can, checking out the must-sees and must-dos of Tauranga, going to as many sports as they can at the Games, and getting involved with other initiatives like tree planting, before they head to Auckland on Friday.

Article added: Wednesday 09 September 2026