Swimming competitions have been held at the Pacific Games since the inaugural edition in 1963 at every Games except for 1983. Swimming has also been held once at the South Pacific Mini Games, in 2005.
Pacific Games
Editions GamesYearHost cityEventsTop placed teamRefMenWomenTotal I 1963 () Suva 8 6 14 II 1966 () Nouméa 10 9 19 III 1969 () Port Moresby 10 9 19 IV 1971 () Papeete 10 9 19 V 1975 () Agana 12 9 21 VI 1979 () Suva 12 12 24 VII 1983 Apia Swimming not held – no facility VIII 1987 () Nouméa 13 12 25 IX 1991 () Port Moresby 16 16 32 X 1995 () Papeete 16 16 32 XI 1999 () Agana 17 17 34 XII 2003 () Suva 20 20 40 2003 South Pacific Games - Swimming: Schedule/Results; retrieved 2009-07-03. XIII 2007 () Apia 20 20 40 2007 South Pacific Games - Swimming; retrieved 2015-11-01. XIV 2011 () Nouméa 20 20 40 New Caledonia XV 2015 () Port Moresby 20 20 42 New Caledonia XVI 2019 () Apia 20 20 42 New Caledonia XVII 2023 () Honiara 20 20 43 New Caledonia XVIII 2027 () Pirae
Pacific Mini Games
Editions GamesYearHost cityEventsTop placed teamRefMenWomenTotal VII 2005 () Meyuns 20 20 40
See also List of Pacific Games records in swimming Swimming at the Commonwealth Games
Notes The number of events does not include an unofficial 3 × 110 yd medley relay for women swum at the 1963 Games. Fiji and PNG finished first and second respectively but medals were not awarded.
There were either 24 or 23 events on the 1979 programme, depending on whether the men's 4 × 200 metres relay was contested and officially included in the medals. There are conflicting sources of information cited (as of November 2015) and none sufficient to provide clarity. The men's 4 × 200 metres freestyle relay was not listed in the results published in the November 1979 issue of Pacific Islands Monthly (PIM). However, there are sources which suggest that the PIM published results might have some inaccuracies and could be incomplete:
The same PIM issue, two pages earlier, reports that Fiji won table tennis gold medals for both the women's team event and the women's doubles. However, only the women's doubles event is recorded in the PIM's list of results, and no women's (or men's) team event is included. Also earlier in the same PIM issue, it is reported that "Papua New Guinea took the bronze" in the netball competition, behind Fiji and Cook Islands. However, in the PIM results for the netball, Tonga is listed as finishing in third place. A publication from Guam's Political Status Education Coordinating Commission also states that the Guam swimmer Hollis Kimbrough, "won a record seven medals in the '79 SPG alone". As the PIM results show only four medals for Kimbrough plus two men's relay medals won by the Guam team, it may be the case that the men's 4 × 200 m event did take place but was missed in the results.
Despite swimming being a compulsory sport for the South Pacific Games, there was no facility built in Apia to host swimming events for the 1983 Games.
There were either 34 or 33 events on the 1999 programme, depending on whether the women's 4 × 200 metres relay was officially included in the medals. The medal list published on the Oceania Sport Information Centre (OSIC) website as of October 2015, omits the women's 4 × 200 m freestyle relay. However, the result sheet for the event records New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea and Northern Marianas as finishing first, second and third, respectively.
Two mixed gender relay events were added to the schedule.
References
Sources