SAIPAN Swim Club competed at the ONYX Stingray Last Last Splash in Hong Kong from May 23 to 25, and returned home with medals and two new NMI records.
Last year, SSC sent four swimmers to the Hong Kong meet while this year, 13 SSC swimmers saw action: Michael Miller, Matthew Szefler, Nagi Tenorio, Nagisa Litulumar, Lukasz Szefler, Zeno Iwami, Savita Sikkel, Luke Seman, Vince Jr. Seman, Olivia and Gabe Walsh, Mia Camacho, and Piper Raho.
Accompanying them were Coaches Christian Villacrusis and Richard Sikkel.
Among the SCC members, Piper Raho stood out as one of the top contenders in a field of 600 swimmers, earning two silver medals and improving her NMI record in the 100 backstroke by shaving off two seconds with a time of 1:07.14.
Raho also set a new NMI record in the 50 free, resetting Nina Mosley’s 2006 record of 28.00 to 27.47.
Piper is aiming to rewrite the record books in several events at the upcoming Pacific Mini Games in Palau and the World Championships in Singapore.
Nagi, for her part, finished in the top three in the 200m breaststroke event, taking home a bronze medal with a time of 3:17.92.
Another seasoned NMI swimmer, Vince Jr., placed first twice in his heats, notably dropping 11 seconds in the 100 individual medley with a time of 1:40.07.
According to Coach Sikkel, the NMI’s younger swimmers faced stiff competition in the 50 free, 50 back, 50 breast, 50 fly, and 100 IM events from over 600 international swimmers representing Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, Vietnam, Malaysia, and the Philippines.
But all of the NMI’s youngest swimmers — Luke, Lukasz, Olivia, and Gabe — significantly improved their times. Luke and Lukasz, the youngest team members and new to international competition, managed to overcome their race jitters and delivered solid performances with strong finishes in their heats.
Zeno Iwami made his debut on the international stage as one of the SCC’s older swimmers and dropped significant time in his 100IM, 50m and 100m Breast.
Mia Camacho, also making her debut on the international stage at age 13, battled through some adversity with pesky goggles, yet she still managed to swim personal best in all of her events showing grit and perseverance.
Mattew Szefler swam in eight events, including the relays, where he posted an impressive improvement in his favorite event, the butterfly.
Michael Miller took advantage of his meet experience and used this meet as a training opportunity to fine-tune his race strategy for the upcoming Pacific Mini Games in Palau and World Championships in Singapore. Michael placed in the top 10 overall in all but one of his events.
Nagi Tenorio, Nagisa Litulumar, and Savita Sikkel battled it out for top breaststroke honors. Savita managed to get the better of the other girls in the shorter distances and the IM.
The Walsh siblings, swimming in their second HK meet, swam to strong finishes at their second home with personal bests in their events.
The team spent the last two to three months raising funds to finance the trip by doing car washes, selling lunches, organizing raffles, etc.
Saipan Swim Club would like to thank all its donors and supporters who helped make this trip possible.
The Saipan Swim Club team members pose for a group photo before competing at the ONYX Stingray Last Last Splash in Hong Kong. The event was held from May 23 to 25, 2025.
Contributed photo
Saipan Swim Club’s Nagi Tenorio and Piper Raho pose with their medals won at the ONYX Stingray Last Last Splash in Hong Kong.
Contributed photo
