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‘Excellent job from CNMI swimmers’
Coach Valrick Welch noted the CNMI swimmers’ excellent job in and off the pool during the 16th FINA World Championships held early this month at Kazan Areana in Kazan, Russia.
The CNMI’s Kaito Yanai, center first row, Angel De Jesus, second right first row, Takumi Sugie, left second row, and Victoria Chentsova, third second row, pose with the rest of the Pacific Oceania swimmers during the closing ceremony for the 16th FINA World Championships held early this month in Kazan, Russia. (Contributed Photo)
“Our swimmers did an excellent job of being CNMI ambassadors. They all beat their seed times, were respectful of the many different cultures, and cheered on their friends and others they have never met,” said Welch who was talking of Victoria Chentsova, Kaito Yanai, Takumi Sugie, and Angel De Jesus.
“They enjoyed watching all of the different FINA-sponsored events including high diving (20 meters and 35 meters), indoor diving (10 meters and lower), water polo, synchronized swimming, and open water swimming. Of course what they watched the most was the swimming competitions. Victoria Chentsova was fun to watch. She would be talking with different athletes in English, but when they learned she could speak Russian, they really got interested in her story,” the CNMI coach added.
Chentsova set both CNMI national and 17 to 18 age group records in the 400m freestyle (4:44.15) and 800m freestyle (9:48.87), while Yanai earned age group marks (15 to 16 division) in the 50m breaststroke (31.46 seconds) and 100m breaststroke (1:09.59). All four records were certified by the Northern Mariana Islands Swimming Federation.
As for Sugie and De Jesus, they beat their seed times in two events each. Sugie clocked in at 27.26 seconds in the 50m freestyle and 1:00.23 in the 100m freestyle to surpass his seed times of 27.56 seconds and 1:00.67, respectively. De Jesus had the same achievements in the 50m butterfly (33.86 seconds from 34.99) and 50m freestyle (30.57 seconds from 30.68).
Besides setting records, the four CNMI swimmers also got tips on registering faster times in their events.
“One of the more valuable activities was a swimming evaluation of each of our swimmers. The evaluation methods used a camera connected to a computer and an accelerometer. This allowed precise synchronization between the video and drops in forward speed, allowing the evaluator to give specific changes the swimmers needed to make to swim faster. The swimmers were also given drills for correcting the weaknesses in their strokes,” Welch said.
Meanwhile, Welch thanked the people of Kazan for giving the CNMI delegation a warm welcome and Delta Air Lines for taking care of the team during a stopover in Japan.
“I cannot say enough good things about the treatment we got in Kazan. Everyone was helpful and the village was safe, comfortable, and filled with athletes from 180 different countries. The swimmers quickly made friends or renewed friendships with their Oceania brothers and sisters. It was more like being part of the Oceania team than just representing the CNMI,” Welch said.
“Our itinerary included a day in Japan followed by a week and three days in Kazan, followed by a day in Moscow and one more day in Japan. The extra day in Japan was due to Delta’s flight schedule change caused by the typhoon. Delta did an outstanding job of accommodating the situation that was beyond their control. They provided us with hotel rooms and then flew us back to Saipan in business class because the rest of the flight was sold out,” he added.
