Abstract
Presently Samoa is a rising sporting nation with intentions of developing competitive swimmers though there is continued frustration of low membership. This paper addresses how the present situation is the result of a whole history, legacy and genealogy that has shaped competitive swimming in Samoa. Historical sources mention Polynesians and Samoans as highly skilled in swimming, however they did not enter the competitive swimming fraternity until the early 2000s, albeit 100 years after Great Britain introduced codes for competitive swimming. While Samoa has a deep cultural relationship with the sea, there remains a disconnect between the documented fluency with swimming and the codified sport of competitive swimming. As what seems a simple argument, that swimming activities in Samoa were functional and not for competitive sport, invariably reveals a complex and nuanced relationship filled with undercurrents of colonisation, racism, and classism and perpetuated myths. In the absence of a singular answer, this historical account lends insight to the critical junctures that intersect over the past two centuries giving shape to competitive swimming in Samoa. In this paper, I investigate the presence of swimming in the history of the islands, the external influences that introduced competitive swimming and where it has evolved to today.
Keywords: Swimming, History, Polynesian, Colonisation, Influences
