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Records galore in swimming
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Posted on Dec 30 2011
By Roselyn Monroyo
Reporter
Reporter
Swim records were broken one after another in 2011.
CNMI age group and national marks were made in both local and international competitions.
Rezne Wong joined the 14th FINA World Championships at the Shanghai Oriental Sports Center in Shanghai, China, in July and reset two CNMI national records. He clocked in at two minutes and 23.35 seconds in the qualifying heat for the 200m breaststroke to surpass the Commonwealth record of 2:26.83 he also owned. Then in the 200m individual medley, Wong submitted 2:10.18, breaking the CNMI national mark (2:14.48) he logged on May 30, 2009.
From Shanghai, the Marianas High School graduate went to Shenzhen in August to represent the CNMI in the 2011 Summer Universiade. Matthew Mancao also joined the Shenzhen competition and raced in the road bike. In Shenzhen, Wong reset three CNMI national records.
In the 50m butterfly, Wong posted 26.66 seconds to shatter the 27.87 seconds Kai Staal recorded on April 16, 2011. In the 100m breaststroke, he finished the race in 1:07.66, which was faster than his 1:08.79 made on July 26, 2009, during the World Championships in Rome, Italy. The Tsunami Saipan swimmer’s last record in Shenzhen came from the 50m breaststroke where he timed in at 31.31 seconds, to eclipse the 31.62 seconds he tallied on July 28, 2009, in Rome.
For local tournaments, Tsunami Saipan’s Lukas Kang and Ryuto Yanai alternately shattered records in the boys U18 division. As of Dec. 19, Yanai owns three records, while Kang has eight. Incidentally, all 11 age group marks in the U8 are posted this year with Kang and Yanai either resetting or posting new records.
In the 9 to 10 age group, Saipan Swim Club’s Kento Akimaru made new six marks, while Miku Tammy made it into the CNMI swim record books for the first time with her 5:43.69 in the 400m freestyle.
Angel Marie Tan moved up to the 11 to 12 age group this year and established six new age group records, while Kensuke Kimura had the same feat in the boys 13 to 14 age group.
Completing the list of record-breakers for 2011 was Kai Staal, who logged 29.60 seconds in the 50m backstroke on April 16, 2011 and 27.87 seconds (same date) in the 50m butterfly, before Wong crushed that CNMI national mark.
