Juan, Nina off to Oceania Championships

Juan Camacho and Nina Mosley left this morning to compete in the Oceania Swimming Championships set for May 15-20 at the Laucala Sports Complex in Suva, Fiji.

Long-time Saipan Swim Club coach Bill Sakovich and his replacement Michael Stewart, who just arrived on Saipan Monday afternoon, will accompany the two SSC stalwarts to Suva.

It will be Mosley’s second trip to Fiji in a span of a year. She was also in Suva last year as part of the CNMI National Swimming Team participating in the South Pacific Games.

Camacho, for his part, is a greenhorn to international competition but is coming off a strong performance in the A Championships held in Guam earlier this month.

Sakovich said Mosley would mostly compete in freestyle and backstroke sprints, while Camacho will swim in his specialty, which is the backstroke event.

South Pacific Games powerhouses New Caledonia, Tahiti, and host Fiji as well as the rest of the countries in Oceania plus world-class swimmers from Australia and New Zealand will be participating in the meet.

Because of the level of competition, Sakovich said he doesn’t expect Mosley or Camacho to medal in the Championships.

“I hope they get their best times. That’s all I want to see from them. The Oceania Swim Championships is an Olympic qualifier and will be a very high level meet. Participating countries are sending their best swimming in hope that they qualify for the Olympics,” Sakovich said.

He also volunteered that he would be extremely happy to see if any of them do qualify in the finals but wouldn’t have any problems settling for personal best times from them as well.

“Nina and Juan are young kids and it’s good for them to compete against world-class swimmers like the ones they will be swimming with in this meet. As I always said, experience is the most valuable thing we’d be getting out of these kinds of competitions,” he said.

Sakovich also noted that the Oceania Swimming Championships would also serve as an introduction to Stewart, who will be handed the reins of the SSC when Sakovich finally leaves Saipan at the end of this month.

“I will be introducing Michael to all of my contacts down there in Suva and will acquaint him with the officials of Oceania swimming. This is also a good start for him so he could see what the level of swimming is here in Oceania and find out what the CNMI needs to do to keep up with the rest of region,” he added.

Mosley, Camacho, Sakovich, and Stewart will return to Saipan the morning of May 21.

Last year, Dean Palacios and Seung Gin Lee swam for the CNMI in the Oceania Championships. Palacios didn’t go this time because he is preparing to go to Stanford University at the start of the school year, while Lee is currently studying at Penn State, where he is an honor student.