From Fiji Times Online (24 April 2012)

Giant pigs fascinate island athlete

by Rashneel Kumar

FOR 17-year-old Rotuman athlete Thomas John, out of all the extraordinary things he has seen in Suva, it was the "huge" pigs at the Fiji Department of Agriculture in Nausori that really fascinated him.

The discus and shot put athlete from Rotuma High School said he had never seen such "big pigs in his entire life."

John, who has already been to Suva unlike his other teammates, managed to get a glimpse of the piggery farm among the other things as part of their visit to Koronivia yesterday.

"Everything at the compound (government farm) is different from (the farms) in Rotuma. Something that I have seen very different from Rotuma was the size of the pigs," he said.

"There were very big pigs and huge (herd) of cattle, it (the tour) was just fascinating."

With that story of the pig, which he is looking forward to share with his friends when he returns to the island, John is hoping to create more stories in his remaining days in Suva.

One of it is winning a medal at this year's Coca-Cola Games. "I have been practising these sports (discus and shot put) for almost three years. But I have been training for the past two years for the Coca Cola Games," John said.

"We got the shot put with us but no discus. I have been learning the techniques of discus throwing from my coaches back in Rotuma but first tried it in Suva.

"I'm pleased with the progress I have made so far training with the Marist Brothers' High School team and have learnt a lot of new techniques to better my distance in these two sports." John said his personal best distance in shot put was 13.88 metres while he could throw the discus at distance of 38m. There is a lot of pressure on us to perform and we will do our best. I thank the students of my school for their support."