Highlights

2019 - 2020 SEASON

February

2020 Winter J. O. Yosen Swim Meet @ Tatsumi - Feb. 22nd & 23rd

2,749 swimmers from 149 clubs packed into the International Swimming Complex at Tatsumi for two full days of swimming. The J. O. Yosen meet features Tokyo’s top swimmers and is undoubtedly one of the most thrilling meets of the year. The Yosen meet is contested twice a year and swimmers must better tough qualifying standards to be eligible to compete. 

                                               SMST’s relay makes Nationals !

As Cameron Fenwick stood on the blocks before the start of the 4 x 100 meter Freestyle Relay, the other three members of team awaited their turn to shine, knowing it was time to stand up and be counted. Cameron, Junichiro Asano, Ryan Fenwick, and Alex Hotta were confident knowing that the numerous laps churned out in practice sessions since the beginning of the season would serve them well come crunch time. The quartet could ill afford to squander the opportunity as the J.O. Yosen meet grants swimmers the last opportunity to achieve qualifying times required for Japan’s Age Group National swimming championships. Fenwick had already produced his personal best in the 50 meter Freestyle, winning the event in 23.08, under the national “cut”. The favored did not disappoint, Cameron blazed a 50.01 lead-off leg before Junior Junichiro Asano turned in a monster swim, scorching a lifetime best 50.77 split. With a 1:40.78 time at the 200 meter mark, the Bucs were in great position - Ryan Fenwick took the reins for the 3rd leg and blazed a 52.16. The Bucs relay led from start to finish with the strategy of swimming fastest to slowest and to get out ahead in the clear water, challenging other teams to catch them. Sophomore Alex Hotta sliced through the waves, swimming SMST’s anchor leg storming home with a 53.62 split. The Bucs won the race in 3:26.57 and were the only team to qualify for the end of March Nationals.

Individual commitment to a group effort - that is what makes a team work, and it was exhilar-ating to see the guys at their best. The team enjoyed excellent support from a cluster of teammates and parents remaining to see them perform. The National Champs is a cool way to close out the season; the greater adventure lies ahead - this year’s nationals will be held in Tokyo’s brand new Aquatic Center, the venue for the 2020 Olympic Swimming events !

The weekend provided plenty of excitement and swimmers close to the national JOC Cup qualifying times were eligible to compete in the "challenge races" at the end of the regular session of events. Junichiro Asano placed 6th in the 200 meter Freestyle with a PB of 1:51.83, just 1.53 seconds off the “national “cuts” and good enough to contest the challenge race. Just 45 minutes after his relay leg, Asano swam a splendid 1:51.85 to close out Saturday’s program.

Ryan Fenwick also went 24.00 in the 15-16 Boys 50 meter Freestyle in the morning, allowing him to compete in the afternoon "challenge" - unfortunately a flinch just prior to the start resulted in his disqualification. Asano also swam the challenge race at the end of Sunday’s program for the boys 17-18 100 meter Freestyle. Jun improved on his earlier feat of 51.08 to join the ranks of an exclusive few SMST Bucs swimming the 100 in 50 seconds - Jun’s final time was 50.99 just .58 seconds off nationals!

The entire team made a big splash with plenty of personal best times. Seisen Freshman Ariana Hill set two records over the weekend; Ariana established a new OPEN & AREA mark in the 13-14 girls 50 meter Breaststroke, bettering her own record with a 33.40 swim. Ariana also threw down a 27.47 in the 50 meter Freestyle for a new AREA standard.

Buccaneer swimmers finishing in the top 20 in their age group were;

Cameron Fenwick     17-18 yrs.         50 meter Freestyle - 1st place (23.08) - National Qualifier AAAA

Cameron Fenwick     17-18 yrs.       100 meter Freestyle - 1st place (50.37) - National Qualifier AAAA

Cameron Fenwick     17-18 yrs.         50 meter Butterfly - 6th place (25.18)

Junichiro Asano        17-18 yrs.       100 meter Freestyle - 5th place (51.08)

Junichiro Asano        17-18 yrs.       200 meter Freestyle - 6th place (1:51.83)

Junichiro Asano        17-18 yrs.       100 meter Butterfly - 11th place (56.73)  

Ryan Fenwick           15-16 yrs.          50 meter Freestyle - 5th place (24.00)

Ryan Fenwick           15-16 yrs.        100 meter Butterfly - 9th place (56.73)

Ryan Fenwick           15-16 yrs.        100 meter Freestyle - 18th place (53.08)

Alex Hotta                 15-16 yrs.          50 meter Backstroke - 8th place (27.34)

Ariana Hill                    14 yrs.         50 meter Freestyle -  10th place (27.47)

Ariana Hill                    14 yrs.         50 meter Breaststroke - 12th place (33.40)

Karl Bodenheimer        14 yrs.        400 meter Freestyle - 12th place (4:28.39)

Nathaniel Twohig         13 yrs.        100 meter Butterfly - 15th place (1:04.23)

Nathaniel Twohig         13 yrs.        100 meter Freestyle - 20th place (58.70)

Yotaro Koya                 12 yrs.        100 meter Breaststroke - 20th place (1:19.49)

The Bucs also produced sixteen AAA times or better; Cameron Fenwick, Junichiro Asano, Ryan Fenwick, Ariana Hill, Yotaro Koya, and Ellen Ka. Swimmers bettering AA times were; Alex Hotta, Joshua Harper, James Hill, Karl Bodenheimer, Nathaniel Twohig, Natsuki Uchino, Ashley Grantham, and Nicolas Radzimski. US A standards were turned in by Ian Takahara, Bastien Bagui Joshua Ng, Shin Kawachi, and Derek Furudera.

The swim team will take 34 swimmers to go head-to-head against the TAC Mudsharks at the Tokyo American Club’s inaugural Dual Meet on Friday night, February 28th.

Tokyo-To Winter Kirokukai Swim Meet 2/8 & 2/9 @ Tatsumi

Eighteen Buccaneer swimmers competed at the February 8th & 9th Tokyo Winter Kirokukai Swim Meet at the Tatsumi International Swimming Complex. 2,035 swimmers from 161 teams participated in the annual event. There was much at stake with just one sanctioned meet remaining this season to qualify for Japan’s prestigious Age Group National Championships.

                                               Cameron Qualifies for Nationals !

Senior Cameron Fenwick showed he’s a serious contender to be; Cam qualified for nationals in two events - the 50 meter & 100 meter Freestyle. Fenwick blazed a 23.14 to win the 50 meter sprint. After missing the national “cut’ by a mere 1/100th of a second in the morning preliminary heats, Cameron  stormed back in the finals to make nationals and  take 2nd place overall.

Expected results are beginning to show for many swimmers.  Preliminaries and finals were held for events under 200 meters and competitors placing in the top 8 could advance to afternoon finals.

Cameron Fenwick (17-18 yrs.)       50 meter Freestyle - 1st place / 100 meter Freestyle - 2nd place

Junichiro Asano (17-18 yrs.)        200 meter Freestyle - 5th place / 50 meter Butterfly - 5th  

Ryan Fenwick (17-18 yrs.)           50 meter Butterfly - 2nd  place / 50 meter Butterfly - 8th place

Alex Hotta (15-16 yrs.)                  50 meter Backstroke - 2nd place

Ariana Hill (13-14 yrs.)                  50 meter Breaststroke - 2nd place

Ariana Hill lowered her own the OPEN and AREA record in the girls 13 - 14 50 meter Breaststroke with an impressive 33.74 swim.

Relays always add a lot of excitement and the Bucs were eager to show their best heading into the final event before Saturday’s afternoon finals. SMST’s relay is inching nearer to the national ‘cuts’ - the boys came up a bit short despite impressive swims in the event. Senior Cameron Fenwick led off with a 50.70 split. Junior Junichiro Asano (51.52) teamed up with Ryan Fenwick (52.80) and senior Joshua Harper (55.55) to post a 3:30.57. The Bucs relay placed 1st overall among high schools and 3rd overall in the event.

Deliberate practice leads to tangible results; Cameron and Ryan Fenwick led the Bucs posting US Swimming AAAA standards. AAA times were turned in by Junichiro Asano, Alex Hotta, Ariana Hill, and Ellen Ka. Buc swimmers producing AA times were Karl Bodenheimer, Nathaniel Twohig, Natsuki Uchino, and Yotaro Koya.

The team looks forward to competing at Tatsumi again at the J.O. Yosen swim meet on February 22nd  and 23rd.    

Winter Kanto Plains Championships 2/1  @ St. Mary's

Kitajima Cup (50m) 1/24-26 @ Tatsumi

  see highlights

January

Annual Swim-a-thon - January 18th @ St. Mary’s

Once again it was inspiring to watch our swimmers give their all in this years’ swim-a-thon. The 1 hour not-stop event provided all with a daunting challenge and the coaches are proud of the effort our swimmers displayed. It certainly presents an arduous full body workout and there were plenty of swimmers exhibiting a smooth, tuned freestyle stroke with deftly controlled breathing. When done correctly, for duration and distance, swimming builds incredible coordination and it involves an amazing number of muscles with the simultaneous full and constant use of the arms, legs and core muscle groups.

We’re confident that the swim-a-thon will make us a better team and bodes well for performances at our upcoming swim meets. We had 95 compete with 23 missing the event. We will have makeup opportunities for those that missed the event.

Junior Junichiro Asano tied for 4th place all time (15-18 Boys) swimming 203 lengths and covering a distance of 5,075 meters in one hour, averaging 1:11’s per 100 meters non-stop. Freshman Karl Bodenheimer sliced his way smoothly through the water to the tune of 184 lengths (4,600 meters) - good enough for 8th place all-time (13-14 Boys). Seisen 5th grader Ellen Ka tied for 3rd spot all time with 140 lengths (3,500 meters) for Girls 9-10 yrs.

                                                 click to see the top finishers ...

October

The swim team put forth a very strong showing despite numerous challenges at their annual Buccaneer Invitational. With typhoon #19 hammering Tokyo, the Buccaneers were still able to hold a successful meet by rescheduling the event and running the meet on Sunday and the “taiiku no hi” national holiday on Monday October 14th. Once again the Buccaneer parents rose to the occasion and put in a tremendous effort during inclement weather running a meet with 1,771 individual entries along with 100 relays. The coaches would like  to extend a very heartfelt thank you to all the volunteers who helped make the weekend a success. 

Not to be stymied by the adverse conditions, Buccaneer swimmers felt strong and confident and reeled off plenty of best times. The Buccaneers amassed 1,195.5 points, good enough for 1st place however, the Bucs, as the host team, do not count themselves in the team trophy race for their Invitational. Beijing’s LJ Swimming Club took first place in the overall team trophy competition with 724 points; Setagaya-Ku’s Aim Top Swimming Club captured second with a total of 507 points. Firepower Swimming Club (Beijing) grabbed the 3rd place overall team trophy with a total of 306 points tallied.  

In boys scoring, it was the Buccaneers in first with 905.5 points followed by LJ Swimming (412 points), and  Firepower (194 points).

The coaches were inspired to see the energy ramped up and everyone turning in “gutsy” performances through a grueling schedule. High Point trophies were awarded to the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place finishers in each age group based on six events over 2 days. Buccaneer swimmers garnering trophies for their respective age groups were;

15 & 18 Boys

Junichiro Asano - High Point Champion, Ryan Fenwick (2nd High Point) and Alex Hotta (3rd High Point) 

15 & 18 Girls

Nana Richter (2nd High Point) 

13 - 14 Boys

Karl Bodenheimer (2nd High Point)

13 - 14 Girls

Ariana Hill - High Point Champion

11 - 12 Boys

Yotaro Koya (3rd High Point) 

8 & Under 12 Boys

Tyler Furudera (3rd High Point) 

Buc swimmers coming close in the High Point trophy race were; Joshua Harper, James Hill, Cameron Fenwick, Ian Takahara, Aisa Takahara, Ryota Misaki, Max Wahba, Bastien Bagui, Natsuki Uchino, Joshua Ng, Cheney Sun, Aoi Sonoda, Ellen Ka, Rentaro Matsuzaki, and Izumi Moroshita.

Junichiro Asano, Cameron Fenwick, Ryan Fenwick, Joshua Harper, James Hill, Ariana Hill, and Ellen Ka all posted US Swimming AAA times. Buccaneer swimmers turning in AA times were; Ian Takahara, Alex Hotta, Nana Richter, Natsuki Uchino, Naoki Martin, Karl Bodenheimer and Yotaro Koya. 

Swimmers bettering A time standards were Skyler Pang, Aisa Takahara, Bien Bagui, Ryota Misaki, Max Wahba, Joshua Ng, Zara Strauss, Rentaro Nishioka, Aoi Sonoda, Ryan Murase and Tyler Furudera.

The Bucs will be at the International Swimming Complex in Tatsumi for the Tokyo Fall Kirokukai Meet October 19th & 20th. 

September

Fall Swim Meet @ St. Mary's 

Buccaneer swimmers competed in their first meet of the season at St. Mary’s on September 28th. The meet was relatively small with just 220 competitors from eight clubs in attendance. It’s early in the season and Buccaneer swimmers were pleased to see their training beginning to pay off. 

It was great to contest both the 200 meter Individual Medley and 200 meter Freestyle events for younger swimmers as well as the older age groups - the aerobic base is certainly enhanced and is a key component to ultimate success in the sport. Arguably the race of the meet was the 15-18 Boys 200 meter Freestyle; Senior Cameron Fenwick and Junior Junichiro Asano battled stroke for stroke with Fenwick out touching Asano 1:52.71 to 1:52.81 for the win. Both boys bettered the US Swimming AAAA time standard. 7th grader Nathaniel Twohig also had a AAAA swim going 28.88 in the 11-12 Boys 50 meter by Butterfly. Nathaniel’s Fly time was just .41 seconds off the Age Group National qualifying time and inches him closer to the OPEN & AREA record of 28.34.

Ryan Fenwick, James Hill, and Seisen Freshman Ariana Hill turned in AAA swims. Ariana set a new AREA record in the girls 13-14 50 meter Free throwing down a 27.99 effort. 

Other swimmers bettering US Swimming AA times were Joshua Harper, Alex Hotta, Karl Bodenheimer, Natsuki Uchino, and Ellen Ka. US A times were also swum by Kei Takahashi, Bien Bagui, Max Wahba, Joshua Ng, Kazumi Hayashi, Ryunosuke Azumi, Yotaro Koya, Zara Strauss, Aoi Sonoda, Tyler Furudera, and Rentaro Matsuzaki.

Buccaneer swimmers winning four Individual events were; Nathaniel Twohig, Karl Bodenheimer, Ellen Ka, and Tyler Furudera. Triple win swimmers were; Cameron Fenwick, Junichiro Asano, Ariana Hill, and Aoi Sonoda. Both Natsuki Uchino and Derek Furudera took two wins each. Others with first place finishes include Ryan Fenwick, Ryota Misaki, Max Wahba, Yotaro Koya, Ryan Murase, Rentaro Matsuzaki, Ames Donelson, Thomas Bowers, Mitsuhito Hosaka, Chaelyn Park, and Rachel Ng.

SMST swimmers look forward to hosting the Buccaneer Invitational on October 12th & 13th which will feature nine teams from overseas. 

Summer 2019 Age Group National Championships 8/22 - 8/26 (50m)  (@ Tatsumi

With the school year just starting St. Mary’s Swim Team is already in action - the Buccaneers sent 4 swimmers to Japan’s 42nd annual Summer Age Group National Championships. The JOC Cup meet was held at the International Swimming Complex in Tatsumi. 3,099 swimmers from 836 swimming clubs representing 47 prefectures throughout the nation competed in event. The Age Group Nationals are contested twice a year, at the end of March and in late August; the summer champs are run in the Olympic sized 50 meter pool format while the spring classic caps off the 25 meter short course season.

Senior Cameron Fenwick started the Bucs off on day four of the meet in the 17-18 yr. olds 100 meter Freestyle. Cameron placed 12 overall with a personal best long course time of 51.95. Cam’s time was just .21 seconds off the top 8 for a spot in the finals.  

The last event of the day was the 400 Freestyle Relay. The quartet of Cameron, Junichiro Asano, Naoki Martin and Ryan Fenwick represented SMST well finishing 16th overall with an aggregate time of 3:33.22. Cameron swam the 1st leg on going 52.19. Junichiro Asano had a swift 2nd leg with a long course best of 53.08 followed by senior Naoki’s 54.19. Ryan swam the anchor leg throwing down a 53.76 effort. SMST was just 1.55 seconds off making the top 8.

Cameron also swam the 17-18 yr. 50 meter Freestyle finishing in 18th overall with a 24.18 just .36 off the time to make finals.

The Buccaneers are off and running and look forward to taking more participants to the spring 2020 Nationals meet that will be held in the new state-of-the-art Olympic Aquatic Center.

2018 - 2019 SEASON

May 2019

The Buccaneers held their final home meet of the year on Saturday. Fifteen teams competed in the Jolly Roger Invitational with 284 swimmers attending with 1056 individual entries and 38relays. The Bucs finished the day with the team title amassing 1,280 points. Aim Top Swim Club took 2nd place with 521 points followed by the Tokyo American Club Mudsharks with 329 points.

Buc Swimmers took 7 out of the 10 High Point trophies awarded, winners were;

Junichiro Asano (15-18), Ariana Hill (13-14), Nathaniel Twohig (11-12), Natsuki Uchino (11-12), Cheney Sun (9-10), Ellen Ka (9-10), and Tyler Furudera (8 & Under).

US Swimming AAA time standards or better were produced by Cameron Fenwick, Junichiro Asano, Ryan Fenwick, Ariana Hill, Nathaniel Twohig, and Natsuki Uchino. AA swim came from Ian Takahara, Joshua Harper, Nana Richter, Alex Hotta, Madison Lind, Cheney Sun, and Ellen Ka. Bien Bagui, Kei Takahashi, Ryo Ariyoshi, Aisa Takahara, Karl Bodenheimer, Ryota Misaki, Yotaro Koya, Houei Shimoyachi, and Sho Sendai all bettered US Swimming A Time standards.

The Swim Team annual awards were presented following the completion of the meet. SMST’s annual awards went to the following team members;

St. Mary’s Swimmer of the Year - Junichiro Asano

High School MVP - Cameron Fenwick

Female Swimmer of the Year - Nana Richter

High School  Most Improved - Alex Hottta

High School Coaches’ Awards - Naoki Martin & Joshua Harper

Senior Award - Yu Kunita

Rookie of the Year - Ariana Hill

Middle School  MVP - Karl Bodenheimer & Nathaniel Twohig

Middle School Most Improved – Ryota Misaki

Middle School School Coaches’ Awards - Bastien Bagui & Jiei Izukune

Girls Middle School  MVP - Natsuki Uchino

Girls Middle School School Most Improved - Zara Strauss

Elementary School  MVP - Cheney Sun

Girls Elementary School  MVP - Ellen Ka

Elementary School  Most Improved - Nicolas Radzimski

Girls Elementary School Most Improved - Shin Kawachi 

Several buccaneer swimmers will compete at the Summer Tokyo-To Kirokukai meet at Tatsumi on June 8th.  

April 2019

Tokyo-To Spring Kirokukai Swim Meet - 2019 Roundup

What a way to close out day one of the All Tokyo-To Spring Kirokukai swim meet! Pulsating with excitement behind the blocks before the start of the 4 x 100 meter Freestyle relay, SMST’s members knew it was time to stand up and be counted. Junior Cameron Fenwick swam an amazing lead-off leg scorching a 50.25 seconds split before sophomore Junichiro Asano took command blazing a 51.77 second leg. Junior Naoki Martin followed with a 52.85 leg before Ryan Fenwick harnessed all he could muster with a splendid anchor leg going 52.23. Easily the most exhilarating race of the weekend for the Buccaneers. The Bucs quartet finished in first place (36 teams) just .38 seconds ahead of Meguro Nichidai formerly, Hinode High School. The team and all supporters were ecstatic when their overall time of 3:27.10 flashed on the scoreboard; knowing it was under the Age Group nationals qualifying time by a mere .01 seconds. 

Relay exchanges are paramount when trying to achieve the already stringent Age Group national qualifying standards. Rules for relay starts state that the swimmer can be completely stretched out over the water as long as the toes are still on the block when the incoming swimmer touches the wall. There is little margin for error as any miscalculation can lead to a disqualification - the boys relay exchanges in a pressure packed situation were impeccable; Junichiro (.23), Naoki (.09), and Ryan (.10) clearly a vital factor in successfully punching their tickets for the 42nd Summer National Age Group Swimming Championships on August 22 - 26. Way to Go!

Buccaneer swimmers made a big splash at the first official spring meet of the new year. There was plenty of fast swimming with 3,401 swimmers from 128 swim clubs competing in the two-day event at the Tatsumi International Swimming Complex. Cameron Fenwick qualified individually for the national championships in the Boys 15-18 50 meter Freestyle winning the event in 23.12. Ryan Fenwick lowered both the OPEN & AREA records in the Boys 13-14 50 meter Butterfly with a sizzling 25.93 swim. Seisen Junior Nana Richter set a new AREA record in the 15-18 Girls 50 meter Butterfly (29.56). Natsuki Uchino bettered her own AREA mark in the 11-12 Girls 50 meter Freestyle (28.29) and tied her own Team record in the 50 meter Backstroke (31.97). 

