Jinnosuke, Isaiah set swim records

Forth of five parts

Saipan Swim Club’s Jinnosuke Suzuki and Tsunami Saipan’s Isaiah Aleksenko shattered records in the boys 9 to 10 age groups during the Northern Mariana Islands Swimming Federation Opening Meet held last Saturday at the Kan Pacific Swimming Pool in Marpi.

Suzuki broke the 100m and 200m freestyle marks in the division, while Aleksenko did the same in the 50m freestyle.

The SSC swimmer completed the 100m freestyle race in 1:06.93 to eclipse the 1:07.91 Ryuto Yanai of Tsunami Swimming Center Saipan posted on March 22, 2014. Suzuki, besides setting a new record in the boys 9 to 10 age group, also won the 100m freestyle race against six other swimmers. He prevailed against Aleksenko (1:07.93), fellow SSC swimmers Taiyo Akimaru (1:14.93), Wataru Kadokura (1:40.16), and Mark Jainier Chavez (1:41.56) and Tsunami Saipan’s Sean Gil (1:25.38) and Kean Pajarillaga (2:03.28).

Earlier in the 200m swim, Suzuki’s 2:24.58 surpassed the five-year mark of SSC’s Kento Akimaru. Akumaru’s record of 2:28.04 was registered on Oct. 15, 2011.

Again, Suzuki ruled the 200m freestyle race with his record-setting time. He defeated Aleksenko anew (2:26.83), Gil (2:59.37), and Chavez (3:32.56), who all got personal best marks, and Arman Rechucher (3:38.04) of Tsunami Saipan.

Aleksenko and Suzuki squared off anew in the 50m freestyle event and this time the former won with his record time of 30.68 seconds. The Tsunami Saipan swimmer crushed the 31.28 seconds mark of Akimaru, who registered the age group record on Oct. 6, 2011.

Aleksenko finished the sprint 34 seconds ahead of Suzuki, who clocked in at 31.02 seconds. Other entries in the 50m freestyle were SSC’s Taiyo Akimaru (34.68 seconds), Gil (37.33 seconds), Chavez (44.22 seconds), and Kadokura (45.49 seconds).

Meanwhile, Jinnosuke teamed up with his older brother Lennosuke, Kento Akimaru, and Taiga Sato in the 200m freestyle relay. The foursome went on to post the second best time among the five teams that joined the last race of the day. Jinnosuke and company clocked in at 2:00.46, coming in at second place behind SSC Team B’s Christian Villacrusis, David Boyer, R.J. Pierce, and Salofi Welch, who completed the four-lap swim in 1:56.78 and were the lone squad to break the two-minute barrier.

Tsunami Saipan’s girls 9 to 10 team, which was made up of Maria Batallones, Seiyul Hong, Shoko Litulumar, and Michelle Chen, finished third after checking in at the 2:258.66 mark. Tsunami Saipan’s mixed 11 to 12 and boys 9 to 10’s crews rounded out the finishers after submitting 3:25.73 and 3:29.13, respectively. Siblings Kana and Mizuki Suzuki were on the club’s mixed squad along with Dan Illahi and Julia Jinang, while Aasish Dangol was the anchor on boys 9 to 10 group, joining forces with Koukie Watanabe, Tellei Rechucher, and Kean Pajarillaga.

Besides the 200m freestyle relay, the season-opening meet also held a 200m medley relay. The Tsunami Saipan quartet of Hans Xu, Anthony Camacho-Deleon Guerrero, Aleksenko, and Sean Gil topped the race after recording 2:41.47.

Tsunami Saipan’s girls 11 to 12 swimmers Ayumi Obligacion, Ashley Dangol, Nanaka Watanabe, and Asaka Litulumar placed second after posting 2:42.13, while the club’s boys 13 to 14 team made up of Juhn Tenorio, Nelson Batallones, Joseph Zhang, and Kevin Guerrero, had the third best time at 2:42.49.