Triathletes at the Pacific Games return with five new National Records and in a first for Samoa, top 10 rankings in the Pacific in all of the Men's and Women's events.

In a statement, Head Coach Bernie Poort said although the athletes did not win any medals, the athletes exceeded all expectations.

“I couldn’t be prouder of them. Most of our team are very young and new to this tough sport. They raced against not only the best in the Pacific, but some of the best in the world and they didn’t back down. They gave it their all and broke personal bests, as well as setting new records for Samoa,” he said.

"And they did it with no help whatsoever, no funding from SASNOC, World Triathlon, or government. Triathlon Samoa didn’t get given the equipment grant of $20,000-plus from SASNOC that the other sports did to assist in our preparations for the Pacific Games. Our athletes had to borrow gear, share race wheels, and rely on donations and loans."

The triathlon events were held over three days in brutally hot conditions in Honiara. In the Super Sprint triathlon heats, both Urlin Mulitalo and Darren Young qualified for the Grand Finals where they achieved overall placings of sixth place for the Women's and ninth Place for the Men's. In doing so they set new National Records for Samoa.

Manamea Schwalger, competing in her first Pacific Games, came fourth in her heat and just missed out on a spot in the Grand Final. The 17-year-old is now ranked 12th in the Pacific for the Super Sprint triathlon.

Tyreece Collins, the youngest member of the team at 16-years-old, came second in the Men's B Final, closely followed by Gideon Mulitalo. They placed 11th and 12th overall respectively.

In the Aquathon Manamea and Gideon both set new National Records for the country, and for the first time, Samoa is now ranked in the top 10 for this event, in both the Men's and Women's division.

Probably the most challenging event of the three days, was the two-person Mixed Team Relay where each athlete must alternately complete two separate triathlons, tagging each other as they finish. The duo of Urlin and Darren fought hard and narrowly missed out on the bronze, coming fourth after Tahiti, New Caledonia and Fiji.

Team Manager Lani Young said, "We learned a lot, including that it's crucial for our athletes to compete in international events so they can keep improving. After the 2019 Pacific Games, the old triathlon federation did nothing to develop the athletes. Unlike our friends in the Fiji Triathlon, Samoa didn’t send a team to the Mini-Games or to the Commonwealth Games or Youth Games.”

“We only started training this young team in February this year and they are already ranking in the top10 for the Pacific. I am excited to see where they will be after another year of development! The new Triathlon Samoa executives are planning for the next races to aim for. But as with most sports, finding funding to send athletes to those events will be the challenge."