Deliberate practice leads to tangible results and the Buccaneer swimmers turned in a total of 7 US Swimming AAAA time standards. 

SMST AAAA swims

Cameron Fenwick   50 Freestyle (23.12) - 1st place (JOC Cup qualifier)

                                100 Freestyle (50.25) - relay lead-off split - .04 secs. off nationals

Ryan Fenwick          50 Freestyle (24.35) - 14th place (13 & over)

                                 100 Freestyle (53.24)                                 100 Butterfly (57.68) - 19th place (13 & over)

Nathaniel Twohig   50 Butterfly (29.23) - 5th place

Natsuki Uchino       50 Freestyle (28.29) - 5th place

The Bucs also produced ten AAA times; Junichiro Asano, Naoki Martin, and Cheney Sun in addition to the above swimmers displaying prowess in multiple events and disciplines. Swimmers bettering AA times were; Ian Takahara, Skyler Pang, Nana Richter, Alex Hotta, Joshua Harper, Kei Takahashi, Aisa Takahara, Madison Lind, Kazumi Hayashi, and Ellen Ka.

The Bucs look forward to building on their success at their last home meet of the school year at the May 18th Jolly Roger Swim Meet.      

March 2019

2019 March Age Group Championships @ St. Mary's

The Bucs played host to 21 teams at the March Age Group Championships on Saturday and Sunday. It was quite a meet! 482 athletes attended the annual competition with 2,208 individual entries and 152 relay entries. There was plenty of FAST swimming and turning in personal best times was the norm. The championship meet is a great way to finish the season and you see things you can’t coach - how to manage a meet, poise under pressure, and presence in the face of adversity.

Right from the get-go SMST swimmers showed their mettle; the 400 meter Freestyle was the 1st race contested and 8th grader Karl Bodenheimer set the tone for the Bucs, bettering his own PB by five seconds with a US swimming AA time to capture 1st place in the Boys 13-14 division. In arguably the most exciting race of the meet, sophomore Junichiro Asano went head to head with Nittai Ebara’s Yuga Kajihara in a slugfest - the  race seesawed back and forth with Asano surging ahead on the last stroke to take the win by just .04 seconds, slashing 7 seconds off his PB while going 4:03.45. Junior Cameron Fenwick had a breakout performance on his 8th race of the meet on Sunday afternoon in the 200 meter Freestyle. With the 15-18 high point honors on the line, Cam blazed a 1:51.95 leaving other contenders in his wake and shaving a full three seconds off his best with a US Swimming AAAA standard. Other hot races; Ryan Fenwick joined a select few Buccaneers to be under 25 seconds for the 50 meter Free at 14 yrs. old - with a 24.89 swim. Ryan also broke two minutes in the 200 meter Free on Sunday, dominating the field going 1:59.73. 6th grader Nathaniel Twohig scorched the Boys 11-12 100 meter Individual Medley to win by nearly four seconds with 1:08.83 – on the way to posting six AAA swims. 5th grader Cheney Sun came home gangbusters on the last 25 meters of the Boys 9 & 10 100 meter Butterfly going to winning in 1:20.86 a AAA time.

Seisen 7th grader Natsuki Uchino broke her own AREA record in the girls 11-12 200 meter Freestyle and came within .12 seconds of bettering the AREA mark in the 50 meter Backstroke. The Crescendo Relays are always a highlight of the meet and provide an opportunity for swimmers of different ages to work as a team. SMST’s Girls 200 meter Crescendo Medley relay obliterated the OPEN & AREA record. Nana Richter (15-18), Ariana Hill (13-14), Natsuki Uchino (11-12), and Ellen Ka (9-10) combined to lower the standard to 2:09.24. The 400 meter Crescendo Freestyle Relay is a crowd favorite and features five swimmers from each age group; The Bucs easily won the Freestyle Crescendo - the Free Crescendo features 5 swimmers from each age group.  Tyler Furudera (8 + Under - 50m), Rentaro Nishioka (9 + 10 - 50m), Nathaniel Twohig (11/12 - 100m), Ryan Fenwick (13/14 - 100m), and Cameron Fenwick (15/18 - 100m) posted an impressive 4:01.75.

The coaches would once again like to thank all the volunteers that helped make the weekend a success - your hard work is truly appreciated ! An awards ceremony was held in the gymnasium following the last event on Sunday afternoon. 

St. Mary’s took the overall team trophy with 3,966 points. Amazingly, after 136 events contested the 2nd place and 3rd team places were decided by a mere point. The Tokyo American Club Mudsharks amassed 1,620 points for 2nd place with the Shanghai International Swim Club (1,619) hot on their trail to capture the 3rd spot. 

High Point trophies are awarded to the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place finishers in each age group based on six individual events over 2 days. Buc swimmers took a total of seven high point honors. Cameron Fenwick won the (15-18) Boys High Point honors with Junichiro Asano taking 2nd place. Other SMST swimmers garnering High Point trophies were; Ryan Fenwick (13-14) 1st; Karl Bodenheimer (13-14) 3rd; Nathaniel Twohig, (11-12) 1st; Ariana Hill (13-14) 3rd; and Natsuki Uchino (11-12) 1st.      

Other swimmers finishing in the top 8 in overall points for their age groups were Joshua Harper, Yu Kunita,  Nana Richter, Max Wahba, Kazumi Hayashi, Rentaro Nishioka, Cheney Sun, Ellen Ka, Tyler Furudera, and Wataro Miyamoto.   

US Swimming AAAA standards were turned in by Cameron Fenwick, Junichiro Asano, and Ryan Fenwick. AAA times came from Joshua Harper, Nathaniel Twohig, Natsuki Uchino, and Cheney Sun. AA swims were produced by Yu Kunita, Ian Takahara, Nana Richter, Alex Hotta, Karl Bodenheimer, Ariana Hill, Rentaro Nishioka, and Ellen Ka. A times came from Ryan Shimizu, Skyler Pang, Kei Takahashi, Bien Bagui, Aisa Takahara, Kazumi Hayashi, Alex Verbeke, Houei Shimoyachi and Olivia Opitz.

SWIM ON …

February 2019

2019 Tokyo South J.O. Yosen Swim Meet @ Meiji University

The J.O. Yosen meet is always an exciting one - the meet serves as the last chance to qualify for Japan’s Age Group National Championships. 33 team members from the SMST Buccaneers competed along with 563 swimmers (34 clubs) within the Tokyo South Block at the one day competition held at the Meiji University.

As the end of the season approaches the team has been working on refining the little things that will ultimately lead to success - it was great to see BUC swimmers competing with the best in South Tokyo in a meet that was held in less than ideal conditions. The J. O. Yosen  meet is usually held in Tatsumi’s state-of-the art natatorium which certainly facilitates “fast” swimming.

 BUC swimmers placing in the top eight for their races were; Cameron Fenwick , Junichiro Asano, Ian Takahara,  Kei Takahashi, Ryan Fenwick, Nana Richter, Aisa Takahara, Karl Bodenheimer, Ariana Hill, Natsuki, Yotaro Koya, Sho Sendai, and Ellen Ka.

 Junior Cameron Fenwick produced 3 US Swimming AAAA times. Junichiro Asano, Naoki Martin, Ryan Fenwick, and Natsuki Uchino bettered US Swimming AAA times while AA swims were turned in by Yu Kunita, Ian Takahara, Joshua Harper, Nana Richter, Ariana Hill, and Cheney Sun. 

The 15-18 Boys 4 x 100 Free Relay was the class of the meet easily capturing first place. The favored did not disappoint; Cameron Fenwick (51.47) Junichiro Asano (52.84), Naoki Martin (53.18), and Ryan Fenwick (54.04) combined for a season best 3:31.53.

Seisen 8th grader Ariana Hill set a new OPEN & AREA record in the girls 13-14 50 meter Breaststroke. Ariana peeled off a 34.31 swim to better her own standard by more than half a second on her way to the record.

Swimmers close to the JOC Cup qualifying times were eligible to compete in the “challenge races” at the end of the regular session of events. Cameron Fenwick swam the "challenge" for the 50 meter Freestyle and came up an agonizing .04 seconds off the required 23.21 for the 17-18 year old Boys. Cam also had a stellar swim with a 51.00 just .79 seconds off the national standard.

"Body does what the mind prefers" - the coaches were pleased to see the approach the swimmers took to the meet. Along with the twelve AAAA standards put in by Buc swimmers, the Bucs had nine AAA swims, nine AA and twenty-three A standards. Not including the previously mentioned, allstar times were produced by Skyler Pang, Kei Takahashi, Kaiya Croy, Alex Hotta, Aisa Takahara, Karl Bodenheimer, Alex Verbeke, and Ellen Ka.

SMST is looking forward to hosting the March Age Group Championships at St. Mary’s (March 9th & 10th). The meet will surely provide lots of competition with more than 20 teams competing.

Winter 2019 Kanto Plains Championships @ St. Mary’s

The St. Mary’s Buccaneers Swim Team captured their 46th Winter Kanto Plains Championship title. The team amassed a total of 1,429 points for first place. Aim Top Swimming Club tallied 494 points to take 2nd place followed by the Tokyo American Club Mudsharks with 406 points.  Heats were run as mixed events  with both boys and girls competing together regardless of age however, events were scored by gender and  age. The coaches would like to thank all volunteers for keeping a meet with 13 teams and 292 student/athletes running smoothly - over a 1,000 individual entries and 84 relays ! 

Swimmers compete in four individual events as well as 2 relays in the one day meet. High Point trophies were awarded to the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place finishers in each age group based on four individual events. Buccaneer swimmers captured 19 out of a possible 30 high point trophies with many veteran swimmers garnering trophies as well as a new crop snaring awards.

                                                        SMST  Trophy  Winners

Cameron Fenwick              15 - 18 Boys                High Point Winner - 36 points (tied)     

Junichiro Asano                    15 - 18 Boys                High Point Winner - 36 points (tied)                                                        

Naoki  Martin                       15 - 18 Boys                2nd  High Point - 27 points          

Ian Takahara                        15 - 18 Boys                3rd High Point - 25 points (tied)                                                               

Kei Takahashi                       15 - 18 Boys                3rd High Point - 25 points (tied)                                                                         

Nana Richter                         15 - 18 Girls               High Point Winner - 36 points                                                                 

Aisa Takahara                       15 - 18 Girls              3rd High Point - 30 points                                                                                                                                                     

Ryan Fenwick                        13 + 14 Boys               High Point Winner - 36 points                                                                             

Ariana Hill                             13 + 14 Girls              High Point Winner - 34 points (tied)                                                                        

Nathaniel Twohig                  11 + 12 Boys               High Point Winner - 36 points                                                                         

Natsuki Uchino                      11 + 12 Girls              High Point Winner - 36 points                                                                                    

Rentaro Nishioka                     9 + 10 Boys             High Point Winner - 34 points                                                               

Cheney Sun                               9 + 10 Boys              2nd  High Point - 31 points                                                                                             

Houei Shimoyachi                    9 + 10 Boys              3rd   High Point - 29 points                                                                       

Ellen Ka                                    9 + 10 Girls             High Point Winner - 36 points                                                                           

Olivia Opitz                              9 + 10 Girls             2nd  High Point - 34 points                                                                                                                    

Zen Twohig                               8 + Under Boys       High Point Winner - 36 points                                                                           

Tyler Furudera                        8 + Under Boys       2nd  High Point - 32 points                                                                                                 

Rentaro Matsuzaki                 8 + Under Boys       3rd   High Point - 28 points

The Kanto Plains Champs challenges swimmers with a full day of racing. The coaches were pleased with strong performances being turned in with little time for recovery between a grueling event schedule. Cameron Fenwick, Junichiro Asano, Ryan Fenwick, Nathaniel Twohig, and Natsuki Uchino bettered US Swimming AAA times while AA swims were produced by Yu Kunita, Joshua Harper, Naoki Martin, Nana Richter, Ariana Hill, Rentaro Nishioka, Cheney Sun, and Ellen Ka.  

Other swimmers turning in US Swimming A times were; Skyler Pang, Ian Takahara, Alex Hotta, Kei Takahashi, Kaiya Croy, Aisa Takahara, Karl Bodenheimer, Kazumi Hayashi, Houei Shimoyachi, and Zen Twohig.

The team is positioned well to have some breakout performances at the competitive Tokyo-To Winter Swim Meet at the International Swimming Complex in Tatsumi on February 13th + 14th.

Annual Swim-a-thon @ St. Mary's

The SMST Buccaneers held their annual Swim-A-Thon on January 19th. The event helps kick off the New Year for the Bucs and provides the entire team with a great opportunity to hone technique. The “How far can you swim in 1 hour” challenge also  enables swimmers to gauge their progress from training sessions. SMST swimmers have churned out numerous laps in workouts since the beginning of the school year. Swimming non-stop and pushing yourself for one hour is a daunting task and bodes well for the swimmers in upcoming championship meets. It’s an arduous full body workout that demands simultaneous and constant use of the arms, legs and core muscle groups. Endurance .… the Athlete’s Edge !

Sophomore Junichiro Asano tied for 7th place all time (15-18 Boys) swimming 200 lengths and covering a distance of 5,000 meters in one hour, averaging 1:12

per 100 meters non-stop. Ryan Fenwick sliced his way smoothly through the water to the tune of 185 lengths (4,625 meters) - good enough to tie for 7th place

all-time (13-14 Boys). Seisen Junior Nana Richter tied for 6th spot all time with 174 lengths (4,350 meters) for Girls 15-18 yrs. Not far behind was Aisa

Takahara with 172 lengths (4,350 meters). Middle schooler Natsuki Uchino tied for 6th place all-time for the Girls 11 + 12 division. Natsuki completed 161

lengths or 4,025 meters in the hour swim. It’s always inspiring to watch swimmers give their all in the event. The entire team from 1st graders to seniors put

in a great effort with many showing remarkable improvements from a year earlier.          

                    click to see  Top finishers for the 2019

November 2018

Kitajima Cup (Tokyo-To Senshuken) 50 m 11/  18 & 19 @ Tatsumi     

Cameron Fenwick, Junichiro Asano, Naoki Martin, and Natsuki Uchino qualified to represent SMST at the Kitajima Cup - Tokyo Senshuken meet on November 17th & 18th. Scheduled renova-tions to the Tatsumi pool in preparation for the 2020 Olympic Games resulted in this years’ meet being contested much earlier in the season. The Kitajima Cup is normally held at the end of January, after swimmers have more training behind them. The meet featured several Olympic medalists alongside many other elite swimmers and Japanese National team members. The meet provided an opportunity to race in the long course 50 meter format during the 25 meter short course season. It was a small meet by Tatsumi standards with 554 swimmers from 112 clubs competing. Strict qualify-ing times were required to enter with the ‘cuts’ nearly as stringent as the Age Group National qualifying times.

Preliminaries and finals were held for each event and competitors placing well could advance to either A, B, or C finals. University and pro athletes were prohibited from swimming in the B or C finals. Spots in the A finals for the men’s events were almost exclusively taken by university and elite swimmers.  

Junior Cameron Fenwick made it into the “B” final of both the 50 & 100 meter Freestyle. Fenwick sliced .27 of his AM prelim swim to move up to place 3rd in the 50 Free with a 24.28 effort in the afternoon final. In swimming’s marquee event, the 100 Freestyle, Cameron placed 5th in the “B” final with a swift 53.11 to show an improvement of .07 seconds off his prelim performance.

Sophomore Junichiro Asano narrowly missed the “B” finals of the 100 Freestyle with a swift 54.28 prelim swim; Asano bettered his morning swim by .15 seconds with a stellar 54.13 to take third place in the “C” final. Junichiro also finished 3rd in the 200 meter Freestyle “C” finals employing a different strategy from his AM effort to go a 1:58.46.

Seisen 7th grader Natsuki Uchino took 7th place in the Elementary Girls division of the 50 meter Freestyle with a 29.37 just off her prelim 29.29 performance. Natsuki just missed out on a second swim in the 100 Free (1:04.43) by .10 seconds to be the first alternate for finals covering the distance in 1:04.13.

The Bucs are looking forward to another opportunity to compete in the long course format at Yokosuka’s Natatorium on December 2nd. 

2018 Taipei American School Tigershark Invitational @ Taipei, Taiwan 

Once again the St. Mary's Buccaneers swim team had an impressive outing in Taiwan. The Taipei American School played host to 11 teams for the 2018 Tigershark Invitational. Teams from China, Singapore, Japan, Taiwan, and Hong Kong competed in the annual classic.

The Buccaneers took 1st place in overall Boys scoring with 1,876 points; ahead of the Shanghai American School Eagles with 1,800 points. Taipei American School followed with a tally of 1,248.5 points.

Junior Cameron Fenwick established 2 new individual Tigershark meet records. Cameron eclipsed  Kazuki Martin’s meet record from 2016 in the 15-18 Boys 100 Freestyle, going nearly a full second faster with a splendid 51.32 swim. Fenwick also scorched the 50 meter Freestyle, setting a new standard with a 23.70 effort. Both of Cameron’s swims were US Swimming AAAA times.

High Point trophies were awarded to the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place finishers in each age group based on four individual events over 2 days. The Buccaneers took 1-2 in the 15-18 Boys age group with Cameron Fenwick scoring a perfect 80 points capturing the 1st High Point. Junichiro Asano took 2nd high point honors. Seisen 8th grader Ariana Hill garnered the 1st High Point award in the 13-14 Girls age group. Nathaniel Twohig finished just one point out of the 3rd spot in the boys 11-12 bracket with 70 points. Other Buccaneer swimmers   scoring more  than 50 points were; Naoki Martin (61), James Hill (59), Alex Hotta (58), Kaiya Croy (52), Karl Bodenheimer (61), Ryota Misaki (68), Max Wahba (64), Houei Shimoyachi (60), Rentaro Nishioka (56), Cheney Sun (55), Pipi Hill (50), Nicolas Radzimski (61), Zen Twohig (58), and Kenjiro Koya (57).

Junichiro Asano and Nathaniel Twohig both posted US Swimming AAA times - all four of Jun’s swims were AAA and Nathaniel’s two Butterfly races were 3 A “cuts”. Buccaneer swimmers turning in AA times were; Naoki Martin, James Hill, Ariana Hill, Max Wahba, Rentaro Nishioka, and Cheney Sun. Bucs bettering A time standards were Skyler Pang, Alex Hotta, Kei Takahashi, Kaiya Croy, Ryota Misaki, Kazumi Hayashi, Houei Shimoyachi, and Kenjiro Koya.

Relays are always fun and are real crowd pleasers - and with double points scoring on the line it’s easy for the swimmers to get psyched ! Relays are a real measure of total team prowess. The Bucs scored a whopping 328 points in the 10 relays contested. SMST’s 15-18 Boys 200 meter freestyle relay quartet of Cameron Fenwick (23.70), Junichiro Asano (24.82), Naoki Martin (24.39), and James Hill (25.16) combined to dominate the race from start to finish and narrowly miss the Bucs meet record from 2016.

SMST’s younger swimmers performed well with the 8 + Under Boys (Nicolas Radzimski, Zen Twohig, Kenjiro Koya, and Wataro Miyamoto) taking 2nd places to Shanghai American School teams in both the 100 Freestyle and Medley Relays.

October 2018 

Buccaneer Invitational Swim Meet @ St. Mary's

The swim team has been churning out numerous laps in the pool since the first day of the school year. After nearly 50 practice this season, the St. Mary’s swim team hosted their annual Buccaneer Invitational on October 13th & 14th. The meet was already the Buc’s third meet of the season but was the first real competitive meet to date. The Buccaneer Invitational has a long tradition and in recent years it has enjoyed more of an international flavor. Seven teams from China and one each from the Philippines and Taiwan made the trip to attend this years’ meet.

Buccaneer swimmers felt strong and confident aggregately producing 318 best times; the coaches were ebullient with more than 60 % of the team’s races resulting in personal bests. Swimmers reeling off six best  times out of six individual events contested were; Nathaniel Twohig, Karl Bodenheimer, Lyon Schaefer,          Ryan Furudera, Rentaro Nishioka, Cheney Sun, Ryunosuke Azumi, Keito Fujita, Nicolas Radzimski, Tyler Furudera, Wataro Miyamoto, and Kaya Kitaji. Bucs posting five personal bests were; Alex Hotta, Bastien Bagui, Raku Kadoi, Aoi Sonoda, Shin Kawachi, Ellen Ka, Jun Kasai, Rin Ishikawa, Ryoga Shiozaki, John Kim, Thomas Bowers, and Dylan Clark.

