Petero James Moeava Okotai (born 3 August 1981)[1] is a Cook Islands swimmer.
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Petero James Moeava Okotai |
| Nationality |  Cook Islands |
| Born | 3 August 1981 |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Swimming |
| Strokes | Freestyle |
He grew up in Papua New Guinea where he began swimming at the age of 5, then stopped upon returning to the Cook Islands at the age of 11, due to the absence of a pool. He resumed swimming in 2006, while studying for an honours degree in business management at the University of Auckland, in New Zealand,[2] which he completed in 2010.[citation needed]
He competed in the 50 metre freestyle event at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships in Melbourne, and finished 157th out of 175, with a time of 29.54.[3]
He represented his country at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, competing in the men's 100 metre breaststroke event.[citation needed]
With no Olympic-sized pool to train in, Okotai initially practiced by swimming in a lagoon, where he had to "deal with the hazards of trigger fish, coral heads and ocean currents".[4] He later trained in the Muri Beach Club Hotel pool on Rarotonga. The pool measured 17 metres, and Okotai had to swim among tourists.[5]
He finished third and last in heat 1, his time of 1:20.20 the slowest of all competitors who finished the race, and almost eight seconds slower than second-slowest Mohammed Al-Habsi, of Oman.[6] This prompted Okotai to comment: "I hope I'm not Eric the Eel."[5]
References
edit- ^ "Athlete - the official website of the BEIJING 2008 Olympic Games". Archived from the original on 12 September 2008. Retrieved 18 October 2008.
- ^ "Tropical idyll far from ideal when swimming for gold", The Age, 25 March 2007
- ^ results Archived 2007-09-30 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Lagoon his training ground", Herald Sun, 24 March 2007
- ^ a b "Games also mean coming in last", International Herald Tribune, 23 August 2008
- ^ "Olympics-Swimming-Men's 100m breaststroke heats results", Reuters, 9 August 2008
