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CNMI eyes sending 4 to FINA World Championships
The CNMI is expected to send four swimmers to the 2021 FINA World Championships in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates this coming December.
The Northern Mariana Islands Swimming Federation is looking at picking two swimmers each from the Saipan Swim Club and Swimming Center Tsunami Saipan.
Kimura
According to Tsunami Saipan coach Hiro Kimura, the original plan had SSC and Tsunami Saipan selecting swimmers based on accumulated FINA point.
However, since neither club was able to hold official meets due to the closure of the Kan Pacific Swimming Pool and the COVID-19 pandemic scuttled plans to take part in off-islands competitions, it was decided that two ocean swim meets will serve as the NMISF’s qualifiers for the FINA World Championships.
The tentative dates for the ocean swim qualifiers are July 10 and July 24. The two ocean swim meets’ goal is to create a CNMI ranking of the Top 4 boys and Top 4 girls eligible to compete in the FINA World Championships. The top swimmers could then start training with the 2021 FINA World Championships in mind.
The pool of eight swimmers—four from SSC and four from Tsunami Saipan—will then compete in a final ocean swim qualifier, tentatively set for Sept. 25.
“The Top 2 boys and top 2 girls in that swim/qualifier will be selected to represent the CNMI in the FINA World Championships,” said Kimura.
Tsunami Saipan swimmers eligible for the 2021 FINA World Championships are Kevin Guererro, Joseph Zhang, Juhn Tenorio, Jinnosuke Suzuki, Andrew Nunez, Isaiah Aleksenko, Kaito Rechucher, Kean Pajarillaga, Ayumi Obligacion, Asaka Litulumar, Michelle Chen, Julia Jinang, Shoko Litulumar, Aoi Braxton, and Jessica Ma.
As far as the distance of the ocean swim, the Tsunami Saipan coach said it’s up to NMISF to decide.
One suggestion is for selected swimmers to compete in a 1,000m ocean swim in the same location on the same course for each of the three events.