The Buccaneers amassed 1,068 points, good enough for 1st place however, the Bucs, as the host team, do not count themselves in the team trophy race for their Invitational. The Philippine Swim League, an all star team made up of swimmers from various clubs took first place in the overall team trophy competition with 904.5 points; Shanghai International Swim Club captured second with a total of 460 points. LJ Swimming Club (Beijing) garnered the 3rd place overall team trophy with a total of 388.5 points tallied. In boys scoring, it was the Buccaneers in first with 813 points followed by Shanghai International (381 points), and the Philippine Swim League (362.5 points).

Seisen 7th grader, Natsuki Uchino set two records over the weekend; Natsuki’s shattered the AREA standard in the 11-12 girls 100 Individual Medley with a stellar 1:11.60. Uchino bettered her own team mark in the 50 meter Backstroke with a 32.28 dorsal effort.

The coaches were inspired to see folks digging deep and “emptying the tank” on their last event of the competition. Contesting the Individual Medley as the last event is a great way to close out a meet - strength  in all four disciplines really shows in the high point race. High Point trophies are awarded to the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place finishers in each age group based on six events over 2 days. Buccaneer swimmers garnering trophies for their respective age groups were;

15 & 18 Boys

Junichiro Asano - High Point Champion, Cameron Fenwick (2nd High Point) and Ian Takahara (3rd High Point) 

15 & 18 Girls

Nana Richter (3rd High Point) 

13 - 14 Boys

James Hill (3rd High Point)

13 - 14 Girls

Ariana Hill (2nd High Point)

11 - 12 Girls

Natsuki Uchino (2nd High Point) 

Buc swimmers coming close in the High Point trophy race were; Joshua Harper, Ian Takahara, Naoki  Martin, Nathaiel Twohig, Bien Bagui, Lyon Schaefer, Karl Bodenheimer, Rentaro Nishioka, Cheney Sun, Ellen Ka, Nicolas Radzimski, and Kenjiro Koya.

Cameron Fenwick, Junichiro Asano, James Hill, Natsuki Uchino, and Nathaniel Twohig all posted US Swimming AAA times. Buccaneer swimmers turning in AA times were; Yu Kunita, Ian Takahara, Joshua Harper, Naoki Martin, Ariana Hill, Max Wahba, and Rentaro Nishioka.

Swimmers bettering A time standards were Alex Hotta, Ryo Ariyoshi, Ryan Shimizu, Skyler Pang, Kaiya Croy, Ryo Ariyoshi, Riku Fujishima, Alex Hotta, Bien Bagui, Keigo Hayashi, Ryota Misaki, Cheney Sun, and Houei Shimoyachi, Ellen Ka, and Nicolas Radzimski.

Once again the Buccaneer parents put in a tremendous effort running a swift meet with 2,075 individual  entries along with 118 relays despite experiencing more than a few difficulties with the timing system. The coaches would like to thank all the volunteers who helped make the weekend a success.

The Bucs will be at the International Swimming Complex in Tatsumi for the Tokyo Fall Kirokukai Meet October 20th & 21st. 

2017 - 2018 SEASON

March 2018

2018 March Age Group Swimming Champs @ St. Mary’s      

The Bucs played host to 26 teams at the March Age Group Championships on Saturday and Sunday. Championship meets are always a great way to cap off the season - it was quite a meet with 562 athletes attending the annual competition. Overseas teams attending the meet came from China, California, Philippines, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. The coaches would like to thank all the volunteers that helped make the weekend a success - your hard work is greatly appreciated ! The Bucs parents were incredible running a meet with 2,541 individual entries as well as 187 relays. Special  thanks to both Kenny Furudera and Ichiro Asano for manning the computer table and keeping the meet running swiftly. An awards ceremony was held  in the gymnasium following the last event on Sunday afternoon. Kudos to Doug Sirkka for providing the live streaming service - plenty of favorable comments came from folks mentioning that some were watching the meet live from locations from California to Shanghai !

St. Mary’s took the overall team trophy with 4,533 points. The Philippine Swim League amassed 2,437 points for 2nd place. The Okinawa Dolphins Swim Team (1,339.5) outpaced the Nittai Ebara (1,237) to capture the 3rd spot.

High Point trophies are awarded to the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place finishers in each age group based on six events over 2 days. Buc swimmers took a total of ten high point honors. Swimmers capturing high point trophies were Yutaro Sahara (15-18) 2nd; Nana Richter (15-18) 1st; Akiko Bareng (15-18) 3rd; Ryan Fenwick (13-14)  1st; James Hill (13+14) 2nd; Go Nagaoka (11+12) 1st; Jo Sendai (9+10) 3rd; Sho Sendai (8 + Under) 2nd; Derek Furudera (8 + Under) 3rd; and Ellen Ka (8 + Under) 2nd.

Other swimmers finishing in the top 8 in overall points for their age groups were Takashi Kanazawa, Naoki Nomura, Junichiro Asano, Cameron Fenwick, Aisa Takahara, Caitlin Bridges, Kaiya Croy, Paige Bridges, Nathaniel Twohig, Max Wahba, Karl Bodenheimer, Natsuki Uchino, Yotaro Koya, Olivia Opitz, Nicolas Radzimski, Kenjiro Koya, Kaisei Tomimatsu, and Neal Yoshida.

The Crescendo relays are always a crowd favorite as swimmers from each age group are featured.  The Buccaneers took both the 200 meter Crescendo relay and the 400 meter Crescendo Freestyle relay.

St. Mary’s Buccaneers “A” teams took the win in both the Boys 200 meter Crescendo relay and 400 meter Crescendo Freestyle relay. James Hill (13 + 14), Go Nagaoka (11 + 12), Yutaro Sahara (15 - 18) and Yotaro Koya (9 + 10) combined in the 200 Medley relay finishing .87 seconds off the OPEN + AREA record. The Bucs girls team of Paige Bridges (13 + 14), Nana Richter (15 - 18), Natsuki Uchino (11 + 12), and Olivia Opitz (10 + Under) also took 1st place in 2:19.71.

The Bucs easily won the 400 meter Crescendo relay - the Freestyle crescendo features 5 swimmers from each  age group. Derek Furudera (8 + Under - 50m), Jo Sendai (9 + 10 - 50m), Go Nagaoka (11/12 – 100m), Ryan Fenwick (13/14 – 100m), and Takashi Kanazawa (15/18 – 100m) broke the 4 minute barrier posting an impressive in 3:59.13 just .03 off the OPEN + AREA record. SMST’s girls team set a new AREA record in 4:29.37; the team of Ellen Ka (8 + Under ), Olivia Opitz (9 + 10), Natsuki Uchino (11 + 12), Paige Bridges (13 + 14), and Akiko Bareng (15 - 18) fired on all cylinders to finish more than 15 seconds ahead of the nearest competition.

US Swimming AAAA standards were turned in by Yutaro Sahara and Go Nagaoka. AAA times came from Takashi Kanazawa, Eugene Decosse, Cameron Fenwick, Junichiro Asano, Ryan Fenwick, and Natsuki  Uchino. AA swims were produced by Naoki Nomura, Akiko Bareng, Yu Kunita, Caitlin Bridges, Joshua Harper, Naoki Martin, Ian Takahara, Nana Richter, Aisa Takahara, James Hill, Nathaniel Twohig, and Jo Sendai.

As always, the team had a “record / best time" challenge two days after the meet; the favored did not  disappoint – Takashi, Ryan, Go, Jo, and Derek shattered the 400 Crescendo Free relay record after missing the mark at the meet. The 5 swimmers combined to go 3:57.36. Go Nagaoka also broke Naoki Nomura’s 11-12 Boys AREA 50 meter Breaststroke standard with a 33.65 effort. The post meet time trial had plenty of best times and gave the swimmers a chance to contest events they seldom swim.

Senior Yutaro Sahara and Seisen 6th grader Natsuki Uchino will represent SMST at Japan’s Age Group Nationals at the International Swimming Complex in Tatsumi from March 27 - 30.

February 2018

2018 J.O. Yosen Swim Meet @ Tatsumi 2/24 & 2/25

The J.O. Yosen is always the "last chance" meet to qualify for Japan’s Age Group National Championships. 39 team members from the SMST Buccaneers competed along with 3,412 swimmers from 165 clubs throughout Tokyo at the two day competition held at the International Swimming Complex at Tatsumi. The Yosen meet is arguably the “toughest meet” of the year with rigid time standards just to enter the competition.           

The end of the season is always exciting - much of the season is spent doing long aerobic sets mixed with bouts of lactate accumulation sets, specific skill drills, kicking pulling, underwater stuff, and a variety of work in all 4 strokes. The end of the season brings the “Taper period” when the everyone starts swimming faster. During the “Taper” more speed work and rest enables the body to catch up and it becomes time to “Free the Magician”. The coaches were ecstatic with over 80 percent of swims contested bringing personal best times!

Along with the 6 AAAA standards put in by Buccaneer swimmers, the Bucs had 21 AAA swims, 26 AA and 25 A standards. US Swimming AAA times or better were turned in by Yutaro Sahara, Takashi Kanazawa, Naoki Nomura, Eugene Decosse, Akiko Bareng, Cameron Fenwick, Nana Richter, Junichiro Asano, Ryan Fenwick, Go Nagaoka, and Natsuki Uchino. AA times came from Yu Kunita, Joshua Harper, Ian Takahara, Naoki Martin, Kaiya Croy, James Hill, Aisa Takahara and Yotaro Koya.

SMST is looking forward to hosting the March Age Group Championships at St. Mary’s (March 10 & 11). Good competition with plenty of challenges will be in the mix with nearly 25 teams competing.

Tokyo-To Kirokukai Swim Meet @  Tatsumi

2,278 swimmers from 154 clubs packed into the International Swimming Complex at Tatsumi for two full days of swimming. The meet featured university swimmers and elite pro athletes as well as top junior competitors. The Tokyo-To winter swim meet is always an exciting one and a huge one as well - the end of the season is near and folks are ready to swim FAST. The two day meet was run in a trials and finals format - swimmers attempt to qualify for a spot in the afternoon top eight finals. Some races were set as timed finals.

SMST swimmers advancing to finals were; Junichiro Asano, Cameron Fenwick, Nana Richter, James Hill, Go Nagaoka, and Natsuki Uchino. Senior Yutaro Sahara posted a US Swimming AAAA standard in the 100 meter Butterfly blazing a 54.78 just .38 off the JOC Cup national qualifying standard. There were plenty of personal bests; Others producing US swimming AA time standards or better were; Takashi Kanazawa, Eugene Decosse, Naoki Nomura, Yu Kunita, Cameron Fenwick, Naoki Martin, Joshua Harper, Ian Takahara, Junichiro Asano, Ryan Fenwick, James Hill, Go Nagaoka, and Natsuki Uchino. Kaiya Croy, Karl Bodenheimer, and Sho Sendai all achieved A time standards.

Seisen 6th grader Natsuki Uchino set a new AREA record for 11-12 girls in the 200 meter Freestyle bettering Alexis McCoy’s 2003 mark to 2:17.06. Natsuki has already qualified for the end of March Age Group National Championships in both the 50 & 100 meter Freestyle events. SMST’s 4 x 100 Freestyle Relay came within 1.02 seconds of qualifying for the Nationals with a 3:28.33, good enough for 2nd place just behind Renaissance Kameido. Cameron Fenwick led off with a 52.82 split; others splits were - Yutaro Sahara (51.22), Takashi Kanazawa (51.55), and Freshman Junichiro Asano  (52.74). The boys are well positioned to make the national “cuts” in two weeks time at the all Tokyo J.O. Yosen meet.

Seisen Freshman Nana Richter set two new records and qualified for two afternoon finals. Nana posted a new AREA record for the Girls 15-18 200 meter Individual Medley breaking Elliko Heimbach's 200 standard with a 2:25.00 effort while placing 7th in the preliminaries. In the finals, Nana made her newly established mark quicker placing 6th overall and throwing down a 2:24.69 swim. Nana placed 8th in the final of the 50 meter Breaststroke with a 34.77 effort. Her prelim swim (34.39) broke the OPEN and AREA mark. 

Buc Swimmers anxiously await the February 24th and 25th J.O. Yosen meet at Tatsumi . The Yosen is always an exciting one as it provides the last opportunity to achieve national qualifying times. Swim On.

Winter Kanto Plains Swimming Championships @ St. Mary’s

The St. Mary’s Buccaneers Swim Team brought home their 45th consecutive Winter Kanto Plains Championship title. The team amassed a total of 1,381 points for first place. The Tokyo American Club tallied 470.5 points to take 2nd place followed by Jumonji Jr. High & High School Swim Team with 420 points. The meet was not without challenges as many teams had a number of swimmers stricken with the recent flu bug. Others competing were just getting back to training after a lay off and less than 100 percent. Nevertheless, there were plenty of close races with events mixed with both boys and girls competing together regardless of age. Events were finally scored by gender and age as swimmers vied for high point trophies. The coaches would like to thank all volunteers for making the meet with 14 teams and 334 student/athletes (1,104 individual entries and 86 relays) happen ! 

High Point trophies were awarded to the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place finishers in each age group based on four individual events. Buccaneer swimmers captured 19 out of a possible 30 high point trophies with many veteran swimmers garnering trophies as well as a new crop snaring awards.

                                                         SMST  Trophy  Winners

Yutaro Sahara              15 - 18 Boys      High Point Winner - 36 points

Cameron Fenwick       15 - 18 Boys        2nd High Point - 34 points

Takashi Kanazawa       15 - 18 Boys        3rd High Point - 32 points

Nana Richter                15 - 18 Girls         High Point Winner - 34 points (tied)

Akiko Bareng               15 - 18 Girls        2nd High Point - 33 points

Ryan Fenwick               13 + 14 Boys        High Point Winner - 34 points

James Hill                      13 + 14 Boys       2nd High Point - 31 points

Bien Bagui                      13 + 14 Boys       3rd High Point - 30 points

AisaTakahara                 13 + 14 Girls     High Point Winner - 36 points

Paige Bridges                    13 + 14 Girls      2nd High Point - 30 points

Max Wahba                        11 + 12 Boys     2nd High Point - 29points

Karl Bodenheimer             11 + 12 Boys      3rd High Point - 28 points (tied)

Ryota Misaki                       11 + 12 Boys     3rd High Point - 28 points (tied)

Natsuki Uchino                   11 + 12 Girls     High Point Winner - 36 points

William Igwe                        9 + 10 Boys       3rd High Point - 28 points

Olivia Opitz                          9 + 10 Girls       3rd High Point - 24 points

Sho Sendai                          8 + Under Boys     High Point Winner - 36 points

Derek Furudera                  8 + Under Boys    2nd High Point - 30 points

Ellen Ka                               8 + Under Girls    High Point Winner - 36 points

The Kanto Plains Champs challenges swimmers with a full day of racing. Swimmers competed in four individual events as well as two relays in the one day meet. The coaches were pleased with strong performances being turned in with often little time for recovery between a grueling event schedule. Swimmers producing US Swimming AAA times or better were; Yutaro Sahara, Takashi Kanazawa, Cameron Fenwick, and Natsuki Uchino.

Other swimmers bettering US Swimming AA times were; Eugene Decosse, Naoki Nomura, Jun Asano, Yu Kunita, Joshua Harper, Naoki Martin, Nana Richter, Akiko Bareng, Ryan Fenwick, Aisa Takahara, Nathaniel Twohig, and William Igwe. A times were posted by Ryan Shimizu, Ian Takahara, Skyler Pang, Caitlin Bridges, Paige Bridges, James Hill, Kaiya Croy, Karl Bodenheimer, Max Wahba, Ryota Misaki, Yotaro Koya, Rentaro Nishioka, and Sho Sendai.

Senior Yutaro Sahara was unquestionably the stand out swimmer of the meet popping 3 AAAA performances. Yutaro’s most impressive races came in the Boys 100 and 200 meter Butterfly races. He blazed a 55.36 in the  100 Fly during the morning session and dug deep to post an equally impressive 2:02.53 swim in the 200 on his 5th race of the day in the late afternoon. 

SMST will take a select group of swimmers to the All Tokyo-To Winter Swim Meet at Tatsumi on February 10th + 11th.

January 2018

Yutaro Sahara, Takashi Kanazawa, Cameron Fenwick, Junichiro Asano, Go Nagaoka, and Natsuki Uchino qualified to represent SMST at the Kitajima Cup - Tokyo Senshuken meet on January 27th and 28th. The meet featured many elite swimmers and plenty of National team members. The meet provided an opportunity to race in the long course 50 meter format during the 25 meter short course season. It was a small meet by Tatsumi standards (718 swimmers from 136 clubs) as strict qualifying times were required to enter. 

Preliminaries and finals were held for each event and competitors placing well could advance to either A, B, or C finals. University and pro athletes were prohibited from swimming in the B or C finals. Spots in the A finals for the men’s events were almost exclusively taken by university and elite swimmers.  

Seniors Yutaro Sahara and Takashi Kanazawa both made it into the “B” final. Yutaro qualified for the “B” final in the 100 meter Butterfly. Yutaro placed 4th in the afternoon “B” final with an excellent 55.97. Kanazawa took 10th place in the “B” final of the 100 meter Freestyle with 53.90 swim.

Kanazawa and Cameron Fenwick also made it into “C” Finals. Takashi showed a lot of panache just sneaking into the final after a disappointing prelim swim in the 50 meter Freestyle. He didn’t squander his opportunity -  winning the afternoon final as a dark horse from the outside lane in 24.52.  Cameron finished in 6th place with an identical time to his prelim swim going 24.98.  Seisen 6th grader Natsuki Uchino took 8th place in the Elementary Girls division of the 50 meter Freestyle with a 29.49 effort  improving on her prelim performance.

Faster times come with more rest and taper time for championship swim meets is quickly approaching. It is always good to see strong performances turned in during the training period. The Bucs are looking forward to hosting the Winter Kanto Plains Championships at St. Mary’s on February 3rd.

Kitajima Cup (Tokyo-To Senshuken) @ Tatsumi     

Annual Swim-a-thon @ St. Mary’s

The SMST Buccaneers held their annual Swim-A-Thon on January 20th. The annual event is a great way to build team spirit, enhance the aerobic base, hone your technique, and set up for upcoming championship meets. Buc swimmers have churned out numerous laps in workouts since the beginning of the school year. It’s hard to think of an exercise that demands simultaneous full and constant use of the arms, legs and core muscle groups … and to do it for 1 hour non-stop!

Senior Yutaro Sahara placed 4th all time (15-18 Boys) swimming 203 lengths for 5,075 meters in one hour, averaging 1:11’s per 100 meters non-stop. Freshman Junichiro Asano employed a slick stroke and a smooth kick to slice through the water for 199 lengths (4,975 meters); Eugene Decosse rounded out the top 3 performers for 15-18 boys with 188 lengths and 4,700 meters.

8th grader Ryan Fenwick was impressive and topped the 13-14 age bracket with 183 lengths (4,575 meters) just off the all time list. 7th grader Go Nagaoka maintained a very even paced 176 length swim (4,400 meters) to tie for 6th place all-time in the 11-12 Boys age group. Jo Sendai and Houei Shimoyachi both completed 144 lengths (3,600 meters) to tie for the 9-10 Boys division. 3rd grader Derek Furudera captured the 8 & Under Boys crown with an even 3,000 meters, 120 lengths, in the 1 hour challenge.

Seisen sophomore Nana Richter took the 3rd spot all time with 177 lengths (4,425 meters) for Girls 15-18 yrs. Freshman Aisa Takahara swam 171 lengths (4,275 meters) for the all time 6th spot for the Girls 13-14 age group. Natsuki Uchino was 4th all time for Girls 11-12 finishing with 163 lengths for 4,075 meters. It’s always inspiring to watch swimmers give it their all. Scores of team members showed substantial improvement over last year’s results.                 

                               see attached PDF for Top finishers by age group 

December 2017

Tokyo South Club Championship Meet @ Tatsumi

Buccaneer swimmers made a big splash at the Tokyo South vs. Tokyo North Club Championships. 1,175 swimmers from 34 swim clubs competed at the event. Swimmers finishing in the top 8 in the preliminary heats advanced to the afternoon finals. 

                                 Natsuki makes Nationals in 2 events !

Seisen 6th grader, Natsuki Uchino, qualified for the Nationals in two events taking both 1st and 2nd place in the finals. After narrowly missing the “cut” in the morning prelims, Natsuki went 28.43 in the afternoon 50 meter Free bettering the 28.57 standard for 11 year-olds. Natsuki took 1st place later in the afternoon in the 11-12 girls 100 meter Free. Her time of 1:02.23 matched the exact qualifying standard for the March classic.

5th grader Nathaniel Twohig made the podium with a 2nd place finish while setting a new AREA mark in the 9-10 boys 50 meter Butterfly. Nathaniel’s time of 32.22 was just .04 off the Age Group National qualifying time. Twohig also placed 4th in the 50 meter Free; both swim were good enough for US Swimming AAAA standards. The Bucs other AAAA swims were turned in by Yutaro Sahara, Cameron Fenwick and Go Nagaoka. Yutaro missed the 17-18 boys 100 meter Butterfly national cut by .05 seconds on his way capturing fourth place. Cameron Fenwick blazed a 51.75 in the BUCS 4 x 100 Freestyle relay – his official lead of spilt was a mere .15 off the national standard. Go Nagaoka won the 11-12 Boys 100 meter Free inching closer to Nationals just .69 seconds away. Nagaoka took 4th overall in the 200 Individual Medley.

