Villagomez takes SSC helm

NMASA Hall of Fame inductee Mike Villagomez is now solely calling the shots for Saipan Swim Club, making him the first home-grown coach at the helm of SSC.

Villagomez became SSC’s head coach following Michael Blasberg’s resignation last month. Before Blasberg called it quits, he and Villagomez were co-coaching SSC after former mentor Michael Stewart left the island in July last year.

“It was a sort of dream come true. I have always wanted to be a coach after I stopped joining competitive swimming,” said Villagomez, who was one of CNMI’s top swimmer in the 1980s competing in off-island and regional tournaments.

Villagomez said he knew that Blasberg’s stint with SSC was only temporary.

Blasberg in an email to Saipan Tribune said when he took over from coach Stewart, it was pretty clear that this was a fulltime job and that he wouldn’t be able to deliver the level of coaching Stewart did given his inexperience.

“I let the board know that I wanted to help out and would be a temporary custodian until a more permanent replacement could be found. Mike and Kristina (assistant coach Kristina Springer) will do a great job, they’re both P.E. teachers and have extensive swimming experience,” Blasberg said.

Villagomez is with ChaCha Oceaniaview Junior High School and he said being a teacher will help him deal with SSC swimmers.

“As a teacher, you are dealing with students who have different attitudes and you learn how to be patient with them. The same goes with teaching these kids to swim. They skill levels are different, so you have to be patient and understanding during training sessions,” Villagomez said.

“It will be a great challenge serving as SSC coach, especially this year. We have a lot of new swimmers so 2009 will be a rebuilding year for us,” he said.

Lisa Kimball of the SSC board said they expected to have between 45 to 50 swimmers consistently attending their training sessions at the Kan Pacific Swimming Pool in Marpi this year.

“But the number goes down in the first few months of the month because of the cold weather before many returns to practice when summer approaches,” said Kimball, who added they had 15 visiting Korean students training with SSC swimmers last summer.

Kimball and the rest of SSC board, headed by vice president Sam Martinsen, said they are relieved that the club now has a head coach on a full time basis.

“We can now concentrate on the operations of SSC and the board and Mike will be focusing on teaching the kids and preparing them for future tournaments,” Martinsen said.

Villagomez said first up for SSC is the virtual heptathlon meet next month and then the SSC International Invitational, also in February.