35 more PBTs set in NMISF meet

Saipan Swim Club and Tsunami Saipan Swimming Center members finished strong after recording 35 more personal best times in the last 11 events of Northern Mariana Islands Swimming Federation’s first meet for the 2014-2015 season held early this month at the Kan Pacific Swimming Pool.

The additional PBTs were registered in the 100m and 400m freestyle and 50m backstroke races.

A participant in the NMISF-sanctioned tournament races in the 50m backstroke event at the Kan Pacific Swimming Pool early this month. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

In the girls U8 50m backstroke, Tsunami Saipan’s Ashley Dangol, SSC’s Jinie Thompson, and Tsunami Saipan’s Kana Suzuki posted the Top 3 fastest times en route to earning PBTs. Dangol clocked in at 45.39 seconds, while Thompson and Suzuki tallied 52.39 and 58.10 seconds, respectively. Other swimmers who bagged PBTs in the event were Tsunami Saipan’s Shaunalyn Babauta (1:07.55) and SSC’s Savita Sikkel (1:15.43).

In the girls 9 to 10 and 11 to 12 age groups, six notched PBTs. The list includes Tsunami Saipan’s Ayumi Obligacio (1:14.50), Natsugi Nagata (58.95 seconds), Sophia Gauran (42.44 seconds), Aika Wanatabe (43.37 seconds), and Megumi Yoshino (48.92 seconds), and SSC’s Ayaka Sato (1:07.35).

In the boys U8 division, Hans Xu had the fastest PBT with his 44.92 seconds, while Tsunami Saipan’s Isaiah Aleksenko and Arman Rechucher broke the one-minute barrier after logging 51.68 and 57.93 seconds, respectively. SSC’s Jefferey Sheu (1:04.54) and Wataru Kadokura (1:20.98) were the other PBT getters in the division.

In the boys 9 to 10 age group, Juhn Tenorio’s 43.44 seconds surpass his old PBT of 43.63 seconds, while fellow Tsunami Saipan bet Kenta Tomie did the same after posting 1:06.25 (from 1:12.53). In the 11 to 12 division, the Top 3 finishers in the race also achieved PBTs. Tsunami Saipan’s Mark Maestro came in first with his 38.35 seconds, followed by SSC’s Taiga Sato (41.88 seconds) and Tsunami Saipan’s Nelson Battalones (43.03 seconds).

Batallones eclipsed his old PBT (1:29.69), too in the 100m freestyle after clocking in at 1:19.66, while SSC’s David Boyer and Tsunami Saipan’s Takumi Sugie also got PBTS in the same event in their respective age groups. Sugie competed in the 15 to 16 division and timed in at 1:00.67, about two seconds fastest than his previous PBT of 1:02.58, while Boyer chopped off more than two seconds from his old PBT after recording 1:09.82 (from 1:12.25) in the 13 to 14 age group.

In the boys U8, Kadokura shaved off more than one minute from his PBT with his 2:18.37 (from 2:19.87), while Tsunami Saipan’s Anthony Camacho-Deleon Guerrero and SSC’s Richard Villagomez also set PBT after registering 1:16.90 and 1:37.23, respectively.

In the girls division, Tsunami Saipan’s Angel De Jesus swam in the 15 to 16 age group and earned a PBT (1:06.50), while her teammates Sophia Gauran (1:13.49) and Kyona Rivera (1:18.61) got the same feat in the 11 to 12 category. Jin Ju Thompson also joined the 11 to 12 race and tallied 1:23.70, more than four seconds faster than her old PBT (1:27.90). Thompson’s fellow SSC member Susana Villagomez had a bigger drop, as the latter clocked in at 2:03.95 (from 2:13.69) in the 9 to 10 race.

Meanwhile, another SSC bet, Coume Kaga, hit a PBT in the 400m freestyle after touching the wall at the 6:40.39 mark. Her old PBT was 6:59.69.