SMST swimmers bettering US Swimming AAA standard times were; Takashi Kanazawa, Junichiro Asano, Akiko Bareng, Nana Richter and Natsuki Uchino. AA swims were produced by Naoki Nomura, Eugene Decosse, Yu Kunita, Ryan Shimizu, Ian Takahara, Naoki Martin, Joshua Harper, Aisa and William Igwe. US A times came from Tyson Wang, Kota Uchino, Skyler Pang, Caitlin Bridges, Kaiya Croy, Paige Bridges, Karl Bodenheimer, Ryota, Misaki, Max Wahba, Yotaro Koya, and Sho Sendai. 

Swimmers moving on to the finals were; Yutaro Sahara (15 + Over) 200 meter IM (2:07.17) - 8th place + 100 Butterfly (54.45) - 4th; Cameron Fenwick (15 - 18) 100 Free (52.15) - 8th; Nana Richter (15 + Over) 100 meter Breaststroke (1:14.58) - 6th, Aisa Takahara (13 - 14) 100 meter Free (1:03.70) - 8th place;  Go Nagaoka (11 - 12)  100 Free (58.44) – 1st + 200 meter IM (2:24.22) - 4th;  Natsuki Uchino (11 - 12) 100 Free (1:02.23) - 1st + 50 Free (28.43) - 2nd; Nathaniel Twohig (9 - 10) 50 meter Butterfly (32.22) - 2nd + 50 Free (30.28) – 4th, and Sho Sendai  (8 & Under) 50 meter Breaststroke (47.64) - 4th.

It was great to see the BUCS performing well on relays. It is also easy to “get up” for relays and working as a TEAM provides plenty of excitement. SMST’s Boys 13 & Over relay took 3rd place overall and was easily the fastest out of the high school teams more than 3 seconds ahead of the nearest competition, Nittai Ebara. Cameron Fenwick (51.75) teamed up with Yutaro Sahara (52.03), Takashi Kanazawa  (51.62), and Junichiro Asano (53.31). The boys came within 1.4 seconds of the Age Group National “cut”. The Bucs 11 + 12 Boys relay (Go Nagoka, Karl Bodenheimer, Max Wahba, and Ryota Misaki) took 5th place in the 200 meter Free Relay (2:01.52) and 7th in the 200 meter medley relay (2:16.75). SMST’s 10 & Under relay (Nathaniel Twohig, William Igwe, Jo Sendai, and Yotaro Koya finished in 6th place in the 200 meter Free Relay (2:11.94) and 8th in the 200 meter medley relay (2:29.12).

SMST swimmers bettering US Swimming AAA standard times were; Yutaro Sahara, Takashi Kanazawa, Go Nagaoka, and Natsuki Uchino. AA swims were produced by Junichiro Asano, Yu Kunita, Naoki Martin, Nana Richter, Ryan Fenwick, Aisa Takahara, and William Igwe.

The Bucs have their annual Christmas party today at the pool on December 10th.  

November 2017

ASIJ Fall Classic Swim Meet

The SMST Buccaneers competed in the ASIJ Fall Classic on November 18th. The Buccaneers took the overall  team scoring title with 14 teams in attendance. The SMST finished with 3,123 points with the Tokyo American Club Mudsharks in 2nd (1,532) followed by the British School (1,257) in the 3rd spot. The final point tally in Boys only scoring was the BUCS (2,311), TAC (857), and the ASIJ Orcas (492).             

High point trophies were awarded to the top swimmer in each age group. A maximum of four individual events could be contested. The meet featured swimmers in four age divisions with the 8 & Under age bracket uncontested. SMST swimmers took 7 out of 8 high point trophies. High point winners were;

Yutaro Sahara (15 - 18 Boys)        

Nana Richter (15 - 18 Girls)                                                                                                                                                   

Ryan Fenwick (13 + 14 Boys)                                                                                                                                                                

Aisa Takahara (13 + 14 Girls)                                                                                                                                                                

Go Nagaoka (11 + 12 Boys)                                                                                                                                                  

Natsuki Uchino (11 + 12 Girls)                                                                                                                                                   

Nathaniel Twohig (9 + 10 Boys) 

Yutaro Sahara, Ryan Fenwick, Go Nagaoka, Nathaniel Twohig, Nana Richter, Aisa Takahara, and Natsuki Uchino each won the maximum four individual events. Senior Takashi Kanazawa had 3 individual wins and came close to a 4th in a very exciting race with Yutaro Sahara in the final individual event contested. The two went head to head in the final 50 meters of the 200 meter Freestyle after Kanazawa’s strong 3rd 50 leg. When the dust settled it was Sahara (1:54.64) to Kanazawa’s (1:55.03). Junichiro Asano, Ian Takahara, Kota Uchino, Ryosei Sato, Paige Bridges, Ryota Misaki, Ryan Chon, Rentaro Nishioka, and Houei Shimoyachi each won one event.

5th grader Nathaniel Twohig had the only AAAA swim of the meet blazing a 33.46 in the Boys 9-10 50 meter Butterfly finishing nearly 9 seconds ahead of the field. Natsuki Uchino set a new AREA mark in the 11-12 girls 50 meter Butterfly with a stellar 31.30 effort. SMST swimmers bettering US Swimming AAA standard times were; Yutaro Sahara, Takashi Kanazawa, Go Nagaoka, and Natsuki Uchino. AA swims were produced by Junichiro Asano, Yu Kunita, Naoki Martin, Nana Richter, Ryan Fenwick, Aisa Takahara, and William Igwe.

The schedule challenged swimmers with many competing in 4 individual events and 2 relays. The Buccaneers took 27 first place finishes out of 37 boys events contested. It’s easy to “get psyched” for relays. The Bucs boys were a perfect 8 out of 8 winning the 9-10; 11-12; 13-14; and 15-18 Medley and Freestyle relays. The 15  18 Boys in a show of strength, swept both the Medley and Freestyle Relays going 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. 

Buccaneer swimmers look forward to the Tokyo South Championships on December 3rd at the International Swimming Complex in Tatsumi.

Tokyo-To Kirokukai Swim Meet 

58 Buccaneer swimmers competed in the Nov. 4th & 5th all Tokyo Fall Kirokukai Swim Meet at the International Swimming Complex at Tatsumi. 3,616 swimmers from 146 teams filed into a packed facility to participate in the annual event

               Go N. sets AREA mark in the 100 IM ! 

It’s still early in the season and the BUCS have already begun to compile new records; 7th Grader Go Nagaoka set a new AREA record in the Boys 11-12 100 meter Individual Medley blazing a 1:05.50 to take 1st place overall. Go also inched closer to the Age Group National qualifying standard in the 100 meter Freestyle covering the distance in 58.54  seconds, a US Swimming AAAA time. Seisen 5th grader, Natsuki Uchino blazed a 28.58 in the 11-12 Girls 50 meter Freestyle. Natsuki’s time was just .01 seconds off the Age Group National “cut”.  

Other standout performances came from Freshman Junichiro Asano, competing in his last meet in the 13-14 age bracket before aging up; 50 Butterfly (1st place - 26.67), 100 Butterfly (2nd place - 57.79), 100 Individual Medley (2nd place - 1:00.64), and 50 Freestyle (7th place - 25.10). Asano’s 100 Butterfly was under the Age Group National.  

Relays always add a lot of excitement to a meet and the Bucs relays did not disappoint. Relays give a good indication of overall team prowess. SMST’s 15-18 Boys “A” relay took 6th place overall out of 69 teams and were just 2 seconds off the national mark going 3:30.59 in the 4 x 100 Free Relay; Cameron Fenwick  (52.59), Yutaro Sahara  (52.62), Takashi Kanazawa  (52.21), and Junichiro Asano  (53.17) are well positioned for stronger performances at upcoming meets. Yu Kunita, Eugene Decosse, Naoki Martin, and Joshua Harper combined to go 3:43.10 and finish in 13th overall. The Bucs “C” relay quartet of Ryan Fenwick, Naoki Nomura, Ian Takahara, and Kota Uchino placed 22nd overall in 3:49.75.  

Swimmers finishing in the top 20 were;

Go Nagaoka - 100 Individual Medley - 1st place / 100 Breast - 6th place / 100 Free - 8th place

Junichiro Asano - 50 Butterfly – 1st place / 100 Individual Medley - 2nd place / 100 Butterfly - 2nd place / 50 Free - 7th  place

Yutaro Sahara - 100 Individual Medley - 5th place / 50 Freestyle - 16th place / 100 Butterfly - 17th place

Takashi Kanazawa - 100 Individual Medley – 13th place / 50 Free - 14th place / 100 Free - 20th place

Natsuki Uchino - 50 Freestyle - 12th place / 100 Individual Medley - 13th place

Nana Richter - 100 Individual Medley - 8th place / 50 Breaststroke - 9th place  

Cameron Fenwick - 50 Freestyle - 10th place

Naoki Nomura - 100 Individual Medley - 20th  place                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

Ryan Fenwick - 100 Individual Medley - 17th place / 50 meter Back - 19th place                                                                                                                                                                 

Nathaniel Twohig - 100 Individual Medley - 11th place / 50 Butterfly - 10th place                                                                                                                                                                         

Max Wahba - 100 Individual Medley - 16th place 

The training is paying off as Bucs continue to produce US Swimming allstar time standards. AAAA times were put in by Yutaro Sahara, Junichiro Asano, Go Nagaoka, Natsuki Uchino, and Nathaniel Twohig.  Triple A times came from  Takashi Kanazawa, Cameron Fenwick, Eugene Decosse, and Ryan Fenwick. AA times were turned by Naoki Nomura, Yu Kunita, Naoki Martin, Joshua Harper, Ian Takahara, Akiko Bareng, Nana Richter, and Aisa Takahara.

The swim team will be off to ASIJ on November 18th for the Mustang’s Fall Classic.

October 2017

Buccaner Invitational Swim Meet

St. Mary’s Swim Team played host to 20 teams for the annual Buccaneer Invitational Swim Meet. This year’s meet was certainly the most international event the Bucs have held to date. Shanghai American School, International School Beijing, Philippine Swim League, Brent International School (Manila), Firepower Swim Club (Beijing), LJ Swimming Club (Beijing), Sailfish Swimming Club (Beijing), and the Beijing Montesorri School Aquabees were the 8 teams to attend the meet from afar. The weekend was not without its share of challenges including inclement weather resulting in a number of flight cancellations for the overseas teams.  

Once again, a tremendous effort was put in by the Buccaneer Parents running a meet with 2,691 individual entries along with 126 relays. Again special thanks goes to Kenny and Randy Furudera, Ichiro Asano, Keith Martin, Christine and Bedi Bagui, Karl and Kaori Twohig, Yoshinao Hayashi, David Schaefer, Leigh Harper, and Kei Aota. Special kudos to Troy Kraatz and Dan Antal for the awesome task of helping to keep 578 athletes on track. Once again the coaches would like to thank all the volunteers who helped make the weekend a success.  

The Buccaneers amassed 979.5 points, good enough for 1st place and just 20 points ahead of the nearest competition. The SMST Bucs, as the host team, do not count themselves in the team trophy race for the Buccaneer Invitational. The Shanghai American School Eagles, made up of swimmers from both the Puxi and Pudong campuses, finished in 1st place in the overall team trophy competition with 959.5 points; the Philippine Swim League took second with a total of 842.5 points. Amazingly after 132 events contested, LJ Swimming Club edged out the International School of Beijing Dragons by a mere half point to garner the 3rd place overall team trophy with a total of 358.5 points tallied.

In boys scoring, it was the Buccaneers in first with 754.5 points then the Shanghai American School Eagles (526 points), and the Philippine Swim League (413 points). Junichiro Asano, Go Nagaoka, and Yutaro Sahara all posted US Swimming AAAA times. Asano had a splendid race in the Boys 13-14 400 meter Individual Medley (4:42.75) missing Raunak Khosla's 2015 AREA mark by just .03 seconds. Buccaneer swimmers turning in AAA times were; Takashi Kanazawa, Cameron Fenwick, Natsuki Uchino, and Nathaniel Twohig. Eugene Decosse, Naoki Nomura, Yu Kunita, Ian Takahara, Joshua Harper, Naoki Martin, Akiko Bareng, Caitlin Bridges, Ryan Fenwick, and Aisa Takahara bettered AA standards. US A time standards were produced by Kota Uchino, Ryan Shimizu, Max Printz, Keigo Hayashi, Paige Bridges, Max Wahba, Ryan Chon, Jo Sendai, Yotaro Koya, and Sho Sendai.

The coaches were inspired to see folks digging deep and “emptying the tank” on their last event of the competition. Contesting the Individual Medley as the last event is a great way to close out a meet - strength in all four disciplines really shows in the high point race. High Point trophies are awarded to the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place finishers in each age group based on six events over 2 days. Buccaneer swimmers garnering trophies for their respective age groups were;

15 & 18 Boys

Takashi Kanazawa - High Point Champion, Eugene Decosse (2nd High Point) & Naoki Nomura (3rd High Point) 

15 & 18 Girls

Caitlin Bridges - High Point Champion &Akiko Bareng (2nd High Point) 

13 - 14 Boys

Junichiro Asano - High Point Champion &  Ryan Fenwick (3rd High Point)

11 - 12 Boys

Go Nagaoka - High Point Champion

11 - 12 Girls

Natsuki Uchino (3nd High Point) 

The Bucs will be at the International Swimming Complex in Tatsumi for the Tokyo Fall Kirokukai Meet on November 4th & 5th.

Keep up to date with the latest news and results by visiting the Buccaneers website: https://sites.google.com/a/smistitans.org/buccaneers

Fall Swim Meet @ St. Mary’s

The Buccaneers Swim Team played host to 11 teams at the annual October swim meet on Sunday. Nearly 1,100 individual entries and 47 relays were contested.

SMST swimmers compiled 63 US Swimming times A standards or better at their 1st home meet of the season. Takashi Kanazawa, Jun Asano, Go Nagaoka, and Aisa Takahara all posted a maximum 4 individual wins. Natsuki Uchino won 3 events and Naoki Nomura, Akiko Bareng, Max Wahba, Nathaniel Twohig, and Ellen Ka each took 2 individual titles. Other Bucs with individual wins were; Cameron Fenwick, Keigo Hayashi, Jo Sendai, Olivia Opitz, and Ryan Murase.

The finale to the meet provided plenty of excitement. The Bucs split their top 2 relays evenly in the spirit of   competition. The rarely contested 200 meter Freestyle Relay showed early season speed - Takashi Kanaazawa led off with a 24.93 to Cameron Fenwicks’s 25.19. It was close all the way with Eugene Decosse coming from behind to out touch Kota Uchino by a mere .35 seconds on the final leg. The coaches were please to see both teams posting solid swims on the 5th swim of the meet. 

US Swimming AAA standards were turned in by Takashi Kanazawa, Cameron Fenwick, Junichiro Asano, Go Nagaoka, and Nathaniel Twohig. AA swims were produced by Naoki Nomura, Eugene Decosse, Yu Kunita, Joshua Harper, Akiko Bareng, Aisa Takahara, and Natsuki Uchino. A times came from Ian Takahara, Skyler Pang, Max Printz, Caitlin Bridges, Keigo Hayashi, Won Bin Jin, Ryosei Sato, and Jo Sendai.

Once again the team enjoyed excellent support from Buc parents volunteering for officiating and timing duties ensuring that the meet ran smoothly. Buccaneer swimmers anticipate strong performances at the October 15th Tokyo  South vs. Tokyo West meet at the International Swimming Complex.

August 2017

Japan's Summer Age Group National Swimming Championships (50m) @ Tatsumi 

The SMST Buccaneers kicked off the school year with two qualifying for the Age Group Nationals. 3,912 swimmers representing 812 swim clubs from all 47 prefectures competed at the 40th annual All Japan event. The J.O.C. Cup meet is contested twice a year - the summer version is always held in the Olympic 50 meter long course format. Qualifying times are fast ! Buccaneer swimmers Yutaro Sahara and Junichiro Asano qualified earlier in the summer to earn the right to participate in the meet.

Senior Yutaro Sahara competed in the 100 meter Butterfly. Yutaro's 56.05 effort placed 26th overall in the championship division for 17 – 18 year old boys.

Freshman Junichiro Asano, competing in his first Nationals in the Boys 13-14 age group, swam two events. Junichiro finished 27th overall out of 67 competitors in the 100 meter Freestyle with a swift 55.30. Asano also competed in the 100 meter Butterfly placing 26th overall from a field of 55 competitors with a time of 59.02. The SMST Buccaneers will have their first swim meet of the season at home on September 16th. 

Keep up to date with the latest news and results by visiting the Buccaneers website: https://sites.google.com/a/smistitans.org/buccaneers

2016 - 2017 SEASON

May 2017

Jolly Roger Invitational Swim Meet @ St. Mary’s

The Buccaneers held their final home meet of the year on Saturday. The meet featured 311 swimmers from thirteen teams. Once again the Bucs parent group were amazing running a meet with 1,127 individual entries and 54 relay to cap off a great day of swimming. The Bucs finished the day with the team title amassing 1,333 points. The TAC Mudsharks took 2nd place with 429 points followed by the British School’s 339 points.

SMST Swimmers took 7 out of the 10 High Point trophies awarded, winners were;

Takashi Kanazawa (15-18), Nana Richter (15-18), Junichiro Asano (13-14), Go Nagaoka (11-12),  Nathaniel Twohig (9-10), Natsuki Uchino (9-10), and Houei Shimoyachi (8 & Under).  

Natsuki Uchino continued her assault on the record books setting a new 9 - 10 AREA record in the 100 meter Butterfly (1:16.60).

Junichiro Asano, Nana Richter, Go Nagaoka, Nathaniel Twohig, Natsuki Uchino, and Houei Shimoyachi each won the maximum four individual events. Triple event wins went to Takashi Kanazawa and Yutaro Sahara. Akiko Bareng won two events while Stefano A’De Lima, Skyler Pang, Kaitlin Rossman, Caitlin Bridges, Lyon Schaefer, Cheney Sun, Matthew Kim, and Ren Kadoi each took one win.

The Medley Relays were the finale to the meet and the last race of the day provided plenty of excitement. SMST’s High School Juniors went up against the High School seniors in a head to head competition – the seniors (Stefano A’De Lima, Thomas Richter, Alex Repeta, + Kazuki Martin) beat the juniors (Naoki Nomura, Takashi Kanazawa, Yutaro Sahara, and Eugene Decosse) by a mere .20 seconds going 1:51.20 coming from behind with Kazuki blazing a 23.16 Freestyle leg.

The Swim Team annual awards were presented following the completion of the meet. SMST’s annual awards went to the following team members;

Rookie of the Year  -  Olivia Opitz

Perseverance Award - Nathaniel Twohig

Girls Elementary School  MVP - Natsuki Uchino

Elementary School  Most Improved - Ryota Misaki

Elementary School  MVP - Max Wahba

Middle School Coaches’ Award - Keigo Hayashi

Girls Middle School Most Improved - Paige Bridges

Middle School Most Improved - Kei Takahashi

Girls Middle School  MVP - Aisa Takahara

Middle School Outstanding Swimmer - Junichiro Asano

Middle School  MVP - Go Nagaoka

Girls High School Most Improved - Caitlin Bridges

Girls High School  MVP – Akiko Bareng

Coaches’ Awards - Eugene Decosse, Naoki Nomura & Yu Kunita

High School  Most Improved - Cameron Fenwick

High School  Outstanding Swimmer - Takashi Kanazawa

Senior Awards - Stefano A’De Lima,  Joshua Brown, Kazuki Martin, Alex Repeta, Thomas Richter,  Kaitlin Rossman, and Yudai Fujishima

High School MVP  -  Kazuki Martin

Female Swimmer of the Year  -  Nana Richter

St. Mary’s Swimmer of the Year  -  Yutaro Sahara

The Bucs will mpete at the long course Summer Kanto Plains Championships at Yokosuka on June 4th.

April 2017

Tokyo South Block Swim Meet @ Tatsumi

The Swim Team had strong performances at Sunday's Tokyo South meet at International Swimming Complex in Tatsumi. It was a relatively small meet by Japan Amateur Swimming Federation standards with just 1,687 swimmers from 49 clubs. The Bucs had 75 swimmers at the meet and with the new season beginning it provided team members the chance to check their progress and see how their training is paying off. Veteran swimmers took the opportunity to compete in events that they rarely contest.

Junior Yutaro Sahara was “on fire” blazing two Age Group National qualifying times in the 15-18 Boys 50 and 100 meter Butterfly events. Yutaro’s 24.60 in the “splash and dash” 50 Fly bettered Miguel Ortiz’s OPEN and AREA record from 2009. Sahara also set a new OPEN and AREA standard in the 100 Fly going a 54.18. 6th grader, Go Nagaoka also bettered the National “cuts” for 11 year olds in both the 50 Free (27.45)  and 200 Free (2:09.36). Natsuki Uchino also posted a national cut in the 50 Free with a 30.17 swim.     

