Super mum Salome Tabuatalei is a step away from being Fiji’s top outrigger canoeist but the 48-year-old is a long way from retiring as Fiji’s sports icon.

Trying to meet her sporting demands, the former middle distant track queen has been leaping hurdles to balance work, sports and family commitments.

But nothing has brushed aside her hopes of repeating her track success in outrigger canoeing because she finds family support as her biggest motivator.

“I started paddling in 2004 because I wanted to try something new,” she said.

“I can still run but I just quit athletics because I know I have the ability to do better in other sports.

“To switch sports is very difficult, in Outrigger canoeing it’s a matter of learning the techniques and that’s where my focus is but for athletics the training is very hard.

“The biggest credit for my sporting career goes to my family because they are very supportive. For me being a mum, the most important thing is my day plan.

“I work for USP gym and then I’m off training in the afternoon after all I still have to go home at the end of the day and become a mum and a housewife.”

The 2008 Wai-Tui Fiji Outrigger International may have been a memorable event for Tabuatalei after she registered her first ever gold medal win in an international event.

But that is not the end of the road for the determined Wailevu villager because her focus is now set on the upcoming August World Sprints event in Northern California.

“I picked up my first medal in Nadi in this same event last year after finishing third in the V1 500m Women’s Masters but winning gold for the first time in an international event is one of my best sporting memories” she said.

“I felt good after winning gold because it has boosted my confidence; I believe that the more I paddle the better I become but I’m very fortunate to get a lot of support from the experienced paddlers.”

There are a lot of memories that come out of the track but for Tabuatalei her biggest sporting achievement is setting the South Pacific Games 800m record.

Her time of 2.11:12s set in 1995 still stands and it would be a target for the budding prospects.

Tabuatalei said that her secret to success is hard work because through hard work comes achievement.

Fijilive
 

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