Homegrown sportspeople flew the flag for their state in the Northern Territory last month at the leading international competition for developing athletes of the Asia-Pacific region.

No fewer than eight locals took on athletes from around Australia and countries such as Malaysia, New Zealand, Japan, Iran, United Arab Emirates, China, Papua New Guinea and Singapore at the Arafura Games in Darwin.

Bunya teenager Drew Martin made a splash in the pool, winning three medals in the 15-16 year boys’ competition.

The 15-year-old, whose younger sister Kalena also swam in Darwin, scored silver medals in the 100m butterfly and 200m individual medley events to go with a bronze medal for his 50m butterfly effort.

"I thought I was going to come back with a few medals but was just not sure of the colours," Martin said.

"It was quite enjoyable and great to have people come from different countries and versing them in the races was great and the atmosphere was pretty good.

"It really feels like the Olympics, especially having an opening ceremony and a closing ceremony for the games."

It wasn’t just the young guns who made their mark in the Northern Territory.

Highvale pistol shooter Michael Sellars, 49, and Warner long distance runner Stan Fetting, 43, also competed at the nine-day event.

Despite finishing in the top four per cent of competitors, Sellars, who won the Queensland and Australian championships for his category last year, said his final result in Darwin missed the target of his lofty expectations.

"I came 11th in my category out of 290-plus shooters, which ain’t bad but it’s not brilliant," Sellars said.

"I wanted to win and I thought I would win, but unfortunately I shot so well at the two-day aerial event on the Gold Coast a couple of weeks before.

"They (the Arafura Games organisers) actually put me up two grades, right up towards the pointy end where the top shooters are, but if I had stayed where I was I would have definitely won my category."

Fetting, a member of the South Pine Striders and Redcliffe Triathlon Club and winner of last year’s Toowoomba Marathon, tackled the triathlon event during his biennial sporting reunion with friends.

"The great thing about the Arafura Games is that it gives the average athlete, your weekend athlete or age group athlete, the chance to compete in what is effectively an international competition," said Fetting, who first competed at the event in 2001.

Other local participants at this year’s games included 2008 Paralympics swimmer Brenden Hall and his brother Marcus, from Petrie, and fellow swimmers Keely Stewart, of Strathpine, and Lilly Giese, of Albany Creek.

More than 2000 athletes from around 60 countries competed across 26 sports in Darwin, with Queensland entrants claiming 104 medals.