Seisen swimmers,  Nana Richter and Natsuki Uchino set new records. Nana broke her own 15 - 18 AREA marks swimming a 2:23.14 in the 200 meter Individual Medley and 1:14.68 in the 100 meter Breaststroke. Natsuki posted new 9 - 10 AREA marks in the 50 meter Butterfly (32.78) and the 50 meter Backstroke (35.41). 

Swimmers turning in US swimming AAAA times were; Yutaro Sahara, Kazuki Martin, Joshua Brown,  Takashi Kanazawa, Junichiro Asano, Go Nagaoka, and Natsuki Uchino. Swimmers popping AAA times were Cameron Fenwick, Eugene Decosse, Nana Richter, Akiko Bareng, Ryan Fenwick, and Nathaniel Twohig.

Naoki Nomura, Thomas Richter, Yu Kunita, Skyler Pang, Naoki Martin, Joshua Hocking, Kei Takahashi, Aisa Takahara and Kei Takahashi all bettered US AA time standards while A times were turned by the following swimmers; Ian Takahara, Kota Uchino, Ryosei Sato, Freiderike Steck, Karl Bodenheimer, Lyon Schaefer, Max Wahba, Jo Sendai, Houei Shimoyachi, Jung Bin Jin, Yu Aota, and Olivia Opitz.  

The Swim Team looks forward to hosting their final home meet of the school year, the Jolly Roger Invitational, on May 20th.    

March 2017

Japan's 39th Annual Age Group National Championships - J.O.C. Cup

Japan's Age Group National Swimming Championships were held over the Spring Break (March 27-30) at the Tatsumi International Swimming Complex. The 39th annual classic featured 4,912 swimmers from 877 swimming clubs throughout 47 prefectures. St. Mary's had six swimmers qualified for the annual classic. 12 & Under events were contested on day one and two of the competition with 13 & Over events swum on the last two days of the meet.

The National Champs is a cool way to close out the season; the greater adventure lies ahead - teammates can be proud of what they accomplished together, not to mention all the good times along the way. There is the key "tapering off" period for athletes at the end of the season. Faster times come with more rest at taper time - the taper is where the details are honed; refining stroke technique, race simulation and visualization, sharpening starts and turns while reducing the work load. Rest is a key component prior to championship meets. As always, the key to the taper phase is to trust what you accomplished in training during the season knowing that all the skills worked on will merge successfully and ultimately pay off. 

SMST RESULTS 

Day one - 6th grader Go Nagaoka, competing in his first nationals, swam both the 200 meter Freestyle going a personal best 2:10.24 and followed up with another PB in the 100 meter Breaststroke with a 1:14.41. Qualifying times for the meet are different for 11 yr. olds and 12 yr. olds to compete however the top 8 finals is swum as 11-12. Nagaoka placed 47th overall in the 200 meter Free and tied for 51st in the 100 meter Breast. Go finished 12th among 11 yr. olds (小5) swimmers in both the 200 Free & 100 Breast.

Seisen's Natsuki Uchino placed 32nd out of 71 competitors in the girls 10 & Under 50 meter Freestyle with a sub 30 second. Natsuki's 29.98 swim was a personal best and broke her own OPEN & AREA record.

Day two - Go Nagaoka took to the blocks for his third event of the competition, the maximum allowed, the Boys 11-12 50 meter Breaststroke. Go swam a 34.85 just off his best time to finish 62nd overall.

Day three - Seniors Joshua Brown and Kazuki Martin started the Bucs off on day three in the 17-18 yr. olds 50 meter Freestyle. Joshua placed 32nd with a 23.49 and Kazuki was 33rd with a 23.56. Junior Yutaro Sahara went a personal best 24.74 for 27th place out of 68 swimmers in the 50 meter Butterfly. Joshua B. threw down a 28.73 for 33rd place out of 60 swimmers in the 50 meter Breaststroke. 

The last event on day three was the 400 Freestyle Relay. Joshua Brown swam the 1st leg on SMST's relay going 51.25. Kazuki Martin had a swift 2nd leg with a best of 49.99. Yutaro Sahara followed up with his 2nd best time of the day going 51.32. Takashi swam the anchor leg going 51.74. It was great to see the guys propel themselves through the water faster than they have ever been before only to come so close to making the afternoon top 8 final. When the dust had settled the Bucs finished in 9th place just .06 seconds from the top eight moving on to the finals. 

15 - 18 Boys   4 x 100 meter Freestyle Relay Results

1st      Itoman (Osaka)                                             3:22.51

2nd    Chukyo High School (Aichi)                        3:22.57             

3rd     Saginuma SC (Kanagawa)                           3:22.79            

4th     NEC Green Mizonokuchi (Kanagawa)       3:22.81

5th     Dash Nittsu (Niigata)                                     3:22.96

6th     Toyokawa High School (Aichi)                   3:24.00

7th     Owase High School (Mie)                           3:24.09

8th     Yellow Wave (Kanagawa)                           3:24.24

9th  St. Mary’s (Tokyo)                                          3:24.30 

Day four - Both Kazuki and Joshua competed in the 100 meter Freestyle on day four of the meet. Kazuki finished in 22nd place with a personal best 50.47 splitting 24.12 on his 1st 50 meters. Kazu was just .51 seconds off the top 8 final. Joshua went 51.16 (50 split - 24.15) for 35th overall. 

The Bucs will be in action again at Tatsumi for the Tokyo South Block Swim Meet on April 16th.

March Age Group Swimming Champs @ St. Mary’s

The Bucs played host to 23 teams at the March Age Group Championships on Saturday and Sunday. Championship meets always adds a lot of “sizzle” and it’s a great way to finish the season. It was quite a meet! 525 athletes attended the annual competition with 2,609 individual entries and a whopping 216 relay entries. There was plenty of FAST swimming and personal best times galore !

The coaches would once again like to thank all the volunteers that helped make the weekend a success - your hard work is truly appreciated ! An awards ceremony was held in the gymnasium following the last event on Sunday afternoon. Kudos to Doug Sirkka for providing the live streaming ! The folks from abroad were really pleased as family members could follow the meet from afar.

St. Mary’s took the overall team trophy with 4,054.5 points. The British School amassed 2,338.5 points for 2nd place. Shanghai International Swim Club (2,223 points) outpaced the Okinawa Dolphins (1,714.5 points) to capture the 3rd spot.  

High Point trophies are awarded to the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place finishers in each age group based on six individual events over 2 days. Buc swimmers took a total of eleven high point honors. SMST dominated the 15-18 age group sweeping both 1st through 3rd in the boys and girls divisions; Yutaro Sahara won the (15-18) Boys High Point honors with Joshua Brown taking 2nd and Kazuki Martin finishing 3rd. Nana Richter was the top girl followed by Akiko Bareng and Caitlin Bridges. Other SMST swimmers garnering High Point trophies were; Junichiro Asano (13-14) 1st; Ryan Fenwick (11-12) 1st; Go Nagaoka (11-12) 2nd; Rentaro Nishioka (8 + Under) 2nd and Olivia Opitz (8 + Under) 2nd.  

Other swimmers finishing in the top 8 in overall points for their age groups were Takashi Kanazawa, Stefano A’De Lima, Naoki Nomura, Kaitlin Rossman, Kei Takahashi, Keigo Hayashi, Won Bin Jin, Nathaniel Twohig, Natsuki Uchino, Houei Shimoyachi, Cheney Sun, and Ellen Ka.    

The Crescendo relays are always a crowd favorite as swimmers from each age group are featured. The Buccaneer Boys took both the 200 meter Crescendo relay and the 400 meter Crescendo Freestyle relay. The Bucs “A” team set a new OPEN and AREA record to win the Boys 200 meter Crescendo relay in 2:00.91; Ryan Fenwick (11-12), Joshua Brown (15-18), Junichiro Asano (13-14) and Nathaniel Twohig (9-10) bettered  the  Bucs old mark of 2:01.11 from 2008.

The Bucs easily won the 400 meter Crescendo relay - the Freestyle Crescendo features 5 swimmers from each age group. Houei Shimoyachi (8 + Under - 50m), Nathaniel Twohig (9 + 10 - 50m), Ryan Fenwick Junichiro Asano (11/12 – 100m), Junichiro Asano (13/14 – 100m), and Joshua Brown (15/18 – 100m) posted an impressive in 3:59.48 just .38 seconds off the OPEN + AREA records from SMST’s 2010 team.

Natsuki Uchino set 3 new records AREA records in the girls 9-10 division. Natsuki’s 2:47.57 in the 200 meter Individual Medley erased her own standard. Uchino’s other new marks came in the 100 meter Freestyle (1:06.86) and the 100 meter Individual Medley (1:16.80). SMST’s Nana Richter, Kaitlin Rossman, Akiko Bareng, and Caitlin Bridges combined to lower AREA standard with a 2:09.24 in the Girls 15-18 200 meter Medley Relay.

US Swimming AAAA standards were turned in by Yutaro Sahara, Joshua Brown, Kazuki Martin, Go Nagaoka, and Natsuki Uchino. AAA times came from Takashi Kanazawa,   Stefano A’De Lima, Naoki Nomura, Cameron Fenwick, Junichiro Asano, Nana Richter, and Ryan Fenwick. AA swims were produced by Eugene Decosse, Kaitlin Rossman, Akiko Bareng, Caitlin Bridges, Yu Kunita, Joshua Harper, and Nathaniel Twohig. A times came from Thomas Richter, Alex Repeta, Max Printz, Ryan Shimizu, Ian Takahara, Naoki Martin,  Skyler Pang, Keigo Hayashi, Kei Takahashi, Ryosei Sato, Paige Bridges, Max Wahba, Karl Bodenheimer, Rentaro Nishioka, and Houei Shimoyachi.

The Bucs will send 6 swimmers (Joshua Brown, Kazuki Martin, Yutaro Sahara, Takashi Kanazawa, Go Nagaoka, and Natsuki Uchino) to compete at Japan’s Age Group Nationals at the International Swimming Complex in Tatsumi from March 27 - 30.

February 2017

J. O. Yosen Swim Meet 2/25 + 2/26 @ Tatsumi

Everything went swimmingly for the Buccaneers at the February 25th & 26th J. O. Yosen Swim Meet. The Yosen is always the "last chance" meet to qualify for Japan’s Age Group National Championships. The SMST Bucs sent a contingent of forty-five to compete at the International Swimming Complex in Tatsumi. The All Tokyo event is always huge and this year was no exception with 3,292 swimmers from 161 clubs participating in the two day competition.

                           Kazuki, Go, and Natsuki pull the trigger !

Swimmers close to the national JOC Cup qualifying times were eligible to compete in the "challenge races" at the end of the regular session of events. Natsuki Uchino got the ball rolling for the Bucs in the 10 year old Girls 50 Free. Natsuki went 30.65 in the morning allowing her to compete in the last chance  "challenge" race in the afternoon. Uchino left the OPEN & AREA records in her wake on route to qualifying for Nationals in a swift 30.11 in the pressure packed challenge. Natsuki also broke the girls 9 - 10 200 Individual Medley with a new AREA mark of 2:49.25. 

Senior Kazuki Martin touched the wall just .18 seconds shy of the National 'cut' in the Boys 17-18 50 meter Free earning him the right to swim the evening challenge. The favored did not disappoint - Kazuki had a tremendous challenge race going 23.38 to match the National standard. Just minutes before in the last race of Saturday's session, Kazu qualified for nationals leading off SMST's 4 x 100 Freestyle Relay. The lead-off swimmers time is official and Kazuki managed his race very well blazing a 50.71 in swimming’s marquee event: the 100 meter freestyle. Joshua Brown followed Kazu's lead-off leg with a strong 50.67. Yutaro Sahara (51.84) and Takashi Kanazawa (52.05) swam the next two legs providing the Bucs with a victory in the event with an aggregate time of 3:25.29 well below the National qualifying time. The boys look poised to build on their consistency in the event throughout the season. The trick will be to stay in a state of "sustained ignition" over the next month to be able to fire on all cylinders when nationals rolls around.

Junior Yutaro Sahara came ever so close in the Bucs fourth challenge race going 54.75 in the 100 meter Butterfly missing the National 'cut' by .24 seconds. Yutaro has already qualified for Nationals in the 50 Fly and with the BUCS 4 x 100 Free Relay.

The Buccaneers produced 5 national qualifying times over the weekend and now have six swimmers in for the March 27 – 30 J.O.C. Cup. Age Group National qualifying times produced by Buccaneer swimmers at the J. O. Yosen meet were;

Kazuki Martin 17 - 18 yrs. 100 meter Freestyle                 50.71        (lead-off relay leg)

Kazuki Martin 17 - 18 yrs.   50 meter Freestyle                 23.38        (challenge race)

Go Nagaoka       11 yrs.      200 meter Freestyle                2:12.10

Go Nagaoka       11 yrs.      50 meter Freestyle                  34.56        (challenge race)

Natsuki Uchino      10 yrs.   50 meter Freestyle                 30.11         (challenge race)

SMST swimmers also produced 5 new records. New OPEN & AREA records set by SMST swimmers;

Natsuki Uchino      10 yrs.   50 meter Freestyle                 30.11         

New AREA records were set by the following;

Nana Richter      15 - 18 yrs. 100 meter Breaststroke                                1:15.19

Nana Richter      15 - 18 yrs. 200 meter Breaststroke                                2:40.77

Nana Richter      15 - 18 yrs. 400 meter Individual Medley                       5:06.27

Natsuki Uchino   9 - 10 yrs.  200 meter Individual Medley                        2:49.25

Akiko Bareng, Nana Richter, Caitlin Bridges, Kaitlin Rossman 

15 - 18 yrs. 400 meter Freestyle Relay (record tied)                                  4:10.22

Meets like these is what makes coaching a team an exhilarating experience. The rest of the Bucs proved to be a scrappy bunch with plenty of "hot times" turned in. 

Along with the 12 AAAA standards put in by Buc swimmers the Bucs had another 20 AAA swims. US Swimming AAA times or better were turned in by Joshua Brown, Kazuki Martin, Yutaro Sahara, Takashi Kanazawa, Cameron Fenwick, Junichiro Asano, Nana Richter, Stefano A’De Lima, Naoki Nomura, Eugene Decosse, Go Nagaoka, Natsuki Uchino, and Nathaniel Twohig.

SMST is looking forward to hosting the March Age Group Championships at St. Mary’s (March 11 & 12). Good competition with plenty of talent will be in the mix with nearly 25 teams competing.

Tokyo-To Winter Swim Meet 2/11 + 2/12 @ Tatsumi

“The body achieves what the mind believes !”

2,138 swimmers from 146 clubs packed into the International Swimming Complex at Tatsumi for two full days of swimming. The meet featured elite athletes as well as top junior competitors.  

                                     Yutaro and Go make Nationals

Junior Yutaro Sahara punched his ticket for the Age Group National Championships to be held at Tatsumi in late March. Yutaro has competed at the JOC Cup before but, his breakout swim in the 50 meter Butterfly (24.79) marked his first individual "cut" for Nats. Yutaro came within .14 seconds of Miguel Ortiz's 15-18 Boys OPEN + AREA record. 6th grader Go Nagaoka continues to impress all, dropping chunks of time off his best in the 100 meter Breaststroke to qualify for nationals by over a second with a blazing 1:14.41 swim. 

Senior Kazuki Martin inched closer to the National qualifying time in the 100 meter Freestyle event. Kazuki led off the Bucs 4 x 100 Free Relay with the 5th fastest lead off split going a 51.33 - the Bucs relay placed 6th overall with others splitting; Joshua Brown (51.35), Yutaro Sahara (52.94), and Cameron Fenwick (52.97).       

Seisen Freshman Nana Richter set two new records and qualified for two afternoon finals. Nana posted a new AREA record for the Girls 15-18 200 meter Individual Medley breaking Elliko Heimbach's 200 standard with a 2:25.00 effort while placing 7th in the preliminaries. In the finals, Nana made her newly established mark quicker placing 6th overall and throwing down a 2:24.69 swim. Nana placed 8th in the final of the 50 meter Breaststroke with a 34.77 effort. Her prelim swim (34.39) broke the OPEN and AREA mark. 

Seisen 5th grader Natsuki Uchino set a new AREA record of 33.33 for 9-10 girls in the 50 meter Butterfly. Natsuki also narrowly missed the National cut for the 50 meter Free stroking a 30.50 just .33 off the required standard. National qualifying standards must be met at sanctioned Japan Amateur Swimming Federation competitions so times produced at league events do not count. The end of February J.O. Yosen meet provides the last chance to achieve national standards - the end of the season is when all are ready to swim FAST and it really adds a lot of excitement and panache to meets.

The qualifying standards for the winter meet are tough and the Bucs had 28 swimmers in minus a few out with the flu. US Swimming Allstar standards were turned in by many Bucs swimmers for a total of 6 - AAAA times (Kazuki Martin, Yutaro Sahara, Junichiro Asano, Go Nagaoka, and Natsuki Uchino) 19 - AAA times (Joshua Brown, Eugene Decosse, Cameron Fenwick, and Nana Richter; 16- AA (Stefano A De' Lima, Naoki Nomura, Yu Kunita, Joshua Harper, Naoki Martin, and Akiko Bareng). 

The Bucs are itching to race again at Tatsumi when the J.O. Yosen meet is contested on February 25th + 26th. Swim On.

2017 Winter Kanto Plains Swimming Championships @ St. Mary’s

The St. Mary’s Buccaneers Swim Team brought home their 44th consecutive Winter Kanto Plains Championship title. The team amassed a total of 1,598 points for first place. The British School tallied 811 points to take 2nd place followed by the Yokosuka Seahawks with 420 points. There were plenty of close races with heats as mixed events  with both boys and girls competing together regardless of age. Events were finally  scored by gender and age as swimmers vied for high point trophies. The coaches would like to thank all volunteers for keeping a meet with 13 teams and 298 student/athletes running smoothly - 1,091 individual entries and 91 relays ! 

High Point trophies were awarded to the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place finishers in each age group based on four individual events. Buccaneer swimmers captured 17 out of a possible 30 high point trophies with many veteran swimmers garnering trophies as well as a new crop snaring awards.

                                                                  SMST  Trophy  Winners

The energy in the natatorium was ramped up on the final race of the meet; the Boys 15 - 18 Boys Free Relay. In the spirit of competition, the Bucs split their roster to make it a close race between the “A” and “B” relays. The “B” relay got the better of the “A” with Kazuki Martin (52.68), Takashi Kanazawa (52.49), Cameron Fenwick (53.60), and Yu Kunita (55.58) finishing just .22 seconds ahead of Joshua Brown (51.55), Yutaro Sahara (52.81), Stefano A’De Lima (53.64), and Eugene Decosse (56.57).

In what was arguably the most exhilarating race of the day, the 15 - 18 Boys 200 meter Butterfly the lead seesawed  back and forth between Yutaro Sahara and Joshua Brown. At the finish it was Yutaro taking the win with a stellar 2:05.84 to Josh’s equally impressive 2:05.93 effort.

Natsuki Uchino bettered her own AREA record for girls 9 - 10 the 100 meter freestyle. Natsuki blazed a 1:07.81 swim over the four length sprint.

The Kanto Plains Champs challenges swimmers with a full day of racing. Swimmers competed in four individual events as well as two relays in the one day meet.The coaches were pleased with strong performances being turned in with often little time for recovery between a grueling event schedule. Swimmers producing US Swimming AAA times or better were; Kazuki Martin, Joshua Brown, Yutaro Sahara, Takashi Kanazawa, Junichiro Asano, Ryan Fenwick, Go Nagaoka, and Natsuki Uchino.

Other swimmers bettering US Swimming AA times or better were; Stefano A’ De Lima, Thomas Richter, Eugene Decosse, Naoki Nomura, Cameron Fenwick, Yu Kunita, AkikoBareng, Caitlin Bridges, and Nathaniel Twohig.

No doubt the impressive swims at the Kanto Plains meet will bode well for the Buccaneers at the competitive Tokyo-To Winter Swim Meet at Tatsumi on February 11th + 12th.

January 2017

Annual Swim-a-thon

The SMST Buccaneers held their annual Swim-A-Thon on January 21st. The event helps kick off the New Year for the Bucs and ensures the entire team set ups well for the upcoming championship meet season. The road to success is always under construction and SMST swimmers have churned out numerous laps in workouts since the beginning of the school year. The “How far can you swim in 1 hour” challenge is always a cool “TEAM” event that gives all an idea how their training is going. Swimming non-stop and pushing yourself  for one hour is no easy task and certainly provides for a full body workout that demands simultaneous full and constant use of the arms, legs and core muscle groups. The aerobic base undoubtedly is enhanced; just crunch the #’s - 1,320 breaths  are taken when you swim 5,000 meters and take 6 breaths per lap. Endurance .… the Athlete’s Edge !

