‘I have faith in myself’
Rova hopes to continue family legacy
NATIONAL swimmer Cheyenne Rova has full faith in herself for her last lap of preparation for the Tokyo Olympics.
Her family’s involvement in the sport is well documented and she hopes to continue the legacy.
Her father, Ben Rova is Fiji Swimming’s president while her mother Rosemary is her coach.
The 25-year-old is originally from Pagai, Taveuni, Cakaudrove and shares maternal links to Levuka, Ovalau, Lomaiviti.
“It takes an entire village, and I am so blessed to have the best support system,” Rova said.
“There are so many people who have helped me over the years to get me where I am today and without them all, I wouldn’t have been able to achieve this goal.
“In terms of training, in March of this year, I had made the decision to relocate from Nadi to Suva and use the 50m pool to better prepare myself for the Games.
“When we went into lockdown midApril, I decided to go back to Nadi to have access to the gym equipment at my home that was given by FASANOC to help the swimmers in Nadi trailing for the games as well as have access to my 15m backyard pool.
“It wasn’t ideal but it’s what I had access to.
“It was better than not having a pool available to me at all. So that’s where I trained for about eight weeks before support from the Aus Gov PacificAus Sports Program came through and I was able to come up to Sydney and train out of SOPAC (Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre) with Matthew Brown - head coach SOPAC and Ryan Frost - Assistant Coach SOPAC.
“I trained with them for two and a half weeks and am now bound for Oita with Team Fiji before moving into the Olympic Village.”
Rova grew up in Nadi and is raised in a Christian family.
She said she had faith in the work that had been put in at practices.
“I know personally that I have done everything I needed to do with what I had available to be able to prepare myself mentally and physically.
“How mentally am I prepared to go up against the best in the world?
“I swim for the glory of God,” she said.
It takes an entire village, and I am so blessed to have the best support system. ~ Rova ~