{"id":322044,"date":"2020-05-01T06:06:08","date_gmt":"2020-04-30T20:06:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=322044"},"modified":"2020-05-01T06:06:08","modified_gmt":"2020-04-30T20:06:08","slug":"paddlers-stay-in-shape-and-safe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/paddlers-stay-in-shape-and-safe\/","title":{"rendered":"Paddlers stay in shape and safe"},"content":{"rendered":"
In this file photo, Saipan Paddling Club\u2019s Joshua Andrew practices with a V-1 canoe in the waters off Kilili Beach. SPC members are training on their own during this COVID-19 pandemic. (Saipan Tribune)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Saipan Paddling Club members are still navigating the island\u2019s lagoon to remain in shape and ready for future races.<\/p>\n

SPC president Justin Andrew said that although the club suspended its regular training sessions, their paddlers are still working on their own\u2014on land and in the water.<\/p>\n

\u201cSPC members are individually making sacrifices and commitments to stay in paddling physical condition by doing cardiovascular workouts and other safe land- based workouts. They are also paddling one-man canoes when possible,\u201d Andrew said.<\/p>\n

The club\u2019s paddlers continue to train while following the government\u2019s safety measures against the coronavirus pandemic.<\/p>\n

\"\"
In this file photo, Saipan Paddling Club members make their way to the finish line during the long distance event in the 2019 Micronesia Cup held in Koror, Palau. (Palau National Olympic Committee Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cSPC members are following the Governor\u2019s COVID-19 Task Force\u2019s directives and are currently practicing all mandated social precautionary measures,\u201d Andrew said.<\/p>\n

The SPC official added that the group currently has a full crew for its men\u2019s, women\u2019s, and junior teams (boys and girls) and the club wishes to be back in the water once this crisis is over.<\/p>\n

\u201cSPC looks forward to when we can get together and conduct our regular outrigger paddling routines,\u201d Andrew said.<\/p>\n

The last time SPC had an event was in March when its adult members assisted organizers of the 2019-2020 Public School System Interscholastic High School Canoe Race Series. The club\u2019s junior paddlers, on the other hand, suited up for the three participating teams\u2014Marianas High School, Kagman High School, and Saipan Southern High School.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Andrew, who is also an official with the Northern Marianas National Paddle Federation, calls on their members to continue following the government\u2019s guidelines on preventing the spread of the virus.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe federation encourages its member-clubs to take precautions according to the government\u2019s COVID-19 safety measures until restrictions are lifted and we are safely allowed to return back to normal paddling routines,\u201d Andrew said.<\/p>\n

Time is still on the paddlers\u2019 side, as their next big tournament won\u2019t be held until late this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur next major regional outrigger paddling competition is the Micronesia Cup 2020 in October. We have not gotten any confirmation from host Guam if the event will still be on or cancelled this year,\u201d Andrew said.<\/p>\n

SPC joined last year\u2019s Micro Cup in Palau and brought home silver medals in the 1,000m sprints for both men and women\u2019s races and the men and women\u2019s distance events, and bronze in the men\u2019s 500m sprint.<\/p>\n

In this file photo, Saipan Paddling Club members are in a close race with Palau and Guam teams in the men\u2019s 1,000m event in the 2019 Micronesia Cup held in Koror. Palau National Olympic Committee Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Saipan Paddling Club members are still navigating the island\u2019s lagoon to remain in shape and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":322048,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-322044","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322044","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=322044"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322044\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/322048"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=322044"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=322044"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=322044"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}