BSP Brand Ambassador - Ryan Pini MBE

Papua New Guinea's swim sensation, Ryan Pini literally stop the nation and as we watched him splashed through to take out a Gold medal at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne in 100m butterfly.

"…knowing that my whole country had stopped to watch the race is incredible" Pini 2006

Ryan was born in Port Moresby, in 1981 at the Port Moresby General Hospital. He went to school at the Port Moresby International School and further completed his high school at the Port Moresby International High School. He was first introduced to swimming by his parents when he was 6 years old. Pini had potential and motivated by his parents Kevin and Seranah Pini, the budding swim sensation enjoyed the experience and challenge that the sport presented. With that background of growing up in Port Moresby, and surrounded by water, his love for the sport grew.

After completing secondary schooling at Port Moresby International School, Pini headed to Australia to study at Griffith University in Brisbane and in doing so continued with training at Yeronga Park under the guidance and expertise of Coach Rick Van Der Zant.

During the course of his time training and competing in Papua New Guinea, Pini got a real taste of what he could achieve when he took part in his first South Pacific Games in Guam in 1999 and received his first gold medal at this level of competition.

Ryan remains a true Papua New Guinean and a great sports ambassador. He has always carried the Papua New Guinea flag with pride.

2002 Swimmer - Oceania Swimming Championships Noumea, New Caledonia

• Received first medals for PNG in an Oceania Championships

2003 Swimmer - South Pacific Games Fiji

• 7 Gold, 4 Silvers, 1 Bronze Medals at the South Pacific Games
• Swam 3 Olympic QUALIFYING times in 100m Backstroke, butterfly and freestyle Set 4 South Pacific Games Records
• Named Champion Male Swimmer of the 2003 SOUTH PACIFIC GAMES swimming competition by the Organising Committee

2004 Swimmer - Olympic Games, Athens

• Qualified to swim 4 events 100m freestyle, backstroke and Butterfly and 200m Individual Medley.

2004 Swimmer - 5th Oceania Championships Fiji

• Gold Medal 50m Backstroke, Silver medal 100m Butterfly, 50m Butterfly, Bronze medal 100m Backstroke

2006 Swam the swim leg in the Sepik Iron Man Competition hosted by the Prime Minister of PNG, relay team came in 1st place setting the record

2006 Swimmer - XVII Commonwealth Games, Melbourne, Australia

• GOLD medal finish in 100m butterfly
• Fifth place finish in the 50m butterfly in the FINAL
• Gained a semi-final place in the 100 freestyle

Also in the same year, Pini received a Queen's Honour Award for Sport and was made an Honorary Member for the Civil Division of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE).

2008 Swimmer - 6th Oceania Championships New Zealand

• Bronze medal 50m butterfly
• Gold medal 100m Butterfly
• Awarded the Roger Smith Memorial Trophy by achieving the highest FINA points in one event at the completion of the Championships. The event was the 100 Butterfly swimming 52.33 gaining 966 points.

2008 Swimmer - Beijing Olympic Games qualified in three swimming events at the 100m freestyle (50.49), 50m butterfly, 100m butterfly (52.10) and 200m Freestyle (1:50.40).

• Swam in the Final of the Male Open 100m Butterfly event.
• Received a Diploma from the International Olympic Committee for gaining a competition final placing.

He was also awarded SP Sports Man of the Year six consecutive years from 2002 - 2007, and in 2008 received a special outstanding achievement award as Sportsman of the year having received the award for many consecutive years.

2009 Swimmer FINA World Championships Rome, Italy

• Ranked 17^th in the world 100m Butterfly

2010 Swimmer XVIII Commonwealth Games, New Dehli, India

• Silver Medal finish in the 100m Butterfly
• Finalist 50m Butterfly, 50m Freestyle

2011 Swimmer FINA World Championships Shanghi, China

• Ranked 20^th in the world 100m Butterfly

2011 Swimmer FINA World Cup Singapore, Beijing and Tokyo

• Bronze Medal in the 100 Backstroke
• Finalist in the 50m Backstroke, freestyle and Butterfly, 100m Backstroke, freestyle and Butterfly

2012 Swimmer 7^th Oceania Championships New Caledonia

• Gold medal 50m Fly
• Silver medal 100m Freestyle
• Bronze medal 50m Freestyle, Backstroke, 100m Butterfly and Backstroke

2012 Swimmer Olympics London, England

• 3^rd Olympics

Pini's most memorable moments, quoted,

"The most rewarding was winning a Gold medal at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne in 100m butterfly and knowing that my whole country had stopped to watch the race was incredible."

"In 2006 I was awarded an MBE, presented by our Governor General from the Queen for my contribution to sport."

"Making a final berth in the 100m butterfly at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, swimming a personal best time and PNG Open record to do so."

"Another memorable moment was being recognised for my achievements through the SP Sports Awards. I received the first SP Sportsman of the Year Award in 2002, and then every after that until 2008 when I received a special outstanding achievement award as Sportsman of the year. These awards have exemplified my special love of swimming and competing for my country Papua New Guinea."