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Kensuke home from Guam training
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Posted on Jul 14 2008
Tsunami Swimming Center Saipan’s standout Kensuke Kimura recently returned from three weeks of hard training in Guam.
Kimura flew to the U.S. territory last month to join Tsunami Guam practices for its swimmers that will be taking part in the 2008 Junior Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.
According to Kimura’s father, Tsunami Saipan head coach Hiro, the Tsunami Guam Junior Olympic team practiced two times a day at both the Leo Palace Resort and Onward Beach Resort swimming pools.
“Tsunami Guam is the sister club of Tsunami Saipan and it has some swimmers who qualified for the Junior Olympics. We allowed Kensuke to join them so he could have harder practice sessions with them. Toshi Iijima, who is Tsunami Guam’s head coach, trained Kensuke these past three weeks,” he said.
The first session was from 9am to 11:30am at Leo Palace, while the second was from 5pm to 7:30pm at Onward Beach Resort. The total distance for each day of training sessions were from 8,000m to 9.000m—all sans fins.
The elder Kimura said while some of Tsunami Guam’s swimmers are going to the 2008 Junior Olympic in Japan this summer, his son, unfortunately, will not be joining them.
“Kensuke could not go there because he couldn’t reach the qualifying time. But he will be practicing harder than before to qualify for the Junior Olympics next spring,” he said.
Coach Kimura said in fact no one from Tsunami Saipan will be going to the Junior Olympics because of the high-level of competition there. He said in order for a swimmer to be allowed to join, he or she should first meet the qualifying times set for the events.
“The qualifying time is much faster than the CNMI record. The Junior Olympics is a very high-level meet and even if Kensuke breaks the national record, he may still not qualify,” he said. “We expect Kensuke, however, to go to the Junior Olympic next spring or the final stage of Tokyo Junior Sprint also next spring.”
Coach Kimura also reminded that Tsunami Saipan’s 2008-2009 season will start on Aug. 4. Full details of the fledgling club’s programs for the new season will be published in the following days.
