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Tsunami Saipan to raise funds for Rezne
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Posted on May 22 2012
By Mark Rabago
Associate Editor
Associate Editor
Tsunami Swimming Center Saipan will be raising funds to help defray the cost of sending 2010 NMASA Athlete of the Year Rezne Wong to the 2012 Oceania Swimming Championships in Noumea, New Caledonia.
Club head coach Hiro Kimura said Tsunami Saipan will set aside part of the proceeds from its upcoming American Red Cross 2012 Summer Swimming Lessons and donate it to Wong for his Noumea trip.
The University of Hawaii-Manoa swimmer earlier said that he expects to incur a cost of more than $3,000 in order to compete against the best swimmers of the region, including Australia and New Zealand, in the 2012 Oceania Swimming Championships.
Aside from proceeds from the ARC swimming lessons, which are set from June 13 to 16 at the Mariana Resort & Spa pool and Kan Pacific Swimming Pool, Tsunami Saipan will also hold a yard sale at Marianas Business Plaza in Susupe. Proceeds from the yard sale will also be donated to Wong.
As far as his expectations for Wong in Noumea, Kimura said he hopes the best athlete of the 2010 Palau Micronesian Games to reset several CNMI national records.
“I think it would be his target to reset CNMI records in all events he is participating. He has the ability and I expect nothing less,” he said.
Kimura added that while participating alone in New Caledonia could be a challenge, he is confident that Wong could pull it through because he already has some experience with that, having also participated alone in the 2011 World University Games in China last year.
While no one from the CNMI will accompany Wong in Noumea, Saipan Swim Club co-founder and former Northern Marianas Amateur Sports Association president Bill Sakovich will be there to guide him.
Sakovich coached Wong during his formative years in swimming.
Wong earlier said he hopes to get under U.S. Olympic Trials times when he represents the CNMI in the 2012 Oceania Swimming Championships from May 28 to June 2 at Noumea’s Aquatic Centre.
He will compete in five events in New Caledonia-200m individual medley, 200m breaststroke, 100m butterfly, and 50m and 100m breaststroke.
