12th African Games |28 August 2019

Passon is welcomed by VP Meriton

Felicity Passon receives warm welcome

Felicity Passon, referred to by many as ‘Seychelles’ golden girl’, received a special welcome upon her arrival at the Seychelles International Airport yesterday afternoon from the 12th African Games taking place in Rabat, Morocco.

The young female swimmer made history for Seychelles by being the first Seychellois swimmer to win a gold medal at these Games. In fact, she won two gold medals as well as one silver and one bronze in her first involvement in the games.

As she disembarked from the Emirates flight from Dubai, the smiling Felicity was warmly received on the red carpet by Vice-President Vincent Meriton who presented her with a basket of flowers. Also present to greet her on the ramp were the principal secretary for information Denis Rose who presented her with a fruit hamper, the chairman of the National Sports Council (NSC) Eddie Micock and Anna Bara, a representative of the Seychelles Olympic and Commonwealth Games Association (Socga), who also presented her with a basket of flowers.

Passon was then guided to the VIP lounge where she was also greeted by the chairman of the Seychelles Swimming Association David Vidot and members of her family – mother Lydvine Passon, sister Charlotte Passon and step father Neil Puresh. Mr Vidot presented her with a congratulation sash.

Speaking to the press Passon said: “I knew that getting those medals would be tough even though I also knew that I was going to be on the podium. But I was not expecting a gold medal. When I won the gold medal in my first race, I was very happy. But I had a much better feeling in the fourth race as watching the playback video it looked tougher for me to win that gold medal and winning it was the greatest joy I had. I’m proud to be a Seychellois and I am so happy to have made everybody else happy.”

Commenting on the success of Passon, Vice-President Meriton said that Felicity has demonstrated that to reach a high level requires effort and sacrifices. He noted that with her achievements at the Indian Ocean Islands Games in Mauritius and now at the African Games, they are inspiring the Seychellois people, especially the youths, for Seychelles’ first Olympic medal.

Vice-President Meriton further said that Passon winning a medal at the Olympics (in Tokyo 2020) is not mission impossible if she continues to invest in herself the same courage, determination and hard work, which are key elements to achieve success, and also receive the continued support of her parents, the government, Socga, NSC, the private sector and all other stakeholders. Vice-President Meriton thanked Felicity for making Seychelles proud.

Mr Micock for his part thanked Passon for bringing tears of joy and to inspire the Seychellois people. He urged other youths to emulate her and noted that NSC will continue to support her in her quest to reach greater heights.

Mr Micock also took the opportunity to advise sports federations to maximise the use of the NSC sports facilities for the benefit of their athletes so that they too can achieve good results.

As for Seychelles Swimming Association chairman Vidot, he said that Passon’s achievements have not only made the association proud but also the whole country as well.

He noted that since then, the association has received many compliments from abroad thanks to the achievements of Passon.

Passon, 20, won her two gold medals in the 100m backstroke (1:02.42) and 200m backstroke (2:14.55). She also won the silver medal in the 50m backstroke (29.17 seconds for a new Seychelles record) and clocked 1:00.61 for another Seychelles record in the 100m butterfly for a bronze medal.

With her four medals, Passon had by yesterday placed Seychelles in 13th position on the medals table among 35 countries who have won medals so far.

The four medals also put Seychelles in fourth position on the swimming medals table.

Egypt is leading the overall medals table with 119 medals – 37 gold, 53 silver, 29 bronze.

Passon’s success at the 12th African Games follows that from the 10th Indian Ocean Islands Games in July in Mauritius where she won 11 medals – seven gold, three silver and one bronze. She is leaving the country tomorrow for four months intensive training in Pretoria, South Africa, with the aim of qualifying for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games in Japan. She will be under the guidance of coach Rocco Meiring and his team as from September 2019.

P. J.