Swimmers set 27 PBTS in 5 events

A male swimmer gasps for air during a Northern Mariana Islands Swimming Federation-sanctioned meet late this year at the Kan Pacific Swimming pool.
(Roselyn B. Monroyo)

The meet held on Dec. 13 at the Kan Pacific Swimming Pool started with the 1,500m freestyle and followed by the 100m breaststroke, 100m backstroke, 50m butterfly, 50m backstroke, and 400m freestyle.

Tsunami Saipan’s Nanaka Watanabe was the first to hit a PBT as she completed the girls 9 to 10’s 100m breaststroke race in 1:40.49, more than four seconds faster than her previous PBT of 1:44.35.

Three other swimmers—Saipan Swim Club’s Victoria Chentsova and Tsunami Saipan’s Daime Rivera and Rentaro Suzuki—earned PBTs in the same event. Chentsova was the lone swimmer in the girls 15 to 16 age group and surpassed her old PBT (1:42.50) after completing the event in 1:38.58. In the women’s over 17, Rivera logged 1:36.02, eclipsing her 1:38.11, while in the boys 9 to 19 division, Suzuki registered 2:20.62 to break his PBT of 2:21.10.

Tsunami Saipan’s Ayumi Obligacion and Kenta Tomi swam the 100m breaststroke for the first time and clocked in at 2:06.84 and 2:04.61, respectively, while Jhota Yoshima missed a PBT after recording 1:50.30.

In the 100m backstroke event, two Tsunami Saipan bets got PBTs. Aika Watanabe joined the girls 11 to 12 race and her 1:34.73 shattered her old PBT of 1:38.02. In the boys 9 to 10 age group, Juhn Tenorio touched the block at the 1:29.22 to crush his best of 1:29.94.

In the 50m butterfly, six swimmers gained PBTs. Tsunami Saipan’s Sophia Gauran had the biggest drop in the event with her 39.54 seconds (from 42.26 seconds). Kyona Rivera raced against Gauran in the girls 11 to 16 age group and had a faster time at 39.30 seconds, which broke the former’s old PBT (41.67 seconds).

In the boys 9 to 10, Tsunami Saipan’s Anthony Camacho-Deleon Guerrero’s new PBT read at 38.97 seconds (from 39 seconds), while SSC’s Jinnosuke Suzuki registered 40.22 seconds (from 40.73 seconds). In the boys 11 to 12, Ryuto Yanai topped the three-swimmer race with his 34.39 seconds, .22 of a second faster than his previous PBT (34.61). He beat teammate Nelson Battallones, who also got a PBT (37.91 seconds from 38.01) and Lennosule Suzuki (38.50 seconds).

In the 50m backstroke, majority of the participants posted PBTs with swimmers in the boys U8 age group getting the most with four.

The Top 4 finishers in the race got PBTs with Tsunami Saipan’s Hans Xu ruling the event with his 44.43 seconds. Xu’s teammate Isaiah Aleksenko came in at second with his PBT of 48.01 seconds, followed by another Tsunami Saipan bet Aasish Dangol (59.67 seconds) and SSC’s Jeffrey Sheu (1:00.57).

In the girls U8, three made PBTS. Tsunami Saipan’s Kana Suzuki led the list with her 55.92 seconds and was joined by SSC’s Andrei Kaithlyn Chavez and Tsunami Saipan’s Seiyul Hong (1:11.13). Three swimmers also notched PBTs in the girls 9 to 10 division. The list includes Tsunami Saipan’s Jewel Combinido (51.71 seconds), Nagtsuki Nagata (51.83 seconds), and Obligacion (1:04.13).

Rounding out the PBT getters in the 50m backstroke were girls 13 to 14 and Tsunami Saipan’s Kathrine Illahi (45.57 seconds), boys 9 to 10 and SSC’s Richard Villagomez (54 seconds), boys 11 to 12 and Tsunami Saipan’s Ja Min Elliot (58.27 seconds), and boys 13 to 14’s Mark Maestro (38.23 seconds).

Meanwhile, results of other events will be reported in Saipan Tribune’s Friday’s edition.