CNMI swimmers off to Israel

The CNMI national junior swimming team is leaving today for the 9th FINA Junior World Championships in Netanya, Israel.

Joining junior swimmers Taiyo Akimaru, Kean Pajarillaga, and Jinie Thompson for the Sept. 5-9 meet is national head coach Richard Sikkel.

Akimaru is taking on the 50m and 100m freestyle, and 50m and 100m butterfly.

Pajarillaga is swimming in the 100m freestyle, 50m freestyle, 100m freestyle, and 200m backstroke.

Thompson is competing in the 50m and 100m freestyle, 50m butterfly, and 50m breaststroke.

Sikkel said yesterday that their training is going well. “The swimmers are excited to travel to Israel and put their best performance on the clock. Morale is great. It is not every day you get to travel to Israel to represent the CNMI,” he said.

As for expectations of the three, he said, “I expect all three swimmers to swim at least several personal bests. It is a bit of a change to go from a 25-yard pool to a 50m pool, it feels endless.” But, he said, they will have a few days in the pool prior to competition to get used to it.

For this World Championship, Sikkel said they’ve only been swimming in pools, but preparations for the upcoming 2023 Pacific Games will also incorporate ocean swimming.

He said the swimmers typically log about 4,500m in each practice.

Seventeen-year-old Pajarillaga feels confident and excited heading into the championships. “Thinking about being there makes me even more nervous, while making sure I keep a positive mindset. I would say I am mentally preparing by not really worrying about it and making sure I don’t think negatively. I am physically preparing by going to practice almost every day, and making sure I keep what I have been practicing the same,” he said.

Sikkel thanks the World Aquatics and NMISF for their trip to Israel.

In the 8th FINA Junior World Championships last year in Peru, Thompson recorded her personal best in the women’s 100 backstroke with a time of 01:24.17, reaching the 50m halfway point at 39.54 and placing third in heat 1. She also swam a personal best in the women’s 100 freestyle at 01:09.45.