SSC swims through finals in Darwin

By BRAD E. RUSZALA
REPORTER

Of the seven competitors from the Saipan Swim Club who made the journey to the Arafura Games in Darwin Australia, six advanced to the finals in their respective events, led by speedster Nina Mosley.

Mosley donned her cap and goggles to win the gold in the girls’ 15-16 year-old age group in the 50m butterfly by eclipsing her 31.93 time in the preliminary round by almost a full second as she touched the wall of the Casuarina Pool in 30.97.

The standout swimmer wasn’t through yet, as after advancing to the finals of the girls’ 15-16 100m backstroke with a time of 1:19.07, Mosley chopped more than three full seconds off her time in the finals with a finish of 1:15.76. Her time was little more than a second behind first place finisher Lisa Eadie of Australia in the prelims, but the Aussie blew everyone away in the finals with a time of 1:09.86.

Mosley continued her aquatic efforts in the finals of the 100m breaststroke by swimming to a fifth-place finish with a time of 1:28.32—more than a second faster than her qualifying time of 1:29.52 in the prelims.

She wasn’t the only woman in the water who made improvements for the CNMI as Myana Welch finished in fifth place in the 15-16 year-old age group in the 50m butterfly in 33.81—almost three seconds faster than her qualifying time of 36.70.

Welch continued her progress in the 100m backstroke by smashing her 1:21.10 time in the prelims with a 1:18.15 in the finals.

Amanda Johnson continued the trend for the girls in the 13-14 year-old age group with a fifth-place finish in the finals of the 100m butterfly with a time of 1:15.58— two and a half seconds faster than her time of 1:18.30 in the qualifier.

Natasha Good also earned a spot in the finals with a qualifying time of 3:31.04 in the 15-16 year-old 200m butterfly, and finished fifth with a time of 3:37.07.

The boys continued their strong presence at the games in the final round of action as Michael Camacho edged his preliminary time 33.42 in the boys’ 13-14 year-old 50m backstroke with a 33.38 to finish in sixth place. Camacho was less than two seconds behind first-place finisher Harry Jovanovich of W.A Country Squad-WA who touched the wall in 31.16.

Youngster Cooper Graf was also among the finalists on Day 3, as he shattered his qualifying time of 3:28.32 in the Boys’ 12-and-under 200m IM by almost eight seconds with a 3:20.93 for eighth place.