Team Cook Islands is still adjusting to life under Covid-19 restrictions at the Tokyo Olympics.
Kirsten Fisher-Marsters, Wesley Roberts and Jane Nicholas in Tokyo. Photo: Facebook/Cook Islands Canoeing Association
The Cooks are Covid-19 free but life in Japan is very different, with infections on the rise in the capital.
Spectators have been barred from attending events after Tokyo declared a state of emergency which will run throughout the Olympic Games.
Cook Islands Chef de Mission John Paul Wilson said the team's physio did not travel to Japan because he declined to be vaccinated, but the delegation on the ground have all received two doses.
But wearing masks, he admitted, has taken some getting used to for the Rarotonga-based members of their team.
"So far, it's been really good because a lot of the athletes and officials here are actually listening to all the counter-measures that has been put in place, so it's been really good," he said.
"Apart from wearing the mask - my team here is still not really used to wearing the mask because back home we don't wear masks."
Lockdowns in Sydney have helped Cook Island swimmer Wesley Roberts stay focused and race at his best. Photo: Supplied
The Cook Islands have six athletes competing in Tokyo, after paddler Bryden Nicholas pulled out for personal reasons last month.
Four of them will be at tonight's opening ceremony, including flag-bearers Wesley Roberts and Kirsten Fisher-Marsters.
Chef de Mission John Paul Wilson said they will all be dressed to impress.
"The team will be wearing the TAV's shirt, what we normally wear and then we will have some other stuff that goes with it," he said.
"Then our flag-bearers they will be in a different outfit, different from the team, so I'm not going to reveal that much. We'll just wait for the time that we come out and present everything, so you can judge for yourself."
Swimmer Wesley Roberts is the first Cook Islands athlete in action tomorrow night in the 400m freestyle heats, followed by the 200m on Sunday.
Wilson believes the "Atiu Rocket" has a real chance of advancing beyond the first round.
"Before coming to Tokyo he was in a competition that he did really well," he said of the Sydney-based swimmer.
"He actually broke his own record before coming to the Games so that's a big thumbs up to him...he said it has been difficult during these Covid times. Sometimes he had to schedule times for the swimming pool and it was only him by himself, so he's been training hard for it."
Kirsten Fisher-Marsters is also in action on Sunday in the women's 100m breaststroke heats, while paddler Jane Nicholas will make her Olympic debut in the women's K-1 slalom heats, joining her siblings Ella and Bryden in representing the Cook Islands on the biggest stage in sport.
The 28-year-old will also compete the women's C-1 slalom event, which has replaced the men's C-2 as the Olympics moves toward gender equality.
"She's going to be doing another sprint that's outside the comfort zone which is going to be the k-1 sprints as well, the same as the other two young canoeists (from Cook Islands, Jade Tierney and Kohl Horton) as well so it's going to be something different for her. But her main focus will be on the canoe slalom so we just hope it all turns out good on the day."
Seventeen-year-old duo Tierney and Horton don't get underway in their solo kayak events until Monday and Wednesday respectively, while middle distance runner Alex Beddoes will compete in the men's 800m next weekend.
The Cook Islands has never won an Olympic medal but John Paul Wilson said that doesn't stop them dreaming.
"It's like every other country, we're hoping that we're able to get a medal but if we don't achieve that I'm just hoping that they actually push themselves and actually get personal bests," he said.
"And also have good records that we can compare back home and there will probably be results that our future athletes can try and beat - like a motivation thing for them."