Junior  Yutaro Sahara tied for the 3rd place all time (15-18 Boys) swimming 204 lengths and covering a distance of 5,100 meters in one hour, averaging 1:10 + per 100 meters non-stop. 8th grader Junichiro Asano sliced his way smoothly through the water to the tune of 194 lengths (4,850 meters) - good enough to tie for 3rd place all-time (13-14 Boys). 

Seisen Freshman Nana Richter took the 3rd spot all time with 176 lengths (4,400 meters) for Girls 15-18 yrs. Not far behind was Caitlin Bridges posting an all time 5th place mark with 174 lengths (4,350 meters). Middle Schooler, Aisa Takahara, swam 171 lengths (4,275 meters) for the all time 6th spot for the Girls 13-14 age group. Natsuki Uchino set a new all time record for the Girls 10 + Under division. Natsuki completed 150 lengths or 3,750 meters in the hour swim. It’s always inspiring to watch swimmers give their all in the event. The entire team from 1st graders to seniors put in a great effort  with many showing remarkable improvements from a year earlier.              

                                               Top finishers for the 2017

                          “How far can you swim in 1 hour ?”challenge were:

                 15 – 18 Boys                

                                                            13 - 14 Girls

                                                              9 + 10 Boys      

                                                              8 + Under Boys   

                                                    8 + Under Girls   

December  2016

Tokyo South Club Championship Meet @ Tatsumi

Buccaneer swimmers made a big splash at the Tokyo South vs. Tokyo North Club Championships. 1,238 swimmers from 35 swim clubs competed at the annual event. The meet was held in a prelims / finals format; swimmers compete in the prelims vying for a spot in the top 8 afternoon finals.   

The Bucs started out fast and furious in the first event contested; the Individual Medley. The IM is always a crowd pleaser as it combines the four competitive strokes - Butterfly, Backstroke, Breaststroke, and Freestyle – into one race. Most swimmers have a stroke that that they are weak so the lead often seesaws back and forth continuing through to the final push in Freestyle. Junichiro Asano, Ryan Fenwick, and Go Nagaoka showed their prowess in all 4 disciplines advancing to the finals. Junichiro took 4th overall in the Boys 13-14 200 IM going 2:13.98. Both Ryan Fenwick and Go Nagaoka were eager to show the team their best and they didn’t disappoint. Ryan finished in 2nd place (2:25.18) and Go in 5th  (2:30.77) overall in the 11-12 Boys age group both taking chunks of time off their previous personal bests.

Senior Joshua Brown set a new OPEN + AREA record in the 15 + Over Boys 100 meter Breaststroke with a splendid 1:01.90 for a 4th place finish. Josh’s time was also good enough to qualify for Japan’s Age Group Nationals. University and older swimmers were allowed to compete at this meet so the 15 and Over division was extremely competitive. Natsuki Uchino broke two AREA records and is inching ever so closer to the National “cuts” for the 9-10 age group. Natsuki took 2nd overall in the 50 meter Freestyle blazing a 30.48 just .30 seconds off the JOC Cup standard. Natsuki also had a stellar 33.78 in the 50 meter Butterfly for a 4th place finish. Junior Yutaro Sahara had a great 100 meter Butterfly going 55.56 for 6th place and drawing nearer to the “Nats” standard.

It was great to see the 15-18 girls (Akiko Bareng, Nana Richter, Caitlin Bridges, and Kaitlin Rossman) combine to set two new AREA marks in both the 400 Freestyle Relay (4:10.22) and the 400 Medley Relay (4:42.19). Both girls relays finished in 7th place overall. Not to be outdone SMST’s Boys relays shined; already qualified for the Age Group nationals the guys went a 3:26.75 under the “cut” again in the 400 meter Freestyle relay to finish in the 2nd spot. The quartet of  Kazuki Martin, Joshua Brown, Yutaro Sahara, and Takashi Kanazawa teamed up again to take 6th overall in the 400 Medley Relay in 3:35.35.

The Bucs younger relays ramped up the energy in finals with the 11-12 Boys; Ryan Fenwick, Go Nagaoka, Bien Bagui, and Max Wahba taking 4th in the 200 Freestyle Relay (1:58.54) and 7th in the 200 Medley Relay (2:14.50). The 9-10 Boys (Ryota Misaki, Kenji Nomura, Bastien Bagui, and Jo Sendai) came in 11th place in both relays contested.

Other final swims were; Joshua Brown (15 - 18) 50 Free (23.37 - “Nats”) - 5th; Kazuki Martin (15 + Over) 100 Free (51.61) – 6th; Akiko Bareng (15 - 18) 50 Free (27.89) - 7th Nana Richter (15 - 18) 100 Breaststroke (1:15.32) – 6th; Junichiro Asano (13 - 14) 100 Free (55.33) – 2nd; Naoki Martin Khosla (13 – 14) 50 Free (26.02) - 8th; Ian Takahara (13 – 14) 100 Back (1:05.38) – 4th; Ryan Fenwick (11-12) 50 Back (32.30) - 6th; Go Nagaoka (11-12) 50 Breast (35.50) - 7th; Ryota Misaki (9-10) 50 Free (31.82) – 6th + 50 Back (37.60) – 5th; Houei Shimoyachi (8 + U) 50 Free (38.10) - 5th; Olivia Opitz (8 + U) 50 Back (48.94) – 7th.

SMST is itching to race when the new year comes but first it’s back to a training regime that will ensure success at the end of the season.

Happy Holidays and Swim On!

November 2016

Taipei American School Tigershark Invitational Swim Meet @ Taiwan

Once again the St. Mary's Buccaneers swim team had an impressive outing in Taiwan. The Taipei American School played host to 12 teams for the 2016 Tigershark Invitational. Teams from China, Singapore, Japan, Taiwan, and the Philippines competed in the annual classic.

The Buccaneers took the 1st place trophy in the small teams category (under 40 competitors) ahead of the Shanghai International Swim Club. In overall scoring, the Bucs finished 3rd with 2,596 points. Shanghai American School topped all with 4,053.5 points with the host Taipei American School following with a tally of 3,448.  SMST was easily the class of the competition in the older age groups. All were ecstatic to see that the team score so well against very large contingents with just 36 swimmers from the Bucs entered. The Taipei American School fielded a team of 112 swimmers and Shanghai American School had 60 + students combined from two schools at Pudong and Puxi.  

SMST swimmers established 5 new individual meet records over the three day invitational. Bucs establishing new individual records were Kazuki Martin, Nana Richter, Junichiro Asano, and Max Wahba. Kazuki lowered the meet record in the 15-18 Boys 100 Freestyle going 52.13; he also bettered his own mark in the 50 Free with a 24.03 effort. Nana Richter threw down a 2:26.51 in the 13-14 girls 200 Individual Medley. Junichiro Asano shattered Raunak Khosla’s 2014 standard in the 13-14 boys 200 Individual Medley with a swift 2:14.94 swim. Max Wahba bettered the 9-10 Boys 50 Breast record going 39.28 with a US Swimming AAAA time. Junior Yutaro Sahara beat the existing record in the 100 Butterfly with a 2nd place swim (57.03) but, Nicolas Tong (Morrison Academy) blazed a 55.86 to go down in the record book.

High Point trophies are awarded to the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place finishers in each age group based on five individual over 2 days. The Buccaneers swept the 15-18 Boys age group with Yutaro Sahara capturing the 1st High Point. Kazuki Martin took 2nd and Takashi Kanazawa garnered the 3rd high point. Caitlin Bridges finished 2 points ahead of Akiko Bareng for the 3rd high point in the 15-18 Girls age group. Both Junichiro Asano and Nana Richter both took five individual wins for a perfect score (100 points) in the boys and girls  13-14 age group, respectively. Max Wahba finished 3rd overall for the Boys 9-10.

Relays are always fun and real crowd pleasers – and with double points scored and working as a group it’s easy for the swimmers to get pumped ! The Bucs 15-18 quartet of Kazuki Martin, Yutaro Sahara, Takashi Kanazawa, and Cameron Fenwick combined to shatter the previous 200 meter Freestyle relay mark by over a full second with a splendid 1:36.78 to dominate the race from start to finish. In the finale to the meet, Martin, Tyson Wang, Sahara, and Kanazawa teamed up to take the 200 medley relay win with a 1:50.75. The Bucs “B” of Alex Repeta, Yudai Fujishima, Eugene Decosse and Cameron Fenwick finished with a 1:55.70 for a 1-2 Bucs sweep.

SMST’s Girls 15-18 200 Medley Relay (Nana Richter, Caitlin Bridges, Akiko Bareng, and Amelie Steck) took 1st place in perhaps the most exciting relay race with Amelie touching out TAS in the last couple of meters for the win. The girls also took 1st place in the 200 Free Relay with a 1:55.33. Both of the Bucs 13-14 relays (Junichiro Asano, Naoki Martin, Ian Takahara, and Keigo Hayashi) captured 2nd place finishes behind the host Taipei American school’s team.

SMST’s younger swimmers were outdone with the 8 + Under Boys (Houei Shimoyachi, Rentaro Nishioka, Sosuke Bowers, and Alex Verbeke) relays taking 2nd places to Shanghai American School teams in the 100 Free and Medley Relays. Max Wahba, Ryota Misaki, Philipp Steck, and Masanori Adachi combined for 3rd place finishes in the 9-10 relays.

The trip allowed the team to really come together, make plenty of new friends and gain valuable experiences. Once again all would like to thank Julin Takenaka for arranging the team dinner at Fang's restaurant with great Taiwanese cuisine after a long day at the pool on Saturday.

Tokyo-To Kirokukai Swim Meet

60 Buccaneer swimmers competed in the October 29th + 30th Tokyo Fall Kirokukai Swim Meet at Tatsumi. 3,733 swimmers from 145 teams participated in the annual event. The meet had almost 500 swimmers more than last year's competition.

          The times they are a changin' !

Approaching mid-season the times are getting swifter. BUC swimmers have already begun to compile new records; Senior Joshua Brown was on fire setting a new OPEN + AREA record in the Boys 15 - 18 50 meter Breaststroke with a spectacular 28.32 effort. Josh’s time was well under the Age Group National qualifying time and was good enough to take 1st place overall. Joshua also popped a nationals “cut” in the 50 meter Freestyle dipping under the 23 second mark for the 1st time going 22.96. Yutaro Sahara went 25.18 in the 50 meter Butterfly just .24 seconds over the national standard. Seisen Freshman Nana Richter established a new AREA mark in the 13 + 14 Girls 50 meter Butterfly throwing down a 30.11 swim. 5th grader Natsuki Uchino continues on a tear breaking AREA records in the 9 + 10 100 Individual Medley (1:18.61). She also broke her own AREA record in the 50 Butterfly going 34.88.

                   SMST relay on Fire !

A “pumped up” relay squad posted a season best in the 400 meter Freestyle Relay well under the national qualifying time taking 1st place overall with a stellar 4:25.18 performance. The quartet of Joshua Brown (50.52), Kazuki Martin (50.88), Yutaro Sahara (52.12), and Takashi Kanazawa (51.66) are well positioned to place high at the Nationals in late March.

Swimmers finishing in the top 16 were;

Joshua Brown - 50 Breast - 1st / 100 Individual Medley – 1st / 50 Free - 2nd place / 50 Fly – 3rd  

Yutaro Sahara - 50 meter Fly – 5th  / 100 Individual Medley – 10th  place / 100 meter Fly – 9th

Kazuki Martin - 50 Free - 13th 100 Individual Medley - 14th  

Yutaro Sahara - 100 Individual Medley – 10th / 50 meter Back – 13th  

Takashi Kanazawa - 100 Free - 12th place 

Stefano A’De Lima - 100 Back - 11th  place 

Kaitlin Rossman - 100 Individual Medley - 10th  

Akiko Bareng - 100 Individual Medley - 13th  

Junichiro Asano - 100 Individual Medley - 5th / 100 Fly - 9th / 100 Freestyle – 11th

Naoki Martin - 100 Individual Medley - 15th  

Ian Takahara - 100 Individual Medley -`16th  / 50 Back - 14th  

Keigo Hayashi - 50 Back - 13th  

Nana Richter – 100 Individual Medley - 3rd / 50 Fly - 8th / 50 Breast – 11th

Ryan Fenwick - 100 Back – 15th place 

Go Nagaoka - 100 Individual Medley - 7th  

Max Wahba - 100 Individual Medley - 7th

Natsuki Uchino - 100 Individual Medley – 4th 

The training is paying off as Bucs continue to produce US Swimming allstar time standards. AAAA times were put in by Joshua Brown, Yutaro Sahara, Ryan Fenwick, and Max Wahba. Triple A times came from Kazuki Martin, Takashi Kanazawa, Stefano A De'Lima, Junichiro Asano, Cameron Fenwick, Kaitlin Rossman, Nana Richter, Go Nagaoka, and Natsuki Uchino. AA times came from Tyson Wang, Eugene Decosse, Yu Kunita, Joshua Harper, Alex Repeta, Akiko Bareng, Aisa Takahara, Bien Bagui, Ryota Misaki, Kenji Nomura, 

The swim team will be off to Taiwan for the Taipei American School Tigershark Invitational for November 4th – 6th. 

Seibu - Nanbu Swim Meet @ Tatsumi

St. Mary’s swimmers competed in their first meet this season at Tatsumi over the weekend. Meets at the International Swimming Complex always provide lots of excitement. The meet featured lots of  talent with 1,511 competitors from 57 clubs in attendance. It’s early in the season and Buccaneer swimmers have already established seven new records. Both Joshua Brown and Natsuki Uchino set new records each. Senior Joshua Brown erased Miguel Molina’s 200 meter Breaststroke OPEN + AREA mark from 2002 going 2:15.04. Seisen 5th grader Natsuki Uchino improved on her own recently established records in the girls 9-10 50 meter Freestyle (30.88) and 50 meter Butterfly (34.91).

Buccaneer swimmers amassed 11 US Swimming AAAA times and popped 19 more AAA swims. SMST swimmers producing AAAA standards or better were Joshua Brown, Kazuki Martin, Yutaro Sahara, and Natsuki Uchino. AAA swims were turned in by Takashi Kanazawa, Eugene Decosse, Naoki Nomura, Stefano A’DeLima, Tyson Wang, Junichiro Asano, Naoki Martin, Ryan Fenwick, Go Nagaoka, and Max Wahba.   

Other swimmers bettering US Swimming AA times were Alex Repeta, Ian Takahara, Keigo Hayashi, Max Printz, Yu Kunita, Akiko Bareng, Ian Takahara, Aisa Takahara, Bien Bagui, and Ryota Misaki.

The coaches were ecstatic with the number of strong performances early in the season and the team energy and culture is developing rapidly.

SMST swimmers look forward to hosting the Buccaneer Invitational on October 22nd + 23rd.

Fall Swim Meet @ St. Mary’s

The Buccaneers Swim Team played host to 8 teams at the annual October swim meet on Sunday. Nearly 1,100 individual entries and 49 relays were contested. SMST swimmers compiled 32 US Swimming times better than AAA standard; Senior Joshua Brown bettered his own OPEN + AREA record in the 100 meter Breaststroke blazing a 1:02.48. Josh also went  under the 50  second mark in the 100 Freestyle (49.94) under Japan’s Age Group National qualifying time. Natsuki Uchino set a new AREA record in both the  9-10 girls 50 meter Freestyle (31.65) and the 50 meter Butterfly (35.69). The previous girls 9-10 50 meter Free record stood since 1988 (Lys Ehrenspeck 31.70).

The finale to the meet provided plenty of excitement. The Bucs split their top 2 relays evenly in the spirit of   competition. The rarely contested 200 meter Freestyle Relay shows real speed – Joshua Brown led off blazing a 23.43 to Kazuki Martin’s 24.06. It was close all the way with Max Printz holding off Yu Kunita on the final leg.

The coaches were impressed to see both teams under 1:40.00 on the swimmers 5th swim of the meet – the team of Kazuki M., Takashi Kanazawa, Stefano A’ De Lima, and Max Printz combined to go 1:38.98 outlasting Joshua B., Yutaro Sahara, Alex Repeta, and Yu Kunita (1:39.39). Relays are always fun and SMST’S 15 - 18 Girls (Akiko Bareng, Kaitlin Rossman, Caitlin Bridges, and Amelie Steck set a new AREA record with a  1:59.29. 

US Swimming AAAA standards were turned in by Joshua Brown, Yutaro Sahara, and Cameron Fenwick.  AAA swims were produced by Kazuki Martin, Takashi Kanazawa, Stefano A’ De Lima, Junichiro Asano,  Nana Richter, Ryan Fenwick, Max Wahba, and Natsuki Uchino. AA times came from Naoki Nomura, Eugene  Decosse, Yu Kunita, Tyson Wang, Kaitlin Rossman, Akiko Bareng, Ian Takahara, Naoki Martin, Go Nagaoka, Won Bin Jin, Bien Bagui, Ryota Misaki, and Kenji Nomura.

Once again the team enjoyed excellent support from Buc parents volunteering for officiating and timing duties ensuring that the meet ran smoothly. Buccaneer swimmers are getting the itch to race at Tatsumi - the Tokyo  South vs. Tokyo West meet will be held at the International Swimming Complex on October 16th.

September 2016

Swimmers make splash at the Top Dog Invitational !

The SMST Buccaneers took a contingent of 85 swimmers along with a large group of parents supporters to the Top Dog Invitational at Yokosuka’s 50 meter natatorium on September 25th. The meet was held in a long course 50 meter format. Bucs swimmers set 9 new meet records. Bucs swimmers establishing new meet standards were; Junichiro Asano (13 - 14 Boys) 200 Individual Medley - 2:20.03 & 100 meter Butterfly - 1:01.40 (13 - 14 Boys) 50 Free - 26.20 & 100 Free - 56.46; Yutaro Sahara (15 - 18 Boys)  100 Butterfly - 58.24, Akiko Bareng (15 - 18 Girls) 50 Free - 29.14; Natsuki Uchino (9 - 10 Girls) 50 Free -  2.86, 50 Butterfly - 37.63 & 100 meter Freestyle - 1:12.06.

High point trophies were awarded to the top swimmer in each age group. A maximum of four individual  events could be contested. Buc Swimmers took every High Point but one - winners were;

Takashi Kanazawa  (15 - 18 Boys)                                                                      

Akiko Bareng & Caitlin Bridges (tied) (15 - 18 Girls)                                                                                                                                                    

Junichiro Asano  (13 - 14 Boys)                                                                                                                                           

Nana Richter ( 13 - 14 Girls)                                                                                                                                                              

Ryan Fenwick   (11 - 12 Boys)                                                                                                                                                  

Max Wahba (9 - 10 Boys)                                                                                                                                                  

 Natsuki Uchino (9 - 10 Girls)                                                                                                                                                   

Houei Shimoyachi (8 & Under Boys)                                                                                                                                      

Emma Takahara (8 & Under Girls) 

Nana Richter, Ryan Fenwick, and Natsuki Uchino each won the maximum four individual events. Triple event wins went to Takashi Kanazawa, Akiko Bareng, Caitlin Bridges, Junichiro Asano, Aisa Takahara, Max Wahba, and Houei Shimoyachi.

SMST swimmers produced  4  US Swimming AAAA standard times; 15  AAA swims; 27 AA times, and 32 A times at the meet.

The swim team will be in action again at St. Mary’s on Sunday Oct. 2nd.

Fall Kick-off @ St. Mary’s

The swim team held their annual Fall Kick-off time trial on September 17th.

Some real hot times for the 1st meet of the season! The coaches were ecstatic with the results considering that many swimmers contested four individual events in a little more than two hours - with just one month of practices behind them, the schedule of events was tough with the first race for many being the 200 meter Individual Medley. With just the Bucs competing, the meet provided the opportunity for all to get a good look at new members. Veteran swim team members could also challenge events they rarely swim.

SMST swimmers compiled 23 US Swimming times better than AAA standard; Senior Joshua Brown broke his own OPEN + AREA record in the 100 meter Breaststroke blazing a 1:02.73. Josh also became the first swimmer to go under the 50 second mark in the 100 Freestyle at St. Mary’s natatorium. Josh’s 49.96 was arguably the the swim of the meet ! 8th grader Jun Asano had a stellar 2:16.04 effort in the Boys 13 + 14 200 meter Individual Medley. Natsuki Uchino inched closer to new records in the 9-10 girls 50 meter and 100 Freestyle. Both those marks seem like they will go soon.

US Swimming AAA standards or better were turned in by Joshua B., Yutaro Sahara, Kazuki Martin, Takashi Kanazawa, Junichiro Asano, Cameron Fenwick, Ryan Fenwick, Max Wahba, and and Natsuki Uchino. AA swims were produced Naoki Nomura, Eugene Decosse, Akiko Bareng, Go Nagaoka, Won Bin Jin, Ryota Misaki, and Nathaniel Twohig.

Other A swims came from Kaitlin Rossman, Ryan Shimizu, Tyson Wang, Yu Kunita, Max Printz, Ian Takahara, Joshua Harper, Naoki Martin, Bien Bagui, Lyon Schaefer, Uchino, Bastien Bagui, Kenji Nomura, and Jo Sendai. The Bucs will take a large contingent to Yokosuka’s long course 50 meter Top Dog swim meet on Sunday, Sept. 25th.

