Tenorio, Kimura complete FINA World Cup debuts

CNMI swimmers Shigeki Tenorio and Kensuke Kimura’s debuts in the FINA/ARENA Swimming World Cup are now in the books after they completed their races over the weekend at the Tokyo Tatsumi International Swimming Center in Japan.

Tenorio of Tsunami Saipan first saw action for the Commonwealth in the last stop of the seven-leg World Cup series and timed in at 32.27 seconds in the 50m breaststroke event of the short course competition (25-meter pool) last Saturday.

“He could not break his lifetime best of 31.60 seconds, but his result in Tokyo is his fastest time this season,” Tsunami Saipan coach Hiro Kimura said.

The Tsunami Saipan coach added that Tenorio’s time is better than the 33.35 seconds Dane Bishop of the Marshall Islands recorded last year when the latter won the silver medal in the 2010 Micronesian Games in Palau. The CNMI’s Kai Staal took the gold medal in the 50m breaststroke in Palau with a time of 31.95 seconds

“Shigeki was not that satisfied with his result, but for me it was a good one,” Hiro Kimura said.

After Tenorio, Kensuke Kimura was the next to plunge into the Tokyo pool last Sunday. The younger Kimura joined the 100m individual medley race and submitted 1:03.95. Kensuke Kimura missed the 1:02.54 record of Rezne Wong during the 2009 Japan Open, which was another short course meet, but the former surpassed the 1:04.75 Staal posted in the 2009 Tokyo Junior Sprint.

“This good result is a big step toward Kensuke’s goal of winning the 100m IM in the Tokyo Junior Sprint 2012,” Hiro Kimura said.

Kensuke Kimura and Tenorio, who returned to Saipan early yesterday morning, also swam in the 50m freestyle last Sunday and clocked in at 26.26 and 26.76 seconds, respectively, to beat Guam’s Shane Aricayos (26.80 seconds). Darren Tan of Singapore ruled the heat with his time of 24.63 seconds.

Tenorio earned 479 and 436 FINA points in the 50m breaststroke and 50m freestyle, while Kensuke Kimura received 500 and 461. Points were awarded to swimmers to determine the overall men’s and women’s champions after the seven-leg series. Sweden’s Therese Alshammar and South Africa’s Chad Le Clos took the women’s and men’s championships and received $100,000 each.

Meanwhile, Hiro Kimura thanked the Japan Swimming Federation for allowing the two CNMI swimmers to compete in Tokyo.

“Japan Swimming Federation executive director Kihou Abe promised to invite CNMI swimmers for the FINA World Cup next year,” the Tsunami Saipan coach said.