Stewart: Young swimmers continue to amaze me

The future of the Saipan Swim Club appears to be secure after its young, up-and-coming swimmers performed well for their respective schools in the recent 2004 All Schools Swimming Championships at the Kan Pacific Swimming Pool.

No less than SSC coach Mike Stewart was elated by the results of the meet and delighted on how his young ones did in the water.

“The best standout swims came from our younger swimmers. Some of our young swimmers continue to amaze me with their progress,” he said.

He went on to enumerate swimmers Dominique Austin (10 years old), Bradley Brostrom (11), Ilia Corella (9), Andrew Kimball (7), R. J. Knecht (9), Selena Leon Guerrero (11), Emma McCoullough-Stearns (11), and Ashley Northern (9) as the young swimmers that impressed him most during the All Schools.

“They all had great time drops for this time of year,” he said.

For the record, Ilia Corella finished second in the girl’s 9-and-under 200m individual medley and returned to top form in the 400m freestyle. Leon Guerrero dominated the girl’s 100m freestyle and took the plum in the 400m freestyle.

Northern was tops in the girl’s 9-and-under 200m freestyle and second in the 50m butterfly. McCullough-Stearns triumphed in the girl’s 12-and-under individual medley and also did the same in the 400m freestyle. Austin was first in the girl’s 12-and-under 200m freestyle and ranked second in the 100m freestyle.

Kimball was third best in the boy’s 9-and-under 50m backstroke and fourth in the 50m freestyle, while Knecht lorded it over the boy’s 9-and-under 100m and 50m butterfly events. Brostrom was No. 1 in the boy’s 12-and-under 200m freestyle and was second in the 100m freestyle

On the reality that it appear the more swimmers schools have in the water, the better their chances of topping their age groups, Stewart offered a logical solution.

“It is a numbers game of sorts, [the] best way to make it an even playing field, is to get more participation from the schools.”

Although no national or team records were broken during this year’s All Schools, Stewart happily reported that 62 out of 99 swims in the event were Life Time Best (LTBs) swims.

He also said that two swimmers are closing in on South Pacific Mini Games qualifying times. “Michael Camacho, and Nicole Calvo are knocking on the door.”

Despite the success of the past All Schools, Stewart admits he is far from contented and would have liked more time to prepare for such a big competition.

“Due to me not getting on this meet until the 11th hour, we had a small turnout, or smaller than what should have been,” said Stewart.

He, however, noted that he is planning to host an All Schools Spring Meet sometime in late April early or May 2005.

“With this, I would be able to recruit more public schools to get involved in swimming as a regular physical education activity. Hopefully this will promote more children in the sport. Hence, may also justify the need for a new, more centrally located facility.”