Rezne, Shin swim well in Japan Open

Tsunami Swimming Center Saipan’s Rezne Wong and Shin Kimura submitted decent times in their respective events in the 50th Japan Swimming Championships in Tokyo last month.

This despite their relative unfamiliarity with the competition’s shorter 25-meter pool.

Wong competed in four events, namely the 50m and 100m breaststroke and the 100m and 200m individual medley. Kimura joined the 50m and 100m freestyle swims.

Wong timed in at 32.26 seconds in the 50m breaststroke, clocking in faster than his time (33.18 seconds) in a 50-meter pool or the long course. Saipan does not keep short course records, as it only has a 50-meter pool in the Kan Pacific Swimming Pool in Marpi.

The Marianas High School student posted 1:09.25 in the 100m breaststroke and again his time in the 25-meter pool in the said event was faster than his record of 1:10.21 in the long course. In January, during the long course swim in the 2009 Junior Pan Pacific Championships in Guam, Wong broke the 1:10.00 barrier in the 100m breaststroke, but the mark was nullified, as he was disqualified due to an illegal dolphin kick.

In the two individual medley events in Tokyo, Wong recorded 1:02.54 (100m) and 2:14.26 (200m).

Kimura clocked in at 28.73 seconds and 1:01.95 in the 50m and 100m freestyle events, respectively, and these times were also better than his personal best in a long course.

The two Tsunami Saipan swimmers competed in the short course tournament held at the Tokyo Tatsumi International Swimming Center in Tatsumi, Koto-ku from Feb. 21 to 22, after getting invitations from Japan Swimming Federation’s Kiho Abe.

Joining Wong and Kimura in Japan was Tsunami Saipan coach Hiro Kimura, who was thankful for the opportunity presented to his two swimmers.

“They did well in Japan. Swimming against top caliber swimmers made Rezne and Shin mentally tough. They learned a lot of techniques, which they applied in their training sessions as soon as we returned on Saipan,” Hiro said.

The tournament in Tokyo featured medalists and finalists in last year’s FINA World Championships in Beijing Olympics.

Hiro said Wong and Shin were able to watch the record-breaking performance of Shiho Sakai, whom the Tsunami Saipan swimmers met in Guam during the Pan Pacific meet.

“We were so lucky to witness Sakai break the 100m backstroke record. She is only 17 years old and a big inspiration for young swimmers, like Rezne and Shin, ” said Hiro, who also met several coaches in Japan and learn a thing or two from them.

“They encouraged us to continue competing in off-island tournaments. They are also interested in coming to Saipan, hopefully they could visit us and join our tournaments here,” he added.