Tsunami Saipan fetes Isaiah, Kean

Tsunami Saipan Swimming Center held a farewell dinner for college-bound members Isaiah Aleksenko and Kean Pajarillaga last Aug. 11 at Kinpachi Restaurant in Garapan.

Head coach Hiroyuki Kimura said while Aleksenko and Pajarillaga will be going off-island for college, it’s not entirely goodbye as the duo will continue their swimming careers at Keiser University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and Macalester College in Saint Paul, Minnesota, respectively.

“I don’t have any comments for Isaiah and Kean now. Correctly, I don’t want to say anything about them because they’ll keep swimming competitively in college. It means there may be a reunion in the near future such as the Pacific Mini Games, etc.” he told Saipan Tribune. There are many great coaches in the U.S. mainland. Isaiah and Kean will get excellent coaching and learn a lot to improve their swim level. I want them to practice hard in college while training and achieve great results in college.”

Aleksenko is expected to fly to the U.S. mainland on Aug. 26, while Pajarillaga will be leaving today, Aug. 19.

Aleksenko and Pajarillaga thanked Tsunami Saipan not only for the farewell dinner, but also for shaping them to the swimmers and persons they’ve turned out to be. They also thanked family and loved ones for their successes.

“I would like to thank all my teammates for all they’ve done for me and for being a second family. I would also like to thank my family, my friends, and most importantly my mom because without her I wouldn’t be able to do this and accomplish my goals. I would also like to thank my coach [Hiro] and Miss Yuko [Kimura]. Coach and Miss Yuko are like a second mom and dad to me and I’ve known them my whole life, basically. I really love my coach and Miss Yuko. My coach taught me everything I know and without him I don’t know what I would be doing because I know my talent is swimming and I’m thankful I was gifted such a great coach. I would also like to thank my girlfriend because she motivated me whenever I would go off-island. She’s the best girlfriend I could have asked for and I love her so much,” said Aleksenko.

“It it has truly been an honor to be a part of this team for so long. I want to thank them all for all the great experiences and memories we all had together and for helping me achieve this position that I am in now. I am looking forward to swimming in my college and meeting the new swimmers that are there. Also, I am looking forward to making new friends,” said Pajallaga.

Aside from Aleksenko and Pajarillaga, three Tsunami Saipan graduates also left the island recently as Michelle Chen, Julia Jinang, and Andrew Nunez left for college in the U.S. mainland, according to Kimura.

“All three have contributed greatly to Tsunami Saipan. Without them, Tsunami Saipan would not be the strong team it is today,” he said.

Pajarillaga will major in Chemistry at Macalester College, while Aleksenko will be taking up engineering.