16 PBTs for SSC swimmers

Saipan Swim Club’s Jinnosuke Suzuki races in the 100m freestyle event during the SSC Double Distance Meet held last Saturday at the Kan Pacific Swimming Pool. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

Saipan Swim Club members earned 16 personal best times during last Saturday’s SSC Double Distance Meet held at the Kan Pacific Swimming Pool.

Jinnosuke Suzuki led SSC’s PBT getters after surpassing his own records in the 1,500m freestyle, 400m freestyle, and 100m events. The 11-year-old swimmer timed in at 20:19.02 in the grueling 30-lap race, chopping off more than 28 seconds from his previous mark which read at 20:48.13.

Jinnosuke was the third fastest swimmer to complete the longest race of the day, just a second and change behind his older brother Lennosuke, who clocked in at 20:18.00. The younger Suzuki finished ahead of older SSC swimmers—Taiga Sato (20:34.11), Christian Villacrusis (22:02.70), and David Boyer (22:13.27). Boyer also achieved a PBT, crushing his old mark of 24:25.23, while Kento Akimaru had the best time in the 1,500m race after registering 18:51.48, which eclipsed his previous PBT of 19:33.27. Still in the same event, Jinju Thompson was the fourth SSC member to gain a PBT after logging 22:13.75 (from 23:02.03).

In the 400m freestyle, Jinnosuke broke the five-minute barrier after checking in at 4:58.03. His old PBT in the eight-lap race was 5:25.05. He was the top finisher in his group, beating two Tsunami Swimming Center Saipan swimmers and teammate Taiyo Akimaru, who did the event for the first time and checked in at 6:08.16.

In the 100m freestyle race, Jinnosuke’s 1:06.41 broke his old PBT of 1:06.93 and defeated the 1:15.18 and 2:15.02 of Taiyo Akimaru and Tsunami Saipan’s James Kill, respectively.

In other results, siblings Mark Jainier and Julie Anne Chavez, Moshe and Savita Sikkel, Cojiro Kaga, and Taga Sato also got PBTs in the weekend meet, while Jinju Thompson and Kento Akimaru earned one more PBT.

Mark had PBTs in the 200m and 100m freestyle. He registered 1:37.08 in the 100m freestyle event to surpass his old mark of 1:37.43, while his 3:30.87 was also better than his previous record of 3:32.56. Her youngest sister Julie Anne also made a PBT in the 100m freestyle after posting 2:02.30 (from 2:04.22).

The Sikkel siblings duplicated Mark and Julie Anne’s feats in the 100m freestyle with Savita clocking in at 1:35.92 (from 1:43.54) and Moshe timing in at 2:11.42 (from 2:17.07). Jinju and Cojiro completed SSC’s roster of PBT getters in the two-lap race after recording 1:13.58 (from 1:14.24) and 1:59.30 (from 2:26.09), respectively.

In the 800m freestyle, Kento Akimaru’s 10:08.60 topped the field and also shattered his old PBT of 19:23.38, while Taiga Sato marked a PBT, too with his 10:46.91 (from 11:02.48).

Meanwhile, SSC would like to thank the volunteers and all the swimmers who participated in the weekend meet. Tsunami Saipan and Dolphin Club also joined the Double Distance Meet and results of their races will be reported next week.

“The meet was a success and although the swimmers were tired, everyone had a personal best. The SSC swimmers also swam 4 of the 6 events offered. This meet is designed to allow swimmers the opportunity to swim longer and more grueling races. Many times swimmers shy away from swimming distance events, but when given the chance to swim it they enjoy it. Not everyone is a sprinter,” SSC coach Jacoby Winkfield said.