Saipan tankers bag victory in Rota’s Blue Ocean Swim

The 2nd Annual Rota Blue Ocean Swim was held Saturday on Rota with almost 90 participants from Guam, Saipan, Japan and Rota.

The event was contested in the East Harbor in clear waters about 70 feet deep under good conditions except for a strong current during the 1-mile swim pulling most swimmers off course for the first mark, and small waves at the harbor entrance. Three individuals races were held, a 1 mile, 2 mile and 4 mile, all utilizing the Coast Guard Buoy and a buoy set out across the harbor, then back along the reef line into the East Harbor Boat Ramp.

The first event was a combination of 2 mile and 4 mile swimmers utilizing similar courses which got under way about 7:30 a.m. Boating Safety, Dive Rota, S2 Club, Sirena, Mobil Oil in their boats and several individuals also manned kayaks, performing a very important part of the competition in keeping swimmers on course while providing the necessary safety precautions.

Only two days before the event a couple swimmers received fairly jelly fish stings during their training swims.

Excellent performances were turned in by Rota’s MD Abubakar taking 11th overall in the 2 mile swim and Takabashi Yamamoto and Glen Maratita taking 6th and 11th overall in the 1 mile swims. Rota had three other competitors with Noel Calvo, Rudy Santos and Ed Barcinas in the 2 mile competition.

Saipan triathlete/swimmer Vanessa Ince handily won the women’s 4 mile race in 1:13.06, beating Japan’s Miyuki Fujita by 6 minutes. Fujita is training to swim across the English Channel later this year.

Guam’s Dan O’Keefe was the first finisher in the 4 mile race in a time of 58:00. He was followed by Shigeru Kawada in 1:11.58 and Toshihiro Iwase in 1:12.51.

Saipan’s Seung Gin Lee easily won the 2 mile race in 29:48. Bill Sakovich was second in 38:48. Third went to Japan’s Syuichi Kato, a swim coach for Central Sports in Japan followed by Mic O’Keefe in 39.15 of Guam.

Yoko Nakamura barely beat Jean Sakovich 42:46 to 42:58 respectively for the women’s title in the 2 mile swim.

The one mile race got started at 10:00am in windy conditions, was won by Syoji Yamashita in a time of 27.53, and he was followed by the first female Miyuki Fujfita, who also swam the 4 mile. She was followed by Guam’s Elaine Kwok. Takashi Yamamoto from Rota, was the second male to finish in 37:37.

This was another successful event for KFC’s Kiyokazu Onishi who is responsible for bringing many athlete/tourists to Saipan, Tinian and Rota, to compete in Triathlons, Bike races and Open Water Swims. He has assisted the Saipan Swim Club in their annual ocean swim and the Tagaman Triathlon which is coming up next month on May 19th. In January he organized the Tinian Triathlon on Tinian and in November will bring the Rota Triathlon.

The Rota Mayors Office, and the Rota Resort Hotel are major sponsors of this event with assistance from Rota MVA office and DPS. An awards party was held at Teneto Beach that same evening with volunteers providing the food and drinks. Another successful event for the KFC and Rota Mayors Office.