A 13-year-old diver from Canada, with links to Fiji, has decided to switch nationality and represent his homeland.
Maori Farrell, who was raised in Canada and took on diving as a sport from the tender age of eight, is in the country to initiate moves to get him eligible for Fiji representation.
Over the past three and half years the youngster has been living and training in Mexico under world renowned diving coach Ivan Bautista.
There are five elite divers in Bautista’s stable and Farrell is one of them and has been eyed for medals at large international competitions such as the Olympic Games.
The lad, whose father, Daniel, is originally from Wainunu in Bua, is thrilled to be in the country for the first time and getting the wheels rolling to get him in Fiji blue swimmers for large competitions abroad.
“I want to become the first diver for Fiji to compete at international competitions, representing my homeland of Fiji,” said Farrell proudly.
“It has always been my dream to represent Fiji and finally I am in the country after wanting to come here for so long and I am very excited about my chances of diving for Fiji.”
It has been a happy homecoming the athlete who has had to sacrifice so much of his time to the sport that he loves.
“It’s been great being here in Fiji for the first time, meeting family that I’ve been looking forward to seeing for 13 years and seeing them all at once has been really overwhelming.”
Although diving is one of the most watched Olympic events, the discipline requires huge amounts of training and dedication to perfect intricate moves. Athletes are normally honed from a very young age.
“Diving is a mental sport. It requires a lot of mental strength plus alongside huge amounts of physical training,” said the well-spoken youngster who offered a hint at the rigorous training regimen his undergoes.
“When I am in Guadalajara, I normally train seven hours a day for six days in a week, waking at around 6am and ending around 7pm.
“In diving, there is springboard and platform. There are range of dives competed for at international levels and these include forward backward inward reverse and twists.
“I prefer forward and backward dives and twists. These are the specific dives that I enjoy doing.
“When you are on the platform sometimes you feel like your body is paralysed from fear. It’s hard to overcome the fear. This sport is not for everyone.”
The budding future Olympian trains with four other elite athletes handpicked by coach Bautista which has boosted his own performance given that it is a highly competitive circle.
Since 2019 Farrell was training at the Jalisco Mexico Sports Institute with initiation level coaches and since May 2022 has been training with Bautista’s squad as they prepare for participation at the FINA Oceania Diving Championships set for between October and November 2023. Proud father Daniel is very excited about the prospect of his son representing the country of his birth.
“I found Maori since he was a baby was very different from other kids of mine. He is intelligent and his physicalness was above average,” Daniel said.
“We tried him in every sport like ice skating, gymnastics and even soccer and rugby but what happened we took him to swimming lessons and from there his love for diving took over.”
The teen recalled that while learning to swim at an aquatic centre in Canada, he was interested in the divers on the diving boards and told his parents ‘I want to do that’.
“He learned to dive before he learned to swim which is very rare in lots of children,” offered Farrell.
“He said ‘let me try diving I like it’, even though he didn’t know how to swim and since then his diving has just taken off.
“I the first couple of years since he took on diving, he was able to excel and even qualified for the Canadian junior nationals.”
His parents Daniel and Renata Pomeroy Farrell realised they had a talent that needed to be nurtured.
“We found out he was a special talent and which is why his mother looked for the best coaches in the world that will help take his diving skills to the highest possible talent.”
Eventually Pomeroy-Farrell made contact with Bautista and asked the Mexican diving mentor to assess the child. His answer shocked Maori’s devoted parents.
“Ivan was tasked with assessing whether Maori’s skills were for real and after checking him out he told us that Maori is built to be a diver.”
Coming from one of the best diving coaches in the world it was a massive endorsement.
After an initial two and a half years, Maori finally made it into coach Bautista’s elite squad and has not looked back since, despite certain challenges such as the language barrier and dealing with bullying.
Farrell, who lives in Mexico with his mother, is now fluent in Spanish having struggled initially to blend in with other kids due to the language barrier.
And the teenager has also had to deal with the scourge of bullying in both Canada and more so in Mexico, but come out stronger for the experience.
Farrell used diving to help focus his attention away from the bullying and taunts that he received particularly as his talent clearly began to be noticed.
His advice to youngsters who also undergoing bullying is to “focus on your main goal and don’t let anything deter you from reaching that goal”.
He also lays down the foundation to his fast-developing diving skills to dedication and support of his parents.
“My family has been very supportive of me, my mum and dad and this has really motivated me to do well in my sport of diving.”
For now, Farrell is focusing on returning to Mexico to resume his elite level training but his dream of representing Fiji in his beloved sport of diving has taken a step closer to reality.
- ERNEST HEATLEY is a freelancejournalist and former reporter of The Fiji Times. The views expressed are his and not necessarily of this
newspaper.