August 2016

Japan's Age Group National Championships (August 22 - 26) 50m @ Tatsumi

The SMST Buccaneers kicked off the school year with five student/athletes in for the Age Group Nationals. 3,688 swimmers representing 770 swim clubs from all 47 prefectures competed at the 39th annual All Japan event. The J.O.C. Cup meet is contested twice a year - the summer version is always held in the Olympic 50 meter long course format. Qualifying times are fast ! Buccaneer swimmers Joshua Brown, Kazuki Martin, Takashi Kanazawa, Yutaro Sahara, and Cameron Fenwick qualified early in the summer to earn the right to participate in the meet.

Senior Joshua Brown started the Bucs off strong with a great morning prelim swim in the 100 meter Freestyle. Joshua's 51.40 effort placed 5th overall good enough for the afternoon top 8 finals. Joshua improved on his prelim swim in the finals blazing a 51.13 for an overall 4th place finish. Joshua missed a medal by a mere .06 seconds. It was an exciting race with just .26 seconds separated the top 4 places.

                                 Bucs Free Relay finishes 7th in the nation! 

The Bucs 15-18 Boys took 7th place overall in the 400 meter Freestyle Relay with a splendid 3:30.11 swim. Joshua Brown led off with his 4th 100 Free of the day going 51.30 - Kazuki Martin followed with a 53.05. Juniors Yutaro Sahara and Takashi Kanazawa went 53.33 and 52.43, respectively. Osaka's Itoman Swimming School won the event going 3:27.09.

Freshman Cameron Fenwick, competing in his first Nationals in the Boys 13-14 age group, finished 25th overall in the 50 meter Free with a 25.58. Joshua B. also competed in the 50 meter Freestyle and the 100 meter Butterfly. Brown placed 18th in the 50 Free (24.23) and 27th in the 100 Fly (56.91). The SMST Bucs will have their first swim meet of the season at home on September 17th.

2015 - 2016 SEASON

April 2016

Jolly Roger Invitational Swim Meet @ St. Mary’s

The Buccaneers held their final home meet of the year on Saturday. Ten teams competed in the Jolly Roger Invitational with 251 swimmers attending with 928 individual entries and 40 relays. The Bucs finished the day with the team title amassing 1,379.5 points. The British School’s took 2nd place with 719.5 points followed by the Yokosuka Jr. Seahawks with 279 points.

Buc Swimmers took 7 out of the 10 High Point trophies awarded, winners were;

Joshua Brown (15-18), Kaitlin Rossman & Akiko Bareng (15-18 - tied), Junichiro Asano & Cameron Fenwick (13-14 - tied), Nana Richter (13-14), Ryan Fenwick (11-12), Go Nagaoka (9-10), and Natsuki Uchino (9-10).

SMST swimmers established 2 new AREA records; Nana Richter continued her assault on the record books setting a new 13 – 14 girls mark in the 100 meter Breaststroke (1:16.23). 5th grader  Go Nagaoka broke the boys 9 – 10 record I the same event with a swift 1:22.50 effort.

US Swimming AAA time standards or better were produced by Joshua Brown, Kazuki Martin, Yutaro Sahara, Takashi Kanazawa, Stefano A'De Lima, Eugene Decosse, Junichiro Asano, Nana Richter, Ryan Fenwick, Go Nagaoka, Max Wahba, and Natsuki Uchino.

The Swim Team annual awards were presented following the completion of the meet. SMST’s annual awards went to the following team members;

St. Mary’s Swimmer of the Year – Kazuki Martin

High School MVP – Joshua Brown

Female Swimmer of the Year – Kaitlin Rossman

High School  Most Improved – Eugene Decosse

High School Outstanding Swimmers – Takashi Kanazawa & Yutaro Sahara

Most Dedicated / Breakout Performer – Yu Kunita

Coaches’ Awards – Naoki Nomura

Senior Award – Riki Motoyama, Coco Yamamoto & Yuri Hayshi

Rookie of the Year – Nana Richter

Middle School  MVP - Junichiro Asano

Middle School Most Improved – Cameron Fenwick

Girls Middle School  MVP - Aisa Takahara

Middle School Outstanding Swimmers – Keigo Hayashi & Ryan Fenwick

Elementary School  MVP – Go Nagaoka

Girls Elementary School  MVP  - Natsuki Uchino

Elementary School  Most Improved – Nathaniel Twohig

Elementary School Outstanding Swimmer – Max Wahba

Coaches’ Awards – Karl Bodenheimer

The Bucs will compete at the long course Summer Kanto Plains Championships at Yokosuka on May 29th.

April 2016

United World College East – Dragon’s Den International Invitational @ Singapore 

St. Mary's Swim Team continues to make waves abroad with an impressive 1st place team victory at the UWC-SEA Dragon’s Den International Invitational. This year marked the 1st time the BUCS participated in the annual event. The meet was held in an Olympic-sized pool and in a 50 meter long course format. The BUCS finished 1st overall winning the Team Trophy as well as the Best Visiting Team Award. UWC East Dragons finished in 2nd place followed by the Hong Kong International School Stingrays in 3rd. United World College East played host to 15 teams throughout Asia over the three day Invitational. The meet featured over 500 swimmers with nearly 2,400 individual swims and 130 relays. Other teams competing were; Shanghai American School Eagles, Singapore American School Fighting Fish, Bangkok Patana Tigersharks, Nexus International School, UWC Dover Phoneix, Harrow International School Bangkok, International School Ho Chi Minh, Shrewsbury International School, Canadian International School, Swimfast Aquatic Club, and the Tanglin Trust International School Merlions.

It was great to see the team score so well against teams with large contingents - the Bucs had 34 swimmers entered in the meet. Seisen 8th grader, Nana Richter won 5 events (200 + 400 Individual Medley, 50 + 100 Breaststroke, + 100 Backstroke) to garner 13-14 Girls High Point Trophy award. The 15-18 Boys divison was hotly contested with just 4 points separating Yutaro Sahara, Kazuki Martin and Takashi Kanazawa - when the dust settled it was Yutaro taking the High Point with 4 individual wins (200, 400, and 1,500 Freestyle + 100 Butterfly). The High Point race always adds a lot to the competition as balance in all disciplines is key. Other Buc swimmers winning multiple events included; Kazuki Martin (50 + 100 Freestyle + 50 Butterfly), Junichiro Asano (100 + 200 Butterfly + 1,500 Freestyle), Tyson Wang (50 + 100 Breaststroke), and Go Nagaoka (50 + 100 Breaststroke). Individual event wins also came from Takashi Kanazawa (200 Individual Medley), Naoki Nomura (400 Individual Medley), Eugene Decosse (200 Butterfly), Thomas Richter (200 Breaststroke), Yu Kunita (800 Freestyle), Kaitlin Rossman (100 Breaststroke), and Ryan Fenwick (400 Freestyle). SMST swimmers also scoring high in the point race were; Cameron Fenwick, Joshua Harper, Caitlin Bridges, Akiko Bareng, Won Bin Jin, Max Wahba, Karl Bodenheimer, and Nathaniel Twohig.

Lots of pictures of the event on the following link;

http://dragonsden2016.weebly.com/social-media.html

Relays always add a lot to the excitement of the meet and TEAM looms large. SMST relays shined - Go Nagaoka, Max Wahba, Karl Bodenheimer, and Robin Heyn teamed up to take 1st place in both the 10 + Under 200 Medley and 200 Freestyle Relays. The 15 - 18 Boys were not outdone soundly winning both relays – the 200 Medley with Yutaro S., Tyson W., Kazuki M., and Takashi K. The Freestyle Relay to closing out the meet was especially exciting with Kazuki, Yutaro, Takashi, and Freshman Yu Kunita combining to go a swift 1:40.12. Cameron Fenwick, Junichiro Asano, Joshua Harper and Naoki Martin teamed up to win the Boys 13 + 14 200 Freestyle relay.

Buccaneer swimmers amassed an impressive 160 United States Swimming A times or better over the 3 day competition. Kudos go out to the SMA for their support provided, the entire Buc parent group for their enthusiasm and patience, the entire UWC folks for the group effort hosting a great event, and Mr. Twohig for his assistance and guidance over the weekend.

Swim On - Coach Moodie 

March 2016

Japanese Age Group National Swimming Championships @ Tatsumi 

4,987 participants from 47 prefectures throughout Japan participated in the 38th JOC Cup held at the International Swimming Complex at  Tatsumi (March 27th – 30th).

Juniors Kazuki Martin and Joshua Brown both competed individually in the 50 and 100 meter Freestyles. Joshua placed 22nd in the Boys 15 - 16 50 meter Free going 23.60. Josh came within .52 seconds from the top 8 finals in the 100 meter Free (51.18) with a 17th place finish. Kazuki placed 25th (23.52) and 35th (51.38) among 17 - 18 Boys in the 50 and 100 Free, respectively. Sophomore Takashi Kanazawa also contested the 50 Free individually placing 34th (15 - 16) with a 23.97 effort.                                

The boys 4 x 100 Free Relay was impressive - the guys finished 13th in the nation going 3:25.81 just 1.39 seconds out of the top 8 final. Splits; Kazu (51.14) / Josh (50.87) / Takashi (51.90) / Yutaro (51.90).

The Olympic Year is always special for Swimming - Full television coverage of Japan’s Olympic Trials will be provided by both NHK + BS1 from April 4th - 10th

March Age Group Champs @ St. Mary's

The Bucs played host to 20 teams in two full days of competition at the St. Mary’s natatorium. Championship meets are always a great way to cap off the season. It was quite a meet with 468 athletes attending the annual event. The Bucs parents were incredible running a meet with 2,169 individual entries as well as 162 relays! St. Mary’s took the overall team trophy with 4,568.50 points. The Okinawa Dolphins Swim Team amassed 3,105 points for 2nd place and the British School followed with 1,352 points to finish in the 3rd spot. 

High Point trophies are awarded to the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place finishers in each age group based on six events over 2 days. Buc swimmers took a total of fourteen high point honors. Swimmers capturing High Point trophies were Joshua Brown (15-18) 1st; Kazuki Martin (15-18) 2nd; Yutaro Sahara (15-18) 3rd; Kaitlin Rossman (15-18 Girls) 2nd; Caitlin Bridges (15-18 Girls) 3rd; Junichiro Asano (13-14) 1st; Cameron Fenwick (13-14) 2nd; Joshua Harper (13-14) 3rd; Nana Richter (13-14 Girls) 1st; Ryan Fenwick (11+12) 1st; Go Nagaoka (9+10) 1st; Max Wahba (9+10) 2nd; Natsuki Uchino (9-10 Girls) 2nd; and Jo Sendai (8 + Under) 1st.

Other swimmers finishing in the top 8 in overall points for their age groups were Stefano A’De Lima, Takashi Kanazawa, Yuri Hayashi, Kota Uchino, Skyler Pang, Aisa Takahara, Lyon Schaefer, Won Bin Jin, Paige Bridges, Karl Bodenheimer, Kenji Nomura, and Rentaro Nishioka. 

9 new records were established at the meet by Buccaneer swimmers at the meet. Nana Richter broke both the OPEN + AREA mark in the 50 meter Backstroke (31.69). New  AREA standards were set by; Joshua Brown - 15-18 100 meter Breaststroke (1:03.19);  Nana Richter - 13-14  200 meter Breaststroke (2:43.85), 100 meter Backstroke (1:07.62),    200 meter Backstroke (2:23.60), 400 meter Individual Medley (5:08.05), and Natsuki    Uchino - 9-10  50 meter Butterfly (36.01). Nana also broke a team record in the 200 meter Individual Medley with a stellar 2:25.32 effort.

The coaches would once again like to thank all the volunteers that helped make the weekend a success – your hard work is greatly appreciated !

The Crescendo relays are always a crowd favorite as swimmers from each age group are featured.  The Buccaneer Boys took both the 200 meter Crescendo relay and the 400 meter Crescendo Freestyle relay. The Bucs Girls 200 meter Crescendo relay set a new AREA record - Nana Richter (13-14), Kaitlin Rossman (15-18), Natsuki Uchino (9-10) and Paige Bridges (11-12) combined to go 2:15.80. The boys easily won the 400 meter Crescendo relay – the Freestyle crescendo features 5 swimmers from each age group. Jo Sendai (8 + Under – 50m), Go Nagaoka (9-10 - 50m), Ryan Fenwick (11-12 – 100m), Cameron Fenwick (13-14 – 100m), and Kazuki Martin (15-18 – 100m) posted an impressive in 4:01.68 very close to the OPEN + AREA record.

The 4 x 100 Freestyle Relay was the finale to the meet and there was plenty of buzz around the pool ! The Bucs have a bit of tradition in the event and didn’t disappoint; Kazuki Martin, Joshua Brown, Yutaro Sahara, and Takashi Kanazawa combined to capture the last race with a sizzling 3:28.48. SMST’s relay will compete at Japan’s Age Group Nationals to be held at the International Swimming Complex in Tatsumi from March 27 - 30.  

US Swimming AAAA standards were turned in by J. Brown, K. Martin, and Go Nagaoka. AAA times came from Y. Sahara, T. Kanazawa, S. A’ De Lima, K. Rossman, Yu Kunita, Cameron Fenwick, Junichiro Asano, Nana Richter, Max Wahba, and Natsuki Uchino. AA swims were produced by Naoki Nomura, Eugene Decosse, Thomas Richter, Joshua Harper, Skyler Pang, Ryan Fenwick, Karl Bodenheimer, Ryota Misaki, Kenji Nomura, Bastien Bagui, and Philipp Steck.

February 2016

2016 Tokyo-To Winter Kirokukai Meet @ Tatsumi   

“The body achieves what the mind believes !”

2,164 swimmers from 139 clubs squeezed into the International Swimming Complex at Tatsumi for 2 full days of swimming. The meet featured top university swimmers as well as junior athletes. Anyone in the meet could be considered a very proficient swimmer as tough qualifying standards were required to enter.  

                                        BUCS Free relay takes 2nd!

The Bucs 15-18 Boys took 2nd place overall in the 400 meter Freestyle relay just .93 seconds behind Powerhouse Nichidai Buzan High School. Kazuki Martin (51.07), Joshua Brown (51.53), Yutaro Sahara (53.32), and Takashi Kanazawa (52.79) combined to go a swift 3:28.71. 

5th grader Go Nagaoka set a new AREA record in the Boys 9 + 10 50 meter Breaststroke (38.43). Go also came within .22 seconds of the Age Group National Championship qualifying time in the 50 meter Freestyle with a stellar 30.21 in the afternoon finals for 7th place overall. Junior Kazuki Martin posted a national qualifying time in the 17 - 18 Boys 50 meter Free with a 23.47 effort. Fellow Junior Joshua Brown, also bettered the national ‘cut’ for 15 - 16 Boys in the same event going 23.84. Joshua narrowed closer to the 50 meter Breaststroke national standard coming within .15 seconds coming 29.16.

SMST swimmers placing in the top 24 were; Kazuki Martin, Joshua Brown, Yutaro Sahara, Takashi Kanazawa, Kaitlin Rossman, Cameron Fenwick, Joshua Harper, Go Nagaoka, and Jo Sendai.

US Swimming AAAA time standards were produced by Kazuki M., Joshua B., Go N. AAA times came from   Yutaro S., Takashi K., Stefano A'De Lima, Cameron Fenwick, and Max Wahba. Others posting AA or A times were; Naoki Nomura, Eugene Decosse, Kaitlin R., Junichiro Asano, Yu Kunita, Cameron F., Joshua H., Aisa Takahara, Ryan Fenwick, Karl Bodenheimer, Ryota Misaki, Natsuki Uchino, and Jo Sendai.

The February 27th and 28th J.O. Yosen meet at Tatsumi always provides plenty of excitement as it is “the last chance meet” to achieve national qualifying times - Swim On !

2016 Winter Kanto Plains Championships @ St. Mary's

The St. Mary’s Buccaneers Swim Team captured their 43rd Winter Kanto Plains Championship title. The team amassed a total of 1,552 points for first place. The British School tallied 620 points to take 2nd place followed by the Yokosuka Seahawks with 315 points.  Heats were run as mixed events with both boys and girls competing together regardless of age however, events were scored by gender and age. The coaches would like to thank all volunteers for keeping a meet with 13 teams and 292 student/athletes running smoothly – over a 1,000 individual entries and 84 relays ! 

Swimmers compete in four individual events as well as 2 relays in the one day meet. High Point trophies were awarded to the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place finishers in each age group based on four individual events. Buccaneer swimmers captured 19 out of a possible 30 high point trophies with many veteran swimmers garnering trophies as well as a new crop snaring awards.

                                                             SMST Trophy Winners

BUC swimmers continue to set new records; SMST’s quartet of Ryota Misaki, Go Nagaoka, Max Wahba, and Karl Bodenheimer combined to set a new AREA Record for the 9 & 10 Boys 200 meter Medley Relay (2:26.73).

The Kanto Plains Champs challenges swimmers with a full day of racing. The coaches were pleased with strong performances being turned in with little time for recovery between a grueling event schedule. Joshua Brown and Go Nagaoka popped US Swimming AAAA times while AAA swims were produced by Kazuki Martin, Stefano A’ De Lima, Yutaro Sahara, Takashi Kanazawa, Eugene Decosse, Yu Kunita, Keigo Hayashi, Max Wahba, and Ryota Misaki.

Other swimmers bettering US Swimming AA times or better were; Kaitlin Rossman, Naoki Nomura, Jun Asano, Joshua Harper, Cameron Fenwick, and Natsuki Uchino. A times were swum by Thomas Richter,  Alex Repeta, Yuri Hayashi, Tyson Wang, Ryan Shimizu, Skyler Pang, Ian Takahara, Aisa Takahara, Ryan Fenwick, Takanobu Kanda, Karl Bodenheimer, Kenji Nomura, Robin Heyn, and Jo Sendai.

The team is positioned well to have some breakout performances at the competitive Tokyo-To Winter Swim Meet at the International Swimming Complex in Tatsumi on February 13th + 14th.

January 2016

Kitajima Cup - Tokyo-To Senshuken Swim Meet (50m) @ Tatsumi

Juniors Kazuki Martin & Joshua Brown, sophomores Yutaro Sahara & Takashi Kanazawa, and 8th grader Cameron Fenwick represented SMST at the Kitajima Cup - Tokyo Senshuken meet on January 30th and 31st. The meet featured many elite swimmers with plenty of National team members vying for a spot on Japan’s Olympic team for Rio. With the Olympic Trials less than 10 weeks away, many are in the midst of the heavy training and poised to swim FAST at trials. The meet provided an opportunity to race in the long course 50 meter format during the 25 meter short course season. It was a small meet by Tatsumi standards as strict qualifying times were required to enter. 

Preliminaries and finals were held for each event and competitors placing well could advance to either A, B, or C finals. University and pro athletes were prohibited from swimming in the B or C finals. Spots in the A finals for the men’s events were almost exclusively taken by university and elite swimmers. 

Kazuki, Joshua, and Takashi all made it to the finals. Kazuki qualified for the B final in both the 50 and 100 meter Freestyle. Kazuki placed 4th in the 50 and 7th in the 100. Brown and Kanazawa made it to the C finals of the 50 + 100 Free. Josh finished in 2nd place in the 50 and 6th in the 1000 while Takashi came in 9th in the 50 and 10th in the 100. All 3 boys bettered USA Swimming AAAA times and Yutaro and Cameron popped AAA performances.

Faster times come with more rest and taper time is looming - it was good to see strong performances turned in during the training period. The Bucs are looking forward to hosting the Winter Kanto Plains Championships at St. Mary’s on February 7th.             

Annual Swim-a-thon @ St. Mary’s

The SMST Buccaneers held their annual Swim-A-Thon on January 23rd. The annual event is a great way to build team spirit and set up for the upcoming championship meet season. The road to success is always under construction - SMST swimmers have churned out numerous laps in workouts since the beginning of the school year. It’s hard to think of an exercise that demands simultaneous full and constant use of the arms, legs and core muscle groups … and to do it for 1 hour non-stop! The swim-a-thon is a  cool event that gives all a great chance to perfect technique and lets you know how your training is going.

10th grader Yutaro Sahara placed 7th all time (15-18 Boys) swimming 199 lengths, just 25 meters shy of 5,000 meters in one hour,  averaging 1:12’s per 100 meters non-stop. 7th grader Junichiro Asano used a nice steady kick with a slick stroke to sliced through the water to the tune of 186 lengths (4,650 meters) - good enough to tie for 5th place all-time (13-14 Boys).  4th grader Max Wahba completed 157 lengths (3,925 meters) to tie the 5th spot all time for Boys 10 + Under.

