{"id":352552,"date":"2021-09-29T06:00:32","date_gmt":"2021-09-28T20:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=352552"},"modified":"2021-09-29T06:00:32","modified_gmt":"2021-09-28T20:00:32","slug":"sikkel-batallones-pace-1000m-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/sikkel-batallones-pace-1000m-race\/","title":{"rendered":"Sikkel, Batallones pace 1,000m race"},"content":{"rendered":"
From right, Saipan Swim Club\u2019s Moshe Sikkel, Swimming Center Tsunami Saipan\u2019s Andrew Nunez, and SSC\u2019s Michael Miller, finished 1-2-3 in the 1,000m race of Saipan Swim Club\u2019s Triple Crown Open Water Swim Series held last Saturday, Sept. 25, in the waters off Civic Center Beach in Susupe. (Mark Rabago)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Moshe Sikkel and Maria Batallones topped the 1,000m race of Saipan Swim Club\u2019s final Triple Crown Open Water Swim Series held last Saturday, Sept. 25, in the waters off Civic Center Beach in Susupe.<\/p>\n

Swimming for SSC, Sikkel touched the flag in 14:01.14 to rule the men\u2019s division. He was followed by Swimming Center Tsunami Saipan\u2019s Andrew Nunez who timed in at 14:36.17. SSC\u2019s Michael Miller completed the Top 3 in 14:59.66.<\/p>\n

Sikkel said winning the final 1,000m competition of the Triple Crown series came as a surprise for him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI started my race really fast because I wanted to stay close to my closest competitors. Andrew beat me in the first two races and I wasn\u2019t expecting to out-swim him in this one. I am happy with my first place and to be honest I had absolutely no idea that was going to happen,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Nunez said he was just happy that the open water race pushed through considering there was inclement weather days before.<\/p>\n

\u201cConsidering that the previous couple days provided uncertainty with news of a tropical storm, seeing that the ocean water was at tranquility brought much inspiration and determination upon me. Through this, I was able to reach my goal of finishing strong and receiving another silver medal. However, none of this would have been possible without my Tsunami team and our efficient teamwork for each other. Thank you to all the organizers, coaches, and parents who supported us and made this monumental event of the Triple Crown race possible,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

After missing the first two open water races, Miller was just content to catch the last bus and was delighted to have placed.<\/p>\n

From right, Swimming Center Tsunami Saipan\u2019s Maria Batallones, Sari Barman, and Jessica Ma finished 1-2-3 in the 1,000m race of Saipan Swim Club\u2019s Triple Crown Open Water Swim Series held last Saturday, Sept. 25, in the waters off Civic Center Beach in Susupe. (Mark Rabago)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cMy game plan was to try my best. I missed the first two races and didn\u2019t expect to get third place in this one. The race was harder than I expected, but I am happy with my result,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Batallones was far and away the best swimmer in the 1,000m race, including not only the men in the same distance but also the women\u2019s in the qualifiers, as she submitted a time of 13.55.66. Teammates Sari Barman and Jessica Ma were second and third at 16:24.32 and 16:58.07, respectively.<\/p>\n

Batallones said she\u2019s just glad that she finished the open water series strong.<\/p>\n

\u201cSaturday\u2019s race was the final race of the series. I was happy with my results and glad the current and weather cooperated with us. I think my teammates and I finished strong. I am glad we were all able to complete this and have fun. Fun because we were all able to participate and support each other along the way. Putting effort is very important in these kind of events, so seeing everyone\u2019s effort was nice. I hope to see more of these in the future,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Barman admitted that the final open water series was very exhausting, but was thrilled to finish runner-up to Batallones.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe last ocean swim was very tiring. I got really tired after going through the third buoy. But I knew that I had to kick, stroke, and pace myself a bit more seriously. At last, I didn\u2019t expect myself to get second place in girls. Even though most of the boys beat me, I was still proud of myself. Overall the ocean swim was very fun and exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ma said all throughout the swim she was reminded of Tsunami Saipan coach Hiro Kimura\u2019s marching orders to his swimmers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would like to thank my coach for pushing me to train hard everyday. Also my teammates for cheering me on. The course felt a bit longer than the one last time, so it was a bit harder. I felt really tired after that race. But I know I did good, and my coach always tells me \u2018hard work pays off!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Results of the 500m, 100m, 50m, and 25m open water races will be published in next issues of the Saipan Tribune.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Moshe Sikkel and Maria Batallones topped the 1,000m race of Saipan Swim Club\u2019s final Triple…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":352555,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-352552","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\/352552","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\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=352552"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/352552\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/352555"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=352552"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=352552"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=352552"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}