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Tsunami Saipan sends 19 swimmers to Guam meet
Oceania Swimming Championships medalist Kensuke Kimura will lead Tsunami Saipan’s campaign in the 2014 Guam Swimming Championships this weekend in Hagatna.
He will participate in his second off-island event this month about a week after winning a bronze medal in the 2014 Oceania Swimming Championships held in New Zealand. The 18-year-old swimmer finished third in the 200m backstroke after clocking in at 2:18.04 in the finals. Besides making it to the podium, Kimura also reset the CNMI national record in the event, eclipsing his own mark (2:19.12) posted on Jan. 19, 2013, during the 6th Australian Youth Olympic Festival in Sydney. The Tsunami Saipan bet had two other record-breaking swims in New Zealand after logging 1:02.67 in the 100m backstroke event and 28.94 seconds in the 50m backstroke.
Joining Kimura in the Guam meet are Takumi Sugie, siblings Kaito, Hiroto, Ryuto, and Kenshiro Yanai, Mark Mastero, Jhota Yoshino, Juhn Tenorio, Anthony Camacho-Deleon Guerrero, Hans Xu, Angel De Jesus, Angel Marie Tan, Kyona Rivera, Miku Tammy, Sophia Gauran, Aika and Nanaka Watanabe, and Ashley Dangol.
Tsunami Saipan coach Hiro Kimura said swimmers in the 11-and-above age group are aiming more for personal best times and CNMI national and age records than winning high-point awards. For the younger swimmers, the target is to win the high-point trophy. The high-point award by totaling the participants points from all the race and points are based on the swimmer’s placing in every event.
Last year, Tsunami Saipan registered five age group marks, while Sophia Gauran, Kimura, Hiroto and Ryuto Yanai, and Tammy won the high-point award, and Tenorio, Sugie and De Jesus finished in the Top 5.
Kensuke Kimura, seen here with his bronze medal from the 2014 Oceania Swimming Championships held in New Zealand last week, will be leading Tsunami Saipan’s participation to the 2014 Guam Swimming Championships this weekend. (Contributed Photo)
