Swimmers stand out in March

Saipan Swim Club’s Lennosuke Suzuki and Tsunami Saipan’s Ashley Dangol won the NMSA/TSL Foundation Student March Athletes of the Month awards for their outstanding performance in various tournaments last month.

Suzuki was recognized for setting three age group marks in the boys 11 to 12 age group during the 2016 SSC International Invitational Meet held from March 17 to 19 at the Kan Pacific Swimming Pool. He timed in at 1:01.48 in the 100m freestyle to crash the 1:02.42 mark made by former SSC standout Josh Taitano in 1994. Then in the 200m freestyle, his 2:17.20 also shattered the 22-year-old record (2:18.66) of Taitano. The 12-year-old swimmer went on to complete a hat-trick in the annual tournament when his 2:34.15 in the 200m individual medley surpassed another Taitano record (2:35.68).

Besides his three record-breaking swims, the Tanapag Middle School student also raced in five other events and ruled three of them to get the high-point award in his age group. He defeated Palau’s Jericho Maido in a close battle for first place, 77-73.

After the competition at the pool, Lennosuke swam in the waters near Naked Fish in Susupe and emerged as the top overall finisher in the 1.3K course of the 37th Annual Saipan Ocean Swim. He completed the race in 18:09 to beat rivals Maido (18:28) and Tsunami Saipan’s Nelson Batallones (19:40).

Meanwhile, Dangol shared the monthly recognition with Suzuki for her record-breaking swim in Japan and domination in the SSC swim meet.

In Japan, Dangol was among the seven Tsunami Saipan swimmers who competed in the Tokyo Junior Sprint 2016 from March 5 to 6 and brought home a gold medal. She won the finals of the 50m butterfly after registering 33.93 seconds, which is also the new meet record, eclipsing the 33.95 Michiko Shimokawa of Tokyo Swimming Center posted in 2002. Over 100 swimmers raced in the 50m butterfly and the Saipan Community School student qualified to the finals after placing fifth in the preliminaries. Only the Top 8 out of the 113 swimmers marched into the finals.

After her successful stint in the Tokyo Sprint, Dangol did not rest on her laurels when she got back to Saipan and showed the same top form to take the high-point award in the girls 9 to 10 age group in the SSC-organized tournament. She raced in nine events and registered personal best times in six, while winning the division plum against teammate Nanaka Watanabe and SSC’s Jinie Thompson. Dangol collected 77 points from the SSC competition, 10 markers ahead of Watanabe. The 9-year-old Dangol also joined the SSC ocean swim and finished first in the 1K course.