{"id":396086,"date":"2023-07-17T06:04:53","date_gmt":"2023-07-16T20:04:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=396086"},"modified":"2023-07-17T06:04:53","modified_gmt":"2023-07-16T20:04:53","slug":"396086","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/396086\/","title":{"rendered":"NMI swim team off to FINA World Championships"},"content":{"rendered":"
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From left, CNMI national swimming team assistant coach Christian Villacrusis, swimmers Jakey Deleon Guerrero, Shoko Litulumar, NMISF vice president John Hirsh, swimmers Maria Batallones and Isaiah Aleksenko, and head coach Hiroyuki Kimura pose beside the Pacific Islands Club Saipan pool last week. (CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The CNMI swimming team, composed of six swimmers, two coaches, and an official, will leave\u00a0 for Fukuoka, Japan this morning to compete in the 20th FINA World Championships.<\/p>\n

Northern Mariana Islands Swimming Federation vice president John Hirsh said swimmers Isaiah Aleksenko, Jakey Deleon Guerrero, Maria Batallones, and Shoko Litulumar, coach Hiroyuki Kimura, and assistant coach Christian Villacrusis are all stoked to take part in the 2023 World Aquatics World Championships.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve been training very hard to ensure they\u2019re in the best possible condition to swim well. Each swimmer will swim two events and a relay over the one-week pool competition. While not in the pool our team can enjoy the very best in aquatics by watching water polo, artistic swimming, diving, and open water events. In addition I\u2019ll be attending the swimming events as well as representing our federation at various meetings,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Hirsh thanked World Aquatics for the CNMI swimmers and coaches\u2019 opportunity to participate in the 20th FINA World Championships. He also gave kudos to the swimmers\u2019 parents and the swimmers themselves for their dedication to training and eagerness to represent the islands.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn addition the swimmers reached out to the community for extra support to help offset the costs of travel and housing at the Championships. NMI Swimming is proud of these dedicated athletes and wishes them great success!\u201d<\/p>\n

Kimura, meanwhile, said the team will leave Saipan at 7:25am this morning and will arrive at Fukuoka around 2:25pm. They will then proceed immediately to\u00a0 Jyounan City Pool to continue their training.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can use it through an arrangement with Japan\u2019s largest sports club, Central Sports,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The CNMI swim team will then train at the competition venue itself at Marine Messe A on July 18.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a special deal because the official opening for swimmer training is on July 19. I submitted a request to the organizing committee and got permission to use it directly from World Aquatics sports manager, Mr. Namhee Cho. The head coach of the Fukuoka University swim team, Yamaguchi, also gave us a good offer,\u201d said Kimura.<\/p>\n

As for the competition proper that will be from July 23 to 29, the Tsunami Saipan Swimming Center head coach said the CNMI will do everything in their power to make their home islands proud.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will do our best to work together to produce good results. I would also like to bring Christian and swimmers to Ramen Alley,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Aleksenko said as always he\u2019s excited to represent the CNMI in yet another FINA World Championships.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very excited to compete in this World Championship and hope to represent the CNMI the best I can. I hope to make new friends and enjoy my time there.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Deleon Guerrero, being part of the CNMI national swimming team is a big honor.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am grateful for this opportunity given to us four as many kids of the CNMI have the chance to represent our islands on such a big scale. The anticipation continues to rise as we will see our efforts in training for over a month pay off.\u201d<\/p>\n

Batallones, for her part, said she can\u2019t wait to compete against the world\u2019s best in Fukuoka.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m excited to compete in such competitions with other experienced swimmers. It\u2019s fun to race with each other and make good memories. That is something I am looking forward to. I know my team is ready!\u201d<\/p>\n

Litulumar said she will soak everything in the Japan meet and hopes to swim her best there.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am very excited to compete in the Fukuoka World Aquatics! It has been so long since I\u2019ve competed in a long course but I feel confident and ready. I will do my best and bring back good results!\u201d<\/p>\n

Last but not the least, the Japan meet is Villacrusis\u2019 first time to coach the CNMI team in the World Championships and that aside from the fact that Kimura promised them a trip to Ramen Alley is what he\u2019s most looking forward to.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am really excited to go to Fukuoka for the World Champs. The last time I went as a swimmer was in Budapest five years ago. This is my first time going as one of the coaches, so I will try my best to learn from our head coach, Hiro, while supporting the team in any way that I can. I know the kids will represent us well because I get to see how hard they train every single day. I\u2019m also excited to eat some good ramen!\u201d<\/p>\n

The CNMI swimming team would like to extend their thanks to the following for helping them defray the cost of their participation to the 20th FINA World Championships: CNMI Legislature, Saipan Mayor Ramon B. Camacho, Aqua Resort Club, BAB Korean Restaurant, Crowne Plaza Resort Saipan, Dae Jang Kum Restaurant, Fishing Tackle, Gold\u2019s Gym, Islander Rent-a-Car, Korean House Restaurant, Lohas Massage, Mobil Oil Marianas,\u00a0 Pacific Islands Club Saipan, Pacific, Quick Print, Shell Marianas Corp., Saipan World Resort, Zen Corp. Zoom Chicken, SSC parents, Tsunami Saipan parents, and all who supported NMISF\u2019s fundraising activities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The CNMI swimming team, composed of six swimmers, two coaches, and an official, will leave\u00a0…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":396065,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[257],"class_list":["post-396086","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-nmi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/396086","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=396086"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/396086\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/396065"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=396086"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=396086"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=396086"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}