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Swimmers excited to plunge into action
Coach Jacoby Winkield, third from left, and the CNMI’s four swimmers pose with the CNMI flag before leaving Saipan last week for the 8th Micronesian Games in Pohnpei. (Contributed Photo)
“We were able to get practice times at the pool since last Monday. It is a beautify facility with the lush Pohnpeian forest in the backdrop. The kids swim well, looked good, and are eagerly waiting the 21st,” said coach Jacoby Winkfield in an email to Saipan Tribune.
Winkfield has four swimmers—Kento Akimaru, Takumi Sugie, Christian Villacrusis, and Victoria Chentsova—competing in the three-day tournament at the pool. Today, Akimaru, Chentsova, and Sugie race in the 100m back, while Villacrusis participates in the 200m individual medley. Akimaru and Chentsova are also entered in the 50m butterfly races. Day 1 events will have its preliminary races in the morning, while the finals are set for the afternoon.
After her two events in the opening day, Chentsova will have five more races—the 100m, 400m, 200m and 800m freestyle, and 50m backstroke. Villacrusis’s other races are 50m, 200m and 100m freestyle and 50m and 100m breaststroke, while Sugie still have the 50m, 100m, 200, and 400m freestyle, and 200m backstroke. Akimaru will swim, too in the 50m, 100m, and 400m freestyle, 50m and 100m breaststroke, 100m butterfly, and 400m IM.
The CNMI swimmers were the first delegates from the Commonwealth to arrive in Pohnpei and they were thankful for the warm welcome they got from the host state.
“We arrived in Pohnpei yesterday afternoon (last Monday) to a ruckus crowd of supporters, families, and Pohnpeians eager for the Games. It was a first class welcoming and we are excited to meet and mingle with the athletes from the other delegations,” Winkfield said.
As for the competition, Winkfield said the swimmers have trained and worked for this event and the outcome will speak for how they prepared.
“These games provide our young athletes the platform to be exposed to other island cultures and swim at a high level,” he added.
