Amini Tuitavake Britteon Fonua (born 14 December 1989) is a Tongan competitive

swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...

Career

Fonua's swimming career began at the Roskill Swimming Club based at Cameron Pool in Auckland, coached by Sandra Burrow from 1999–2007. He broke numerous Auckland and New Zealand Age Group Records under Burrow's tenure. He then moved to West Auckland Aquatics in 2007, and was coached by Donna Bouzaid. In the Fall of 2008, Fonua enrolled at Texas A&M on a swimming scholarship. While at Texas A&M he was a peer voted Team Captain, Big XII Conference Champion, NCAA All-American, and recipient of The Aggie Heart Award. He graduated with a Telecommunication and Multi-Media degree, with a Minor in Creative Writing in May 2013. He was "the first Tongan swimmer to win a gold medal in international competition", when he took gold in the 50 metre breaststroke at the

2010 Oceania Swimming Championships The 8th Oceania Swimming Championships were held 21–26 June 2010, at the Tuanaimato Aquatic Centre in Apia, Apia, Samoa. It was the eight edition of the biennial championships, and featured competition in Swimming (sport), swimming, open water swi ...

."Be true to yourself, says gay Tongan swimmer"
Radio Australia, 17 May 2013 In preparation for the 2012 London Olympics Fonua was trained by New Zealander and designated head coach for Tonga, Jon Winter. He served as his nation's flag-bearer in the

2012 Summer Olympics Parade of Nations At the 2012 Summer Olympics Parade of Nations of the 2012 London Olympics, athletes and officials from each participating country paraded into the Olympic Stadium preceded by their national flag to the sound of iconic British modern music. Each f ...

. As a swimmer at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, he competed in the Men's 100 metre breaststroke, failing to reach the semifinals. Fonua made an international comeback at the 2015 Pacific Games in

Port Moresby (; Tok Pisin: ''Pot Mosbi''), also referred to as Pom City or simply Moresby, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. It is one of the largest cities in the southwestern Pacific (along with Jayapura) outside of Australia and New Z ...

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

. He created history by becoming the first ever Tongan athlete to ever win three gold medals at a Pacific Games by sweeping the Breaststroke events, setting two Games Records in the process (50 m and 100 m Breaststroke). He is the only Tongan athlete in history to ever hold dual Oceania and Pacific Games titles. At the

2016 Olympics ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams) , athletes = 11,238 , events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines) , opening = 5 August 2016 , closing = 21 August 2016 , opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer , cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro ...

, he again competed in the 100 m breaststroke.

Personal life

Fonua was born and raised in Ponsonby, Auckland, New Zealand to Tongan lawyer Sione Fonua and British-born mother Julie. He holds dual Tongan and New Zealand citizenship. His family includes two sisters. Fonua is openly gay and a vocal advocate for

LGBT rights Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality. Notably, , 33 ...

. He enjoys

soursop fruit Soursop (also called ''graviola, guyabano'', and in Hispanic America, ''guanábana'') is the fruit of ''Annona muricata'', a broadleaf, flowering, evergreen tree. It is native to the Tropics, tropical regions of the Americas and the Caribbean a ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fonua, Amini 1989 births Living people Olympic swimmers of Tonga Male breaststroke swimmers Swimmers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Texas A&M Aggies men's swimmers Gay sportsmen New Zealand LGBT sportspeople Tongan LGBT sportspeople LGBT swimmers New Zealand people of British descent New Zealand people of Tongan descent Swimmers from Auckland Swimmers at the 2020 Summer Olympics 21st-century LGBT people