ROBERTS Wesley Tikiariki

Cook Islands
Swimming
24 Jun 1997
24
Male
Olympic Scholarship
 
Cook Islands
SYDNEY, NSW
 
Australia

Events and Medals

Discipline Event Rank Medal
SWM Swimming Men's 200m Freestyle  
Men's 400m Freestyle  

Schedule

Change
Start Time Location Event Status
Tokyo Aquatics Centre
Men's 400m Freestyle - Heat 2
Finished
Tokyo Aquatics Centre
Men's 200m Freestyle - Heat 1
Finished

Biographical Information

Highlights

:
Olympic Games
YearLocation1500Free
2016Rio de Janeiro, BRAH (15:44.32)

World Championships
YearLocation200Free400Free1500Free
2019Gwangju, KORH (1:51.25)H (3:58.12)-
2017Budapest, HUNH (1:51.67)H (3:59.29)H (16:15.04)

Pan Pacific Championships
YearLocation200Free400Free800Free
2018Tokyo, JPNH (1:49.96)7th (3:54.73)16th (8:22.62)

World Championships Short Course
YearLocation200Free400Free1500Free
2016Windsor, ON, CANH (1:50.63)H (4:00.17)H (15:36.13)


Legend
Free - Freestyle, Back - Backstroke, Breast - Breaststroke, Fly - Butterfly, IndMed - Individual Medley, SF - Semifinal, H - Heats, DNS - Did Not Start, M - Men, W - Women, X - Mixed, DSQ - Disqualified, [Relay athlete without time] - Did not swim in final
:
Wes, The Atiu Rocket [he comes from the island of Atiu and his cousin posted it on Facebook and it stuck] (Athlete, 26 Jul 2021; southeasternnsw.swimming.org.au, 01 Jul 2016; cookislandsaquatics.com, 01 Sep 2019)
:
Coding, going to the beach. (Athlete, 26 Jul 2021)
:
Student
:
Information Technology - Federation University, Australia
:
Partner Kayla
:
English
:
Wests Illawarra Aquatic [Wollongong, NSW, AUS]
:
Adam Kable [personal]; Horst Meihe [national]
:
His mother was on the national dance team for the Cook Islands. (Athlete, 26 Jul 2021)
:
2016 for Cook Islands, Oceania Championships in Suva, Fiji (Athlete, 03 Aug 2016)
:
He sustained a shoulder injury in 2019 with a two month recovery period. (Athlete, 26 Jul 2021)

He broke his wrist in 2018 with a three month recovery period. (Athlete, 26 Jul 2021)
:
He began training in the sport at age 10 in Wollongong, NSW, Australia. (Athlete, 26 Jul 2021)
:
"My parents put me in the water to learn safety skills." (Athlete, 26 Jul 2021)
:
To reach a final at the Olympic Games. (Athlete, 26 Jul 2021)
:
Winning three gold medals across two Oceania Championships in 2016 and 2018, and winning a gold medal in the 200m freestyle at the 2019 Pacific Games in Apia, Samoa. (Athlete, 26 Jul 2021)
:
Australian swimmer Jarrod Poort. (Athlete, 26 Jul 2021)
:
"Have fun and be proud." (Athlete, 26 Jul 2021)
:
He was named flag bearer for the Cook Islands for the opening ceremony of the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. (Cook Islands Sports Facebook page, 08 Jul 2021)

In 2016 he was named Cook Islands Sportsman of the Year. (zetblogs-oceania.com, 02 Nov 2019)

General Interest

General
VILLAGE CELEBRATION
In 2019, after winning the Cook Islands' first medals in swimming at the Pacific Games in Apia, Samoa, he was carried through his village in Atiu on a pa-ata [a kind of throne] on his neighbours' shoulders in honour of his achievement. He said he was not briefed about the parade before he got off the plane. "All I was told was, wear a nice shirt. It was an honour." (cookislandsnews.com, 13 Aug 2019)

TRAINING ABROAD
He said he was forced to leave the Cook Islands for Australia due to his home country's lack of swimming facilities. "To learn proper technique and good water safety skills, [we have to go abroad]. We don't actually have a training pool in the Cook Islands, so we're trying to push for one." (cookislandsnews.com, 13 Aug 2019; postcourier.com.pg, 24 Apr 2019)

Legend
:
Gold Medal Event
:
Silver Medal Event
:
Bronze Medal Event
Content 1 (removed through CDN)
Content 2 (removed through CDN).
Timing and scoring provided by OMEGA. Results powered by Atos