1st Annual Micronesian Swimming Championships

The first ever, "Micronesian Swimming Championships" has begun!

With the weather clearing, this morning's heats were really fun to watch as there were a lot of great races and big times drops. The intensity was amazing throughout and tonight is set up to have a great finals session with a lot of tight races.

After this mornings session, the kids were in for a treat as we are very fortunate to have FINA and Oceania's Athletes Representative, Ryan Pini, out here doing our Athlete's clinic. Ryan talked today about a whole bunch of stuff including how to get ready for a race, and how to train smarter and better. He also shared some great stories of swimming as a kid up through the Olympics.

Also, we are very privileged to have FINA Technical Official, Lesley Huckins, offiating our meet and also started her technical officials Clinic today for our inspiring Officials and Volunteers. One thing for sure, it's always more fun to have a Olympic level Referee helping you out with a meet.

We have a lot of kids to cheer on tonight so come down to the pool and watch the best swimmers from Pohnpei, Marshall Islands, CNMI, and Palau, race together under a beautiful Micronesian sunset.

Opening Ceremonies will begin at 5pm, and the meet starts at 5:30pm.

Stuck at work or not in Palau? Beleieve it or not, you can follow the finals LIVE through the Oceania Television Network channel on YouTube at this link:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=d3MyNz3oeKg

SWIM FAST MICRONESIA!

5th April 2019 was the first night of Finals at the Inaugural "Micronesian Swimming Championships" out here in Palau!

The session was incredible as there were many great races, including a ton of drops, and numerous smiles. A big congratulations goes out to all 61 kids who swam their hearts out today!

Want to watch the action? Please come down to the pool tomorrow and come cheer on Micronesia's Youth race in this monumental swim meet. Preliminary Heats start at 9am and will go to around 11am, with Finals starting at 5:30pm and go to approximately 8pm.

You can also follow the meet online and watch it LIVE (or later) on the following link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3MyNz3oeKg

Finally, a big "Shout Out" to @Jesse Alpert for all the incredible pictures that you took today.

SWIM FAST MICRONESIA!!!

The racing just keeps getting better as tonight had a lot of very close races, as well as several first time finalists and medalists getting up on the podium. All four teams are swimming very well, and tonight really showcased how Micronesia is getting much more competitive in these races.

In case you missed the live stream, you can replay it at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKf5UBl-VfY

There were several National Records being broken all around, but as far as Team Palau is concerned, we have broken four National Records so far between Noel and Jericho. Last night Noel broke the 50 Backstroke record going a 29.04, with Jericho going a 29.06. Now that is some depth in that event!

Today, the boys really went off as Noel became the first Palauan to break five minutes in the 400 Individual Medley going a 4:57.72. Right before that though, Jericho won Gold in the 100 Butterfly and lowering his own National Record in the 100 Fly with a very fast 1:00.60!

In total so far after two days of swimming, the medal count is as follows:

- Northern Mariana Islands (28 Gold, 17 Silver, 8 Bronze)
- Palau (12 Gold, 15 Silver, 20 Bronze)
- Pohnpei (6 Gold, 7 Silver, 3 Bronze)
- Marshall Islands (6 Silver, 6 Bronze)

Also, we are very happy to have John Bladon out here, as he has started up his FINA Level One Coaches Certification Course with all of us Micronesian Coaches. Between him, Ryan Pini doing the Athletes Clinic, and Lesley Huckins doing her Technical Officials Clinic, there is a lot to do around the pool these days. All of us with Palau Swimming cannot thank you guys enough for teaching and sharing your experience with us.

One more day in the pool, followed up with the Open Water events on Sunday. Come by the pool and cheer on the kids at either at the Preliminary Session going from 9am-11am, or the Big Finals from 5:30pm-8pm.

Thanks again to @jesse alpert for all of the great pictures!

KEEP SWIMMING FAST MICRONESIA!

What an amazing finish to the pool competition of the Inaugural Micronesian Swimming Championships!

With each session getting faster and better, today was the best day yet as everyone swam absolutely amazing. Hopefully you watched online throughout the weekend on our Live Stream, but if you did not, you can still go in and watch prelims and finals from the past three days on this link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvIe02wamn0

Big congratulations to goes out to Jericho Maido for getting a new National Record in the 50 Butterfly, as well as Noel Keane for getting National Records in the 50 Freestyle, 200 Individual Medley, and the 200 Breaststroke, as well as Osisang for breaking her 1500 Freestyle National Record. Well done you guys!

After the three days of pool swimming, the medal tally is:

- Northern Mariana Islands (44 G, 28 S, 10 B)
- Palau (17 G, 22 S, 31 B)
- Pohnpei (8 G, 10 S, 7 B)
- Marshall Islands (8 S, 10 B)

Tomorrow is the Open Water Day, with the "Futures" swimming the 1K, while the "Stars" will be swimming the 5K. After the swim we are going to go out to the Rock Islands and play Water Polo out in the Ocean.

Big thank you to @jesse alpert for all of these great pictures for all of us.

SWIM FAST MICRONESIA!!!

Last Modified on 08/04/2019 15:18

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