Previous Story
6 age group swim marks fall
Swimmers compete in the 50m backstroke race during the NMISF’s first tournament for the 2014-2015 season held last Oct. 4 at the Kan Pacific Swimming Pool. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)
Tsunami Swimming Center Saipan’s Nanaka Watanabe set three of those six marks, while her teammate Daime Rivera and Ashley Dangol earned the three other records.
The 8-year-old Watanabe first shattered the 100m breaststroke mark in the girls U8 division. She completed the event in 1:44.35 to surpass her own mark (1:46.56) logged on May 31, 2014 during the Guam Swimming Championships in Hagatna.
In her second record-breaking swim, Watanabe’s 1:41.39 in the 100m backstroke erased the 10-year mark of Saipan Swim Club’s Iia Corella. Corella submitted 1:43.98 during a meet on March 31, 2004. For her third age group mark, Watanabe crushed a longer record, as she timed in at 6:15.54 in the 400m freestyle, more than 23 seconds faster than the 6:38.55 of another SSC bet Amanda Johnson. Johnson made the age group mark on April 29, 2000.
Two more records of Johnson fell with Dangol setting new marks in the girls U8 50m butterfly and 50m backstroke events. Dangol clocked in at 41.69 seconds in the 50m butterfly to surpass the 45.48 seconds Johnson registered on March 31, 2000. In the 50m backstroke, Dangol came in at 45.39 seconds to eclipse the 46.82 seconds Johnson recorded on March 30, 2000.
In another sprint event—the 50m backstroke—Rivera graced the CNMI record books for the first time as her 43.76 seconds was faster than the former girls 17 to 18 mark (44.34 seconds) of Keanna Villagomez. The former SSC swimmer achieved the age group mark on April 16, 2011.
Meanwhile, in the 100m backstroke event, three Tsunami Saipan swimmers earned PBTs. Hans Xu clocked in at 1:38.75 in the boys U8 race to erase his previous PBT of 1:43.39. In the 9 to 10 age group, Juhn Tenorio recorded 1:29.94, around three seconds faster than his old PBT (1:32.64). In the 11 to 12 division, Mark Maestro chopped off more than six seconds from his previous PBT (1:28.85) after logging 1:22.38 in the Oct. 4 competition.
In the 200m freestyle, two SSC swimmers achieved PBTs. Jinnosuke Suzuki registered 2:50.53 (from 2:50.73) in the U8 race, while fellow SSC bet Conatsu Kaga timed in at 2:50.67 (from 2:54.34) in the girls 11 to 12 age group.
Results of other events and SSC and Tsunami Saipan swimmers’ PBTs will be reported in Saipan Tribune’s Tuesday edition.
