By Roselyn B. Monroyo
Variety News Staff

(Last part)

TO swim against the world’s best made Sarah Johnson feel good, but to swim in the same warm-up pool with U.S. sensation Michael Phelps left her in awe.
“When I saw him, I couldn’t believe that one of the world’s best swimmers was right next to me. I felt really, really short compared to him,” Johnson said of the seven-time gold medallist at the 12th FINA World Championships in Melbourne, Australia.
On March 26 during Day 2 of the world championships, Johnson was warming up for her 100m backstroke event, when the six-foot plus Phelps plunged into the same pool to have his own warm up.
After getting a closer look at the winningest swimmer in this year’s world championships, Johnson went on to post a lifetime best swim in the 100m backstroke timing in at 1 minute, 19.90 seconds, breaking her previous LTBS by 7.5 seconds.
The Saipan International School student recorded four more LTBS for a perfect 5-for-5 performance in Melbourne. She competed in the 400m freestyle (5:05.03), 200m free (2:23.42), 50m breaststroke (37.86 seconds) and the 100m free (31.39 seconds).
“It feels good that I can swim against the best and wasn’t the slowest one there,” said Johnson, who at 14 was among the youngest swimmer in the field.
“It helped me see the competition outside the CNMI and how fast swimmers my age are,” she added.
The perfect LTBS in Melbourne also inspired Johnson to show a better performance in the succeeding tournaments.
“I hope that I can perform better in future events,” the SIS ninth grader said.
Johnson has earned a slot on the Saipan Swim Club team, which will be competing in tournaments in Japan in June.
She and fellow world championships competitors Rezne Wong and Cooper Graf will be leading SSC’s fight in Japan.