{"id":273743,"date":"2018-04-11T06:04:41","date_gmt":"2018-04-10T20:04:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=273743"},"modified":"2018-04-11T06:04:41","modified_gmt":"2018-04-10T20:04:41","slug":"last-escape-for-villacrusis-akimaru","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/last-escape-for-villacrusis-akimaru\/","title":{"rendered":"Last \u2018Escape\u2019 for Villacrusis, Akimaru"},"content":{"rendered":"
Saipan Swim Club\u2019s Christian Villacrusis, fourth left, and Kento Akimaru, right pose for a photo with other swimmers after successfully making the cross from Managaha Island to Micro Beach during last Saturday\u2019s Escape from Managaha. (Contributed Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Saipan Swim Club\u2019s Kento Akimaru and Christian Villacrusis did their last \u201cEscape from Managaha,\u201d joining more than 20 swimmers in the 2.4-kilometer crossing from Saipan\u2019s famous island to Micro Beach last Saturday.<\/p>\n

Akimaru went out with a bang, as he topped the race for the eighth straight year after completing the swim in 32:54\u2014his fastest since he started braving the course when he was just seven years old. Akimaru registered 32:55 last year, while his other times were 33:25 (2016), 38:06 (2015), 36:50 (2014), 38:00 (2013), 38:09 (2012), and 40:04 (20:11).<\/p>\n

\u201cMy last \u2018Escape\u2019 was really fun. I had a little shark (Jinnosuke Suzuki ) following me all the way. The water was a little rough and the current was pushing us out to the channels. I didn\u2019t see much of sea creatures but the water was pretty clear so I was able to see the bottom of the channels,\u201d said Akimaru, who will be heading to Japan this fall to continue his study.<\/p>\n

Since he had his \u2018Escape\u201d farewell, the 17-year-old Akimaru can\u2019t help but reminisce about his debut in the SSC-organized event.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was 7 years old following my coach (Mike Stewart) through the swim. It was memorable since I was young and it was my first ever experience in the outer ocean. I was scared of the dark water at that time and since I was wearing a wet suit, I had so much chafing,\u201d the Marianas High School student said.<\/p>\n

Akimaru was joined in the Top 3 by Villacrusis, who timed in at 37:00 and placed behind Jinnosuke (33:08) in last weekend\u2019s race. Villacrusis, who will leave for the U.S. this fall to go to college, treasures his last crossing with swimmers he considers his family.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy last \u2018Escape\u2019 was really one to remember. The swim this year was rough due to the current, but it\u2019s something I got used to after doing this event six times. I honestly don\u2019t like long distance swimming, but my most memorable moment in the \u2018Escape\u2019 is getting to spend my time with the swim team. The hardest part about leaving for college this fall is having to leave my family behind, including my SSC family,\u201d the Mt. Carmel School student said.<\/p>\n

SSC coach Jacoby Winkfield commended both Akimaru and Villacrusis for excelling in open water swims.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was nice seeing the boys swim the \u2018Escape.\u2019 They have become excellent open water swimmers and hopefully they will be able to participate in open water swims in Japan and stateside,\u201d the SSC mentor said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe \u2018Escape\u2019 went well without any major problems. The weather system had left the area so conditions on the water were not that bad. We have defiantly swum in worse conditions. There were 30 swimmers who made the crossing, with several first time participants (12) as well as several last time participants,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Jinju Thompson was the first female finisher in the crossing after checking in at 40:18, while 12 more swimmers completed the race under one hour.<\/p>\n

SSC would like to thank the following for making the \u2018Escape from Managaha\u2019 a successful and safe event: DPS Boating Safety, Jomar Danas, World Resort and G4S lifeguards, Eddie Johnson, Kristy Springer, Sean Frink, and Saipan Sea Ventures.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Saipan Swim Club\u2019s Kento Akimaru and Christian Villacrusis did their last \u201cEscape from Managaha,\u201d joining…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":273750,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[10095,170,5710,168],"class_list":["post-273743","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-christian-villacrusis","tag-japan","tag-kento-akimaru","tag-ssc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/273743","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=273743"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/273743\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/273750"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=273743"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=273743"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=273743"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}