ISAIAH Aleksenko and Jinie Thompson topped their respective divisions in the 1500m race of the Tan Holdings 50th Anniversary Ocean Swim at Guma Sakman on Saturday morning.
Aleksenko dominated the three-lap race as he rode the momentum of the waves to victory with a 30-second advantage over the competition.
The 16-year-old recorded a time of 18:30.21 followed by Jinnosuke Suzuki with a time of 19:01.80 and Kean Pajarillaga in third place with a time of 20:05.54.
Filling the top 10 list were Taiyo Akimaru (20:06.45), Jakey Deleon Guerrero (21:09.50), Michael Miller (21:51.39), Moshe Sikkel (21:55.11), Christian Villacrusis (23:40.25), Matthew Szefler (25:18.62) and David Roberto (28:12.20).
Women’s division
In the women’s division, Jinie Thompson defeated favored swimmer Maria Batallones to clinch the 1500m gold medal.
Thompson clocked 22:00.17 with Batallones coming in second with a time of 22:01.63 while Julia Jinang was third with a time of 26:06.62.
The rest of the top seven women swimmers were Piper Raho (26:26.79), Savita Sikkel (27:35.84), Yulia Aleksenko (33:33.03), and Kris Romero (34:40.19).
1000m race
Also joining the long-distance spotlight were 1000m winners Kouki Watanabe and Maria Guerrero.
Watanabe claimed the gold medal in the male division with a time of 14:16.48 while Justin Ma finished second with a time of 14:50.30.
Andrew Nunez was third with a time of 16:16.02 while Kevin Jr Guerrero placed fourth with a time of 18:27.17.
The rest of the top eight were Jack Raho (19:14.11), Zeno Iwami (19:17.27), Manuel Magboo (19:55.59), and Tristan Raho (27:01.91).
In the female division, Maria Guerrero led the pack with a time of 15:02.46 while Sari Barman finished second at 16:07.79.
Michelle Chen came in third with a time of 17:20.34 while Nagi Tenorio was fourth with a time of 18:45.10.
Big turnout
“It was a big turnout — great participation from all of our clubs [Dolphin, Saipan and Tsunami Swim Club],” NMI Swimming Federation board member John Hirsh said.
“It’s actually one of our main events for open water swimming,” he added. “It was hosted by Tan Holdings and we couldn’t be happier with their participation and their support for, not only swimming, but other sports as well. They are making an effort to elevate all sports in the NMI. The swimmers, for their part, train day in and day out for events such as this.”
The results of the 50m, 100m, 500m, and 50-and-above event will be featured in the next edition of Variety.
Isaiah Aleksenko rushes to the finish line in the male 1500m race of the Tan Holdings 50th Anniversary Ocean Swim on Saturday at Guma Sakman.
Sari Barman pushes through in the female 1000m race of the Tan Holdings 50th Anniversary Ocean Swim on Saturday at Guma Sakman.
