Deafening win by Whispering Palms

(First of three parts)

Whispering Palms School’s victory in the elementary ranks of last Sunday’s 2004 All Schools Swimming Championship proved the old adage that there is strength in numbers.

But coach Jeff Race would be first to admit that he wasn’t really that sold about the Navy Hill-based learning institution’s chances before the start of the event held at Marpi’s Kan Pacific Swimming Pool.

“I had lot of doubts about winning going into the competition. Whispering Palms had lost several of their best swimmers from last year,” he said.

Good thing Race’s swimmers proved him wrong in the competition.

Whispering Palms started things off by coming up with a strong second-place finish in the mixed 12-and-under 200-meter medley relay.

Saipan Swim Club stalwart Ilia Corella then came in second in the 9-and-under 200m individual medley before the brother-and-sister pair of Clay and Emma McCullough-Stearns won their races in the 9-and-under boy’s and 12-and-under girl’s 200m individual medleys, respectively.

Amy Arenovski added to the school’s bevy of second-place finishes in the girl’s 9-and-under 100m freestyle, while Christian Miller and Joon Heyong Ko added more points to Whispering Palms’ total with second and fourth-place swims in the boy’s 9-and-under 100m freestyle.

Audrey Motto momentarily exchanged her racquet and tennis shoes for a swimsuit and a swim cap and won the girl’s 12-and-under 100m freestyle. Kai Staal ruled the same age group for the boys with Dominic von Siebenthal coming in fourth.

Race’s prodigious daughter, Gabrielle, also did daddy proud with a third-place effort in the girl’s 9-and-under 50m freestyle, the same place Ryan Baron ranked in the boy’s division. Jake Lee was a couple of places down in sixth place.

Gabe Reed also did his part by coming in second in the boy’s 12-and-under 50m freestyle. Amber Roberts and Marina Kiku came in first and fourth in the girl’s 9-and-under 50m breastroke, while Joe Motto, Jr. and Cody Race finished third and fourth in the same race for boys.

Min Joo Jung and Hunter Thorpe managed fourth and second place in the girl’s and boy’s 12-and-under 50m breastroke, respectively. The two later recorded fourth and third-best swims in the 50m backstroke.

Arenovski had another runner-up finish in the girl’s 9-and-under backstroke, while Miller and Cody Race ranked first and fifth for the boys.

Ashley Northern and Amber Roberts finished one and two in the girl’s 9-and-under 200m freestyle, while Joseph Motto soldiered on for fourth best for the boys.

Sister Audrey finished second in the girl’s 12-and-under 200m freestyle and Northern and Victoria Chentsova steamed to second and third place swims in the girl’s 9-and-under 50m butterfly.

Corella returned to top form in the girl’s 9-and-under 400m freestyle, and Emma McCullough-Sterans did the same in the girl’s 12-and-under.

Whispering Palms capped it all off with first-place swims in the girl’s and boy’s 12-and-under 200m freestyle relays.

The quick turn of events made a believer out of Race and he applauded his wards, gung-ho attitude in the pool afterwards.

“We had some terrific top performers from the swim team and the development squads. We tried to take the kids who had gone through our school’s program last year; in many cases their parents had worked with them since, and got them involved. Aside from me, Janet McCullough and Rick Northern also worked hard and we just found the right mix,” he said.