7/16/2019 3:00:00 PM | Men's Swimming and Diving, Swimming and Diving
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By: Andrew Shortall, Director of Athletics Communications
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VAITELE, Samoa – California Baptist University's Brandon Schuster finished off a historic run at the Samoa 2019 Pacific Games over the weekend.
After being the second-to-last person to carry the torch for the Pacific Games' Opening Ceremony, Schuster five top-three finishes and produced a record-setting swim for his home country of Samoa, which is serving as host for this year's Pacific Games with swimming taking place at the Samoa Aquatic Centre.
Good luck to our own Brandon Schuster at this week's @samoa2019#PacificGames. He was the second to last person to carry the torch for the Opening Ceremony last night.
"There were so many unreal moments, from the opening ceremony…, going into competition the next day and being with the 14-person team for Samoa, there were just so many unreal moments," Schuster told Samoa Global News.
Schuster made history along the way, as he became the first Samoan to win a Pacific Games gold medal for swimming, Samoa Global News reported, and did so twice. His first win came in the 200 long course meter backstroke, with a time of two minutes and 8.48 seconds.
"If you saw the end of the race, I was completely surprised, I can't really remember it I was so emotional, I kind of just yelled," Schuster told InsidetheGames.biz. "It was relief and pride, I felt very patriotic, I don't think I had ever felt so patriotic in my life than when I stepped on the podium with the Samoan flag wrapped around me."
Before the week was over, Schuster won a second gold medal in the 400-meter individual medley in a Pacific Record time of 4:24.04. He also took second in the 200 IM in 2:05.54, which shattered the previous Pacific Games record of 2:06.22 but was just off eventual champion Emmanuel Limozin's 2:04.04.
Schuster added two other individual bronze-medal swims in the 200 breast (2:18.26) and 400 freestyle (4:03.22). He also took fourth place in the 200 free (1:53.46) and had four top-five relay finishes in the 200 (fourth, 1:42.52), 400 (fourth, 1:53.46) and 800 frees (fifth, 8:19.99) and 400-medley (fifth, 4:12.01) relays.
Brandon Schuster celebrates after winning the 400-meter individual medley at the Samoa 2019 Pacific Games.
He specifically credited his training at CBU for helping prepare him for an increased level of competition at the Pacific Games to InsidetheGames.biz. When speaking to Newsline Samoa, Schuster credited his success to "God, country, training and competing."
"I give it all to God because He strengthened me in all my races," Schuster said.
