Pan Pacs next stop on Tokyo road

Gisborne’s Matt Scott in open water as he builds towards his dream of competing in the Olympic Games. Picture supplied

GISBORNE’S Matt Scott is going to the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in Tokyo, Japan, in August.

The 20-year-old qualified for the 20-kilometre race after finishing 14th but, more importantly, within a minute of the winner’s time at the Australian national 10-kilometre open water event at Adelaide.

Australia’s Nick Sloman was first in one hour 53 minutes four seconds. Auckland-based Scott came home in 1:53:36.

“I learned my lesson from last year’s Aussie nationals, when I didn’t drink enough water during the race,” said Scott, who swims for Enterprise Swim Team and competes in surf lifesaving for Midway.

“I’m stoked with the result. I’ve been working hard for this. I knew I had done all the right training but, as in any sport, it’s all about what you do on the day.

“I was comfortable, in the top six swimmers for the first half of the race, and even though I slipped back towards the end of the race I managed to hang on to qualify for Tokyo.”

Scott, a member of the New Zealand high-performance swimming squad, last month retained his New Zealand open water 10km and 5km titles.

“The ultimate goal is the Tokyo Olympics,” he said.

“Then all my attention has to go into completing my degree. If I was wasn’t training and competing, it would have been a three-year degree. But I enjoy training, competing and studying, and I managed to pass all my exams so that’s all good.”

¦ The 2018 Pan Pacific Championships are in Japan for the first time in 16 years.

The Pan Pacific Swimming Championships were founded by four nations — Canada, Japan, the United States and Australia — in 1985. Hosting duties rotate between those four countries, although other nations also compete in the event.

Japan has hosted Pan Pacs more than any other nation, but the last time was in 2002. Tokyo hosted the inaugural Pan Pacs meet in 1985. In the early years, Japan hosted every other meet, taking the 1985, 1989, 1993, 1997 and 2002 editions.

Before 1999, the event took place every two years, but jumped from 1999 to 2002 and then began a four-yearly pattern.

The 2018 Pan Pacs will also serve as something of a tune-up for Tokyo before it hosts the 2020 Summer Olympics.