Ryuto, Lukas reset CNMI marks again

Tsunami Saipan’s Lukas Kang and Ryuto Yanai capped the last leg of the Tsunami Swim Circuit Series with record-breaking swims at the Kan Pacific Swimming Pool in Marpi last Saturday.

Yanai reset two more CNMI age group marks in the boys U8 division, while Kang made one. Yanai raced in the 50m freestyle and timed in at 33.65 seconds to surpass the CNMI age group mark (33.85) he set on Nov. 12, 2011. Then in the 200m freestyle, the 8-year-old Yanai clocked in at 2:45.35, chopping off more than five seconds from his previous age group record (2:50.52) logged on Feb. 4, 2011. Kang’s lone record in the Tsunami Swim Circuit Series 4 came in the 200m individual medley where he submitted 2:58.63, more than six seconds faster than his previous mark of 3:04.92 (April 15, 2011).

Yanai and Kang’s performance in last Saturday’s competition was a fitting way to end the series, as the two Tsunami Saipan swimmers were also the first ones to either post or reset CNMI age group record.

In Series 1, Kang logged 1:23.74 in the 100m backstroke event in the boys U8 division to break the 1:26.54 he made on Feb. 5, 2011. Yanai raced in the boys U8 100m freestyle and crushed his own record when he clocked in at 1:16.11, eclipsing the 1:17.64 he tallied early this year. Kang and Yanai also joined the 50m freestyle race and their times of 34.33 seconds and 33.85 seconds, respectively, both surpassed the previous mark of 36.18 seconds (Ryuto Yanai/April 16, 2011).

In Series 2, Kang reset two more marks. Eight-year-old Kang finished the 100m butterfly event in 1:22.63 to pass his previous record of 1:28.95 (Feb. 4, 2011). In the 50m breaststroke, the Garapan Elementary School student clocked in at 45.75 seconds, which is better than the 46.53 seconds Ryuto Yanai recorded on May 27, 2011.

In the penultimate series, Kang still broke records. He smashed three marks with the first one in the 400m freestyle event, as he timed in at 5:34.00 to erase the 6:09.43 Kensuke Kimura logged on Feb. 25, 2005. The other two marks came from the 100m breaststroke where he clocked in at 1:38.22, more than two seconds faster than his previous mark (1:40.77/April 16, 2011) and the 50m backstroke where he timed in at 39.24 seconds, passing his previous record of 40.82 seconds (April 16, 2011).

Meanwhile, series organizer Tsunami Saipan Swimming Center handed certificates of attendance to swimmers who completed the four competitions. Tsunami Saipan president Mark Staal presented the certificates to Saipan Swim Club’s Taka and Ichiro Borja, Naoki Kasai, David Boyer, Geuel Villacrusis, and Taiga Sato, and Tsunami Saipan’s Kang, Ryuto Yanai, Miku Tammy, Kyona Rivera, Karen Irinaka, Hiroto Yanai, Quina Flores, Angel Tan, Angel De Jesus, Kaito Yanai, Takumi Sugie, and Daime Rivera.