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SSC ready to swim for CNMI
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Posted on May 31 2006
The 6th Micronesian Games are right around the corner and athletes from across the region are less than three weeks away from marching behind their national colors as they enter the Oleai Sports Complex on June 23.
After a history of high-powered performances and a year removed from returning home with a plane full of medals from the South Pacific Mini Games, members of the Saipan Swim Club are poised to trade their tridents for the latte stone, star, and mwarmwar once again.
While a number of top tankers have been toiling in the Kan Pacific Swimming Pool for months, SSC head coach Michael Stewart announced the chosen few that will take the blocks later this month in Marpi.
Nina Mosley, Melissa Coleman, Nicole Calvo, Minerva Cabrera, Amanda Johnson, Sarah Johnson, Jellian Majors, and Salyna Leon Guerrero will don the caps and goggles for the CNMI women’s squad, while David Palacios, Juan Camacho, Michael Camacho, Rezne Wong, Shin Kimura, Kensuke Kimura, and Cooper Graf will make waves for the men.
“We’ve got experience and young kids so it’ll be exciting,” said Stewart.
The team is well trained and ready to go, but the 2005 NMASA Coach of the Year didn’t flinch when asked about the toughest competition in the Micronesian Games.
“Guam will be right there. They have a number of young kids and they swam really well in Palau. We swam better than they did but they are hungry this year. I think they’ve trained very hard. They came in for our international meet a couple of months ago and swam well against us. It’ll be real interesting. We’ll see how it works out,” he said.
Stewart said that he is confident in his bunch of youngsters competing against international for the first time and that while they may be calm now, they will all face moments when their nerves get the better of them.
“Not yet, but they will be when they get on the blocks. Even though they’ll be in their own pool, when you’re in front of your home crowd and you make the medals—you’ll be a little nervous,” he said.
When that happens, the coach said that he will offer them some simple advice.
“Just relax, trust your training, and trust yourself,” he said.
