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4 swimmers enter finals
Nelson Batallones, seen here competing in the 100m freestyle race in a local tournament this year, qualified in the finals of the 50m backstroke event in the 12th Oceania Swimming Championships last Wednesday at the Taurama Aquatic and Indoor Centre in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)
The CNMI’s Juhn Tenorio, Nelson Batallones, Christian Villacrusis, and Jinnosuke Suzuki marched into the finals of their respective events on Day 2 of the 12th Oceania Swimming Championships.
Tenorio and Batallones both raced in the 50m backstroke event last Wednesday at the Taurama Aquatic and Indoor Centre in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea and qualified to the finals. Tenorio clocked in at 31.36 seconds to finish at No. 14 (out of 25 swimmers), while Batallones was ranked No. 16 and also made it to the finals after posting 35.09 seconds. Batallones’s preliminary mark broke his old personal best time (35.34 seconds). Tenorio and Batallones competed in the finals last Wednesday night, but results were unavailable at the event’s website at press time.
In the 100m breaststroke, Villacrusis and Jinnosuke submitted 1:19.00 and 1:20.80, respectively to earn finals slots in the two-lap race. Besides moving into the finals, Jinnosuke also set a new PBT (from 1:22.40).
Sophia Gauran also earned a PBT in the 100m breaststroke after registering 1:32.14 (from 1:33.30) in the women’s race.
In the women’s 50m backstroke, Jinju Thompson logged 36.96 seconds, surpassing her old PBT (37.31 seconds). Thompson notched her second PBT on Day 2 after recording 1:09.31 in the 100m freestyle. Her previous PBT was 1:09.66. Gauran did the same race and checked in at 1:09.40 to beat eight other swimmers.
In the men’s 100m freestyle, the Suzuki brothers and Villlacrusis marked PBTs. Lennosuke’s 57.60 seconds (No. 27 out of 50 swimmers and the fastest among the CNMI swimmers) broke his old record (58.33), while Jinnosuke’s new PBT read at 1:00.81 (from 1:01.13). Villacrusis clocked in at 57.98 seconds to beat his previous PBT of 58.42 seconds. Batallones was the fourth Commonwealth swimmer to complete the race and posted 1:03.77.
Meanwhile, Lennosuke also got a PBT in the 50m butterfly event last Tuesday after clocking in at 30.03 seconds (from 30.62). Batallones was in the same heat with Lennosuke and logged 30.48 seconds.
In the women’s 50m butterfly race, Gauran finished the sprint in 36.93 seconds, nearly two seconds faster than her old PBT (38.75 seconds).
