3 Tsunami Saipan swimmers set new records

Tsunami Saipan’s Nanaka Watanabe goes for the second and final lap of the 100m breaststroke event during the 2016 Northern Mariana Island Swimming Federation Meet 3 held last Dec. 3 at the Kan Pacific Swimming Pool. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

Tsunami Swimming Center Saipan swimmers registered five new age group records during the 2016 Northern Mariana Island Swimming Federation Meet 3 held last Dec. 3 at the Kan Pacific Swimming Pool.

Nanaka Watanabe earned two new marks in the girls 9 to 10 age group, while Isaiah Aleksenko had the same feat in the boys 9 to 10 division, and Juhn Tenorio got one in the boys 11 to 12 category.

The 10-year-old Watanabe posted her first age group record in the 100m breaststroke event after clocking in at 1:30.91. She broke the mark of former Tsunami Saipan swimmer Angel Marie Tan, who submitted 1:31.27 on Feb. 20, 2010. Watanabe’s second record was in the 50m breaststroke and incidentally she also crushed the old mark of Tan. The Tsunami Saipan bet’s 41.63 seconds eclipsed the 41.86 made by Tan on Feb. 20, 2010.

“This meet was my last chance to get the 9 to 10 age group records. I had been trying to get them for many times, but I always missed just by milliseconds. Now I am so happy and thankful to my coach, parents, and my team mates who supported me to get these records,” Watanabe said.

Aleksenko also entered the records books in the same age group after his impressive swims in the 400m and 800m freestyle events. His 5:08.50 in the 400m freestyle swim surpassed the 5:08.51 set by fellow Tsunami Saipan swimmer Kaito Yanai on May 20, 2010. In the 800m freestyle event, the 10-year-old swimmer shattered an even older mark, as his 10:34.52 was better than the 11:18.39 Kensuke Kimura logged on March 2, 2007.

“I’m so happy to break Kensuke’s record because he is still a super star swimmer for us,” said Aleksenko, who is eying to crush the age group marks in the 100m and 200m freestyle events next year.

Tenorio completed the list of Tsunami Saipan swimmers who set new age group marks in the NMISF Meet 3 and he also smashed one of the oldest records in the Commonwealth.

The 12-year-old Tenorio shattered the more than 22 year old record of Saipan Swim Club’s Joshua Taitano in the 50m backstroke. Tenorio clocked in at 33.56 seconds to eclipse the 34.44 seconds Taitano tallied on May 7, 1994.

“I’m excited to be able to break the 1994 CNMI age group record. I’ve been practicing everyday for this record, and would like to thank coach Hiro Kimura for guiding me. I will try to break the 100m backstroke record, too,” Tenorio said.

Kimura commended his swimmers for their record-breaking performances.

“They had awesome swims. Nanaka and Isaiah did not only break CNMI age group records, but also made AAAA times. The record that Juhn broke is one of oldest CNMI records—22 years are long. Breaking CNMI records is a passing point for us and our goal this year is to make it to the final heats in the Tokyo Junior Sprint early next year and make it to the podium,” the Tsunami Saipan coach said.