'Representing this wonderful country means a lot to me'

What else would an athlete hope for than representing his country successfully in international competition?

Ryan Gambin, Australian-born but of Maltese stock, made this very clear when I met him at the National Pool a few days back. The 22-year-old, with an ideal physique one would associate with that sport, had just turned up at Tal-Qroqq for a routine training session with the Malta squad.

The other swimmers had already been in the water after going through some stretching exercises, when coach Andy Colbourn told me that Gambin would be there very shortly.

In no time, the lanky lad arrived and made acquaintance with me.

He was extremely forthcoming and immediately spoke about his plans to represent our country with honour. He had arrived in Malta about four weeks ago and is currently residing here courtesy of the joint efforts of the MOC and the ASA.

Gambin's Maltese roots go back to his grandparents who settled in Australia in the 50s after they got married here. His father was born in Sydney, where he is living at the moment.

However, he had always nurtured an innate affection to Malta and this was manifested with pride.

"I have always been interested in coming to Malta as my grandmother always used to talk so fondly of it. It means a lot to me that I have been granted the opportunity to represent this wonderful country," he said.

Referring to how he sees the sport on the island, Gambin was optimistic that swimming can be boosted even further.

"I see a lot of potential here. With the combined efforts and support of the MOC and the ASA, Malta could expect good progress in swimming standings especially if the respective organisations keep supporting their athletes," he said.

"It is unfortunate that there does not seem to be much funding allocated to the national swimming team. I think finding a sponsor or a job so I can support myself and my goals is one of the first things which I need here.

"There is already a noticeable push towards sport participation... it was a pleasant surprise to see a good number of children practising swimming."

Wider base

Gambin did not mask his feelings that he would like to see a wider base of youngsters taking up the sport.

"It would be great to see more children in the sport," he said.

"The way I see it, the more youngsters at the base level of competition the better the chances of producing champions.

"The national swimming team is definitely in good hands, with head coach Andy Colbourn showing good loyalty to his swimmers well above any that I have seen.

"He goes beyond the call of being 'just a coach' and is more than happy to spend a lot of his own time and money to help if needed."

Ryan acknowledged that his venture would not have been possible without the interest of so many people.

"I would like to thank Pippo Psaila and Marie Therese Zammit of the MOC, Robert Ebejer, the ASA president, and also Colin Pace for their combined efforts in facilitating my coming here," he said.

Currently doing a correspondence course leading to a Commerce Degree and specialising in Sports Management, Gambin plans to stay in Malta for some months.

Among his achievements in the pool, he was a finalist in the Australian National Open in the 50, 100 and 200 metres butterfly and 50 backstroke in 2005 and 2006. Before that he also won silver and bronze medals in the same nationals in the 100 and 200 metres butterfly as a 16-year-old.

He was ranked no.5 in Australia in the 100 metres short course event and won the gold medal in the Open State of Origin titles, Queensland vs New South Wales in 2005.

Apart from his aspirations to represent Malta, Gambin has other long-term objectives, listing among his other priorities a very ambitious sub-52 seconds in the 100m 'fly, completing his degree and being employed within the sport business environment.