9 Tsunami Saipan tankers off to Guam

 Tsunami Swimming Center Saipan will be sending nine of its swimmers to compete in this weekend’s 2012 Guam Swimming Championships at the Hagatna Swimming Pool.

Head coach Hiro Kimura said the team will be led by his own son, 16-year-old Kensuke Kimura.

The Grace Christian Academy student will be competing in the 400m individual medley, 200m IM, 200m backstroke, and 50m freestyle.

Joining the younger Kimura in Guam are Takumi Sugie, Kaito and Ryuto Yanai, Heongjoo Yoo, Ryosei Toda, Miku Tammy, Angel De Jesus, and Angel Tan.

Sugie, a 13-year-old student of Saipan International School, will see action in the 50m freestyle, 100m freestyle, 200m freestyle, 400m freestyle, and 50m backstroke.

Kaito Yanai, for his part, will start with the 50m backstroke, 50m freestyle, and 100m breaststroke. The 12-year-old Garapan Elementary School will also tackle the longer 200m breaststroke, 200m IM, and 400m freestyle.

His younger brother, 8-year-old Ryuto Yanai also of GES, will swim in the 50m freestyle, 100m freestyle, 200m freestyle, 400m freestyle, and 50m backstroke.

Twelve-year-old Yoo of Grace Christian Academy will tackle the 50m breaststroke, 100m breaststroke, and 50m freestyle, while 11-year-old Saipan Community School student Ryosei Toda will compete in the 50m breaststroke, 100m breaststroke, 200m breaststroke, and 50m freestyle.

Miku Tammy, 10 years old of Gregorio T. Camacho Elementary School, will plunge in the pool in the 50m freestyle, 100m freestyle, 50m butterfly, 100m butterfly, and 200m backstroke.

Hopwood Junior High School 13-year-old De Jesus, meanwhile, will swim in the 50m freestyle, 100m freestyle, 50m backstroke, and 50m butterfly.

Last but definitely not the least, 13-year-old Tan of Grace Christian Academy will compete in the 50m breaststroke, 100m breaststroke, 200m breaststroke, and 50m freestyle.

Coach Kimura said like in other meets, Tsunami Saipan’s objective in the Guam Swimming Championships is to improve the times of their swimmers.

He said like the Saipan International Swimming Meet, the Guam event will also be handing awards to the swimmer with the highest overall total points.

The elder Kimura, however, said this could skew the performance of swimmers since participants can join as much as eight events without even improving times in any of his or her events.

He said Tsunami Saipan is more focused in improving the individual times of its swimmers rather than have them take part in as many events as possible.
“Because Tsunami Saipan wants to make its swimmers focus on updating their personal best time, our No. 1 priority at this meet is to get 100 percent personal best times,” he said.

Tsunami Saipan’s nine swimmers and coach Kimura will leave Saipan in the early morning of Friday, May 11, and will return from Guam on Sunday, May 13.

Coach Kimura also extended his thanks to Tsunami Saipan’s many sponsors for helping out the club in its events. They include Tan Holdings, Mariana Resort and Spa, DFS Galleria Saipan, Pacific Islands Club, and McDonald’s Saipan.

He also thanked the Northern Mariana Islands Swimming Federation, the governing body for the sports of swimming in the CNMI; and the Guam Swimming Federation, the group that invited Tsunami Saipan to compete in the Guam meet.