Seisen Junior Kaitlin Rossman took the 6th spot all time with 172 lenths (4,300 meters) for Girls 15-18 yrs. Middle Schooler, Aisa Takahara, swam 167 lengths (4,175 meters) for the all time 3rd spot for the Girls 11-12 age group. Natsuki Uchino was 2nd all time for Girls 10 + Under finishing with 140 lengths or 3,500 meters in the hour swim. It’s always inspiring to watch swimmers give their all in the event. Scores of team members showed marked improvement over last year’s results.                   

                                             Top finishers for the 2016

                       “How far can you swim in 1 hour ?”challenge were:

            15 – 18 Boys                

                                                        15 - 18 Girls

                                                         11 + 12 Boys     

                                                           9 + 10 Boys      

BUC swimmers continue to grind out  new records ; Seisen 3rd grader Natsuki Uchino broke four new records  in the Girls 8 & Under age bracket. Natsuki’s new marks were; 100 meter Freestyle (OPEN + AREA – 1:17.33), 50 meter Freestyle (AREA – 35.71), 50 meter Butterfly (AREA – 41.22), and the 100 meter Individual Medley (AREA – 1:29.57). Freshman Yutaro Sahara set a new AREA mark in the boys 400 meter Individual Medley throwing down a time of 4:42.76. Seisen Sophomore, Kaitlin Rossman, bettered her own AREA records in the  15- 8 Girls 100 + 200 Breast going 1:16.36 and 2:49.52, respectively. 

The Kanto Plains Champs challenges swimmers with a full day of racing. The coaches were real happy with strong performances being turned in with little time for recovery between a grueling event schedule. Others notable swims were; Shane Brett - 2:03.78 (200 Fly), 4:30.80 (400 IM), & 55. 98 (100 Fly); 2:03.78; Raunak Khosla - 2:09.34 (200 Back) & 1:00.34 (100 Back); Joshua Brown - 2:22.95 (200 Breast), 57.89 (100 Fly) & 52.52 (100 Free * 6th  event of the day); Yutaro Sahara - 2:11.58 (200 IM); and Stefano A’De Lima – 2:09.81 (200 Back).

Other swimmers bettering US Swimming AA times or better were; Junu Moon, Kazuki Martin, Takashi Kanazawa, Thomas Richter, Shunichi Ichimura, Riki Motoyama, Coco Yamamoto, Naoki Nomura, Ryan Shimizu, Jun Asano, Keigo Hayashi, Aisa Takahara, Ryan Fenwick, Lyon Schaefer, Max Wahba, and Go Nagaoka.

A times were swum by Charlie Roth, Yuri Hayashi, Max Printz, Eugene DeCosse, Yu Kunita, Tyson Wang, Joshua Harper, Kei Takahashi, Torajiro Someya, Kenji Nomura, and Nathaniel Twohig. The team is poised to up their game at the competitive Tokyo-To Winter Swim Meet at the International Swimming Complex in Tatsumi on February 14th + 15th.

January 2015

Kitajima Cup (Tokyo-To Senshuken) @ Tatsumi     

Senior Shane Brett, sophomores Joshua Brown & Kazuki Martin, and freshman Yutaro Sahara represented SMST at the Tokyo Senshuken meet which has been renamed the Kitajima Cup in honor of Japan's two time double Olympic gold medalist, Kosuke Kitajima. The meet provided an opportunity to race in the long course 50 meter format in the midst of the 25 meter short course season. It was a small meet by Tatsumi standards as strict qualifying times were required to enter. 

Many elite swimmers were in attendance with plenty of National team members also competing. Preliminaries and finals were held for each event and competitors placing well could advance to either A, B, or C finals. University and pro athletes were prohibited from swimming in the B or C finals. Spots in the A finals for the men’s events were almost exclusively taken by university and elite swimmers. 

Shane, Joshua, and Kazuki all made it to the B finals. Brett qualified in the 100 Butterfly, 200 Individual Medley, and the 200 Freestyle. Brown made it to the B finals in the 50 Free and the C final in the 100 Freestyle. Martin earned also earned a spot in the B finals of the 50 meter Free.

Faster times come with more rest and taper time is looming - it was good to see strong performances turned in during the training period; Shane posted times of (56.65 - 100 Fly / 3rd in the B final), (2:09.78 - 200 IM / 10th in the B final), and (1:57.19 - 200 Free / 9th in the B final). Joshua took 7th place in the B final of the 50 Free (24.57) and Kazuki captured 8th in the same race with a 24.65. Joshua’s 54.48 in the C Final of the 100 Freestyle put him in the 5th spot.

The Bucs are looking forward to hosting the Winter Kanto Plains Championships at St. Mary’s on February 1st.       

Annual Swim-a-thon @ St. Mary’s

The Swim Team held their Swim-A-Thon on January 24th. The annual event is a great way to build team spirit and set up for the championships swim meets down the road. With the Kitajima Cup going on at the same time some of team members will swim the event on another date.  Scores of team members showed marked improvement over last year’s results.           

                                          Top finishers for the 2015

                   “How far can you swim in 1 hour?” challenge were:

          15 – 18 Boys                

           15 - 18 Girls

                13 + 14 Boys     

               13 + 14 Girls

                11 + 12 Boys     

                   9 + 10 Boys      

                                                 8 + Under Boys   

December 2014

Tokyo South Club Championship Meet @ Tatsumi

Buccaneer swimmers made a big splash at the Tokyo South vs. Tokyo North Club Championships. 1,039 swimmers from 27 swim clubs competed at the event. Swimmers finishing in the top 8 in the preliminary heats advanced to the afternoon finals. 

Senior Shane Brett set a new OPEN + AREA record in the 15 - 18 Boys 100 meter Butterfly. Shane’s time of 54.45 was also good enough to qualify for Japan’s Age Group Nationals. Sophomore Joshua Brown added another event to his Nationals repertoire with a great prelim swim in the 100 Free going 51.49. Josh now has 3 National “cuts”. New records were also turned in by Kaitlin Rossman and Natsuki Uchino. Kaitlin set a new 15 - 18 girls OPEN + AREA standard in the 50 Breast with a 35.04 effort. Her 1:17.23 swim in the 100 Breast was a new AREA mark. Seisen 3rd grader, Natsuki Uchino bettered her own 50 meter Butterfly record with a 41.47 swim.

The 15 - 18 boys relay edged closer to the Age Group nationals standard in the 400 meter Freestyle relay. The quartet of  Kazuki Martin, Joshua Brown, Shane Brett, and Stefano A’De Lima blazed a 3:29.02 just .98 seconds off the mark required for the the March annual classic.

Swimmers moving on to the finals were; Shane Brett (15 + Over) 100 Butterfly (54.45) – 2nd place + 200 Individual Medley (2:03.48) - 3rd; Joshua Brown (15 - 18) 100 Free (51.62) – 4th; Kazuki Martin (15 + Over) 50 Free (24.02) – 8th; Yutaro Sahara (13 - 14) 50 Free (24.76) – 2nd + 100 Back (1:00.49) – 2nd ; Raunak Khosla (13 – 14) 200 IM (2:15.65) - 7th + 100 Back (1:01.76) – 5th; Junu Moon (15 + Over) 50 meter Back (27.72) – 4th; Stefano A’De Lima  (15 + Over) 50 Back (27.91) - 5th + 100 meter Back (1:00.75) – 5th; Ryan Shimizu (13 - 14) – 50  Free (27.24) – 7th + 100 Free (1:00.27) - 7th; Tyson Wang (13 - 14) 50 Breast (32.91) – 6th; Jun Asano (11 - 12) 50 Free (28.88) - 4th + 50 Fly (32.27) - 6th; Naoki Martin (11 - 12) 50 Free (29.91) - 6th + 50 Back (35.80) - 7th; Keigo Hayashi (11 - 12) 50 Breast (39.75) - 7th + 50 Back (36.32) - 8th; Ian Takahara (11 - 12) 100 Free (1:05.50) - 6th; Kaitlin Rossman (15 + Over) 50 Breast (35.04) - 7th + 100 Breast (1:17.23) - 5th ; Takanobu Kanda (9 – 10) 50 Breast (40.06) - 7th; Ryan Fenwick (9 – 10) 50 Back (37.44) - 5th; Natsuki Uchino (8 + U) 100 IM (1:32.65) - 6th + 50 Fly (41.41) – 3rd; Ryota Misaki (8 + U) 50 Free (37.22) - 6th; Bastien Bagui (8 + U) 50 Free (38.14) – 7th; and Nathaniel Twohig (8 + U) 50 Fly (45.98) - 6th.

November 2014

Taipei American School Tigershark Invitational Swim Meet @ Taiwan

Once again the St. Mary's swim team had a very successful meet in Taiwan. The Taipei American School played host to 15 teams for the Tigershark Invitational. This year marked the 6th time the BUCS have participated in the event. Teams from China, Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan, and the Philippines competed in the annual classic.

The Buccaneers took 3rd place overall in team scoring for large teams (30+ competitors) behind Taipei American School and the International School in Beijing. In boys scoring, SMST was easily the class of the competition finishing in 1st place with 2,484.50 points with the TAS Tigersharks (1,962.5) in 2nd and the ISB Dragons following in 3rd (1,546). The coaches were very pleased that the team scored so well against very large contingents with just 34 swimmers from the Bucs entered. The Taipei American School fielded a team of 126 swimmers and The International School of Beijing brought 57 student/athletes. 

SMST swimmers established 10 new individual and 4 relay meet records over the three day invitational. Swimmers establishing new individual records were Shane Brett 15-18 (4) - 200 Free (1:55.76); 200 Individual Medley (2:07.99); 200 Back (2:06.29); 400 Individual Medley (4:28.05), Max Wahba 8 & Under (3) - 200 Individual Medley (3:08.09), 100 Free (1:16.86), 100 Individual Medley (1:27.84); Raunak Khosla 13+14 (2) - 400 Individual Medley (4:54.09), 200 Individual Medley (2:18.06), and Kazuki Martin 15-18 - 50 Free (24.26). Joshua Brown (15-18) also bettered the 100 meter Breaststroke meet record going 1:05.45 to finish in 2nd place in a tight race with Nan Gang High School's Kai-Kai Chao.

The Bucs 8 + Under and 15-18 relay teams set records in both the Freestyle and Medley relays. Joshua Brown, Kazuki Martin, Shane Brett, and Junu Moon combined to shatter the previous 200 meter Freestyle relay mark by 2.19 seconds – (1:37.43). The same quartet came back on the last day of the meet to break the 200 meter Medley relay standard by 5.03 seconds blazing a 1:46.73. The Bucs 8 & Under Boys (Max Wahba, Philipp Steck, Bastien Bagui, and Robin Heyn) were on fire breaking both the 100 Freestyle and the 100 Medley relay records throwing down great swims going 1:07.93 and 1:19.99, respectively. The Bucs 13-14 medley 200 meter Medley relay (Raunak Khosla, Tyson Wang, Yutaro Sahara, and Ryan Shimizu) also broke a meet record (1:57.47) finishing in 2nd place by a mere .43 seconds to the International School of Beijing. In the finale to the meet, the men's 4 x 100 Freestyle relay, Kazuki, Joshua, Shane, and Junu came together again to set a new record going 3:34.59 only to be disqualified by an early take-off and having the mark nullified. The depth of the Bucs paid off as SMST's "B" relay (Takashi Kanazawa, Shunichi Ichimura, Yutaro Sahara, and Raunak Khosla) came through with the win for 40 points with a 3:44.84 performance.

High Point trophies were awarded to the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place finishers in each age group. Shane Brett captured the 1st high point and Kazuki Martin took the 3rd high point for 15-18 boys. Raunak Khosla grabbed the 2nd high point for the 13-14 age group. Max Wahba garnered the 8 & Under 1st place high point trophy. The high point race always adds a lot to the competition as balance in all disciplines is key - just missing out on trophies by 1 or 2 points were Joshua Brown, Yutaro Sahara, Jun Asano, Ryan Fenwick, and Philipp Steck. Others finishing in the top 8 in scoring were Takashi Kanazawa, Junu Moon, Shunichi Ichimura, Amelie Steck, Keigo Hayashi, Takanobu Kanda, Bien Bagui, Philipp Steck, Bastien Bagui, and Robin Heyn.

The trip allowed the team to really come together, make plenty of new friends and gain valuable experiences. Best times continue to be turned in with swimmers stepping up their game; US Swimming AAAA times were produced by Shane B., Kazuki M., Joshua B., Yutaro S., and Takanobu Kanda. AAA times came from Raunak K., Junu M., Takashi K., Shunichi I., Jun Asano, and Ryan Fenwick. Swimmers popping AA standards were; Tyson Wang, Bien Bagui, and Max Wahba.

Once again all would like to thank Julin Takenaka for arranging the team dinner at Fang's restaurant with great Taiwanese cuisine after a long day at the pool on Saturday. After the events finished on Sunday, an awards banquet for swimmers, coaches, and families was held at the school before all teams rushed to catch flights home. 

Tokyo-To Kirokukai Swim Meet

66 Buccaneer swimmers competed in the Nov. 15th + 16th Tokyo Fall Kirokukai Swim Meet at Tatsumi. 3,156 swimmers from 123 teams filed in to the International Swimming Complex for the annual event.

Hot times abound !

Buc swimmers continue to compile new records - 12 so far this season !  Freshman Yutaro Sahara set a new OPEN + AREA record in the Boys 13 + 14 50 meter Backstroke throwing down a swift 28.44 in the dorsal event. Seisen 3rd grader, Natsuki Uchino, continued her assault on the 8 & Under girls record books establishing new AREA marks in the 50 meter Free (46.22), 50 meter Back (43.58), 50 meter Butterfly (42.36), and the 100 meter Individual Medley (1:32.32).

Joshua and Kazuki qualify for Nationals !

Sophomores Joshua Brown and Kazuki Martin both qualified for Japan’s Age Group National Championships. Josh and Kazuki blazed the 50 meter Free going 23.56 and 23.65, respectively. Earlier in the day Josh also bettered the national “cut” with a 29.21 swim in the 50 meter Breaststroke. The Boys 15 - 18 400 meter Freestyle missed the nationals “cut” by a mere.57 seconds off the required 3:28.02. The quartet of Kazuki Martin (52.11), Josh Brown (51.30), Shane Brett (51.76), and Takashi Kanazawa (53.42) took 3rd place overall with a 3:28.59 stellar effort. On the 2nd day of the meet, Stefano A’De Lima, Joshua, Shane, and Kazuki were just 3.02  seconds of the Nationals mark for the 400 meter Medley Relay finishing in 5th place overall. The Medley Relay narrowly missed the OPEN + AREA standard by just .32 seconds.

The Bucs 13-14 boys relays were equally impressive; Yutaro Sahara, Naoki, Nomura, Raunak Khosla, and Ryan Shimizu went 3:51.53 in the 400 meter Freestyle Relay for 4th place overall. Tyson Wang joined  Yutaro, Naoki, and Raunak for the Medley Relay for a 3rd place finish.

Swimmers finishing in the top 16 were;

Joshua Brown - 50 Free - 2nd place / 100 Free - 3rd place / 50 Breast - 6th place / 100 Individual Medley - 16th place  

Shane Brett - 100 Individual Medley - 5th place / 50 Fly - 5th place / 100 meter Back - 9th place / 100 Fly - 7th place

Yutaro Sahara - 100 Individual Medley - 2nd place / 50 meter Back – 3rd place / 100 meter Back – 3rd place / 100 Fly – 2nd place

Naoki Nomura - 100 Individual Medley - 6th place / 50 Fly - 13th place / 100 Fly - 9th place

Kazuki Martin - 50 Free - 3rdplace

Stefano A’De Lima - 50 Back - 14th place

Raunak Khosla - 100 meter Back - 5th place

Junu Moon - 50 Free – 16th place

Kaitlin Rossman - 100 Individual Medley - 12th place 

Jun Asano - 100 Individual Medley - 4th place 

Kei Takahashi - 100 Individual Medley - 16th place 

Max Wahba - 100 Individual Medley - 4th place / 50 Back - 7th place / 50 Breast - 7th place / 50 Free - 6th place 

Natsuki Uchino - 100 Individual Medley - 2nd place / 50 Back - 7th place / 50 Free - 11th place

Kenji Nomura - 100 Individual Medley - 15th place

Bucs continue to produce US Swimming allstar time standards. AAAA times were put in by Joshua Brown, Kazuki Martin, Shane Brett, Yutaro Sahara, Naoki Nomura, Stefano A’De Lima, and Raunak Khosla. Triple A times came from Junu Moon, Takashi Kanazawa, Shunichi Ichimura, Jun Asano, Keigo Hayashi, Takanobu Kanda, and Max Wahba. AA times were turned by Riki Motoyama, Thomas Richter, Coco Yamamoto, Kaitlin Rossman, Ryan Shimizu, Tyson Wang, Naoki Martin, Nicolas Popov, and Ryan Fenwick.

The swim team will be off to Taiwan for the Taipei American School Tigershark Invitational (Nov. 21 -23). 

Buccaneer Invitational Swim Meet

The St. Mary’s Swim Team played host to 14 teams at this year’s Buccaneer Invitational Swim Meet. It was great to have a large group from the Shanghai American School. The Shanghai team combined forces from two campuses; Puxi and Pudong bringing 51 swimmers along with 40 more including coaches and parents. The Buccaneers amassed 1,297 points for 1st place. The Bucs do not could them themselves as the host team for the team trophy race. The first place trophy went to the Shanghai American School Team with Mishuku Sakura Swim Club took second followed by Kibogaoka Swim Team in third.

In boys scoring, it was the Buccaneers in first with 1,047 points then Shanghai American (616) and Kibogaoka with 175 points.

Once again our parents were awesome running a meet with almost 2,000 individual entries along with nearly 120 relays. Kudos to both Keith Martin and Jason Brown working tirelessly and often undermanned to keep 415 athletes on track and to have the meet finish earlier than expected. The coaches would like to thank all the volunteers who helped make the weekend a success.

Buc swimmers set three more new records over the weekend; The 8 & Under Boys bettered both the 100 meter Freestyle and 100 meter Medley relay AREA marks. The team of Max Wahba, Ryota Misaki, Robin Heyn, and Kenji Nomura out-touched the Shanghai team by .32 seconds setting a new AREA standard of 1:07.54. The boys from Shanghai nipped the BUCS on the Medley relay by .23 seconds but, the BUCS time of 1:18.32 was under the old AREA mark. Seisen 3rd grader, Natsuki Uchino broke the girls 8 & Under 100 Individual Medley going 1:32.73.

Approaching the midpoint of the season, there are still lots of things to work on. The coaches were inspired to see that gutsy performances were still being turned out on the last event of the meet. Contesting the Individual Medley as the last event is a great way to close out a competition and Buc swimmers did not disappoint. Over the two day meet, SMST swimmers produced 16 US Swimming AAAA times, 29 AAA standards, 37 AA, and 61 A times over the weekend, well ahead of last year’s performance at the annual invitational.

High Point trophies are awarded to the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place finishers in each age group based on six events over 2 days. Swimmers garnering trophies for their respective age groups were;

15 & 18 Boys

Joshua Brown (High Point),  Stefano A’De Lima (2nd High Point), and Shane Brett (3rd High Point) 

15 & 18 Girls

Kaitlin Rossman (High Point), Coco Yamamoto (2nd High Point), and Yuri Hayashi (3rd High Point) 

13 - 14 Boys

Yutaro Sahara (High Point), Naoki Nomura (2nd High Point), and Raunak Khosla (3rd High Point) 

11 - 12 Boys

Jun Asano (3rd High Point) 

9 - 10 Boys

Ryan Fenwick (High Point) 

8 & Under Boys

Max Wahba (High Point)

8 & Under Girls

Natsuki Uchino (High Point) 

 The Bucs will be at the International Swimming Complex in Tastumi for the Tokyo Fall Kirokukai Meet on Nov. 15th + 16th.

October 2014

Seibu – Nanbu Tatsumi Meet

St. Mary’s swimmers competed in their first meet this season at Tatsumi over the weekend. Meets at the International Swimming Complex always provide lots of excitement – the meet featured lots of talent with 1,744 competitors from 59 clubs in attendance. It’s early in the season and Buccaneer swimmers have already established seven new records. Both Kaitlin Rossman and Natsuki Uchino set two new AREA records each. Kaitlin’s marks came in the 100 + 200 Breaststrokes going 1:18.38 and 2:49.97, respectively. Natsuki’s records came in the girls 8 & Under 50 meter Freestyle (36.69) and 50 meter Backstroke (44.19).

Training is beginning to pay off; Buc swimmers amassed  14  US Swimming AAAA times and popped 11 more AAA swims. SMST swimmers producing AAAA standards or better were Shane Brett, Joshua Brown, Junu Moon, Kazuki Martin, Yutaro Sahara, Naoki Nomura, and Raunak Khosla. AAA swims were turned in by Stefano A’DeLima, Takashi Kanazawa, and Jun Asano.  

Other swimmers bettering US Swimming AA times were Shunichi Ichimura, Riki Motoyama, Coco Yamamoto, Charlie Roth, Kaitlin Rossman, Nicolas Popov, Ryan Shimizu, Naoki Martin, Ian Takahara, Keigo Hayashi, Ryan Fenwick, Alex Platzer and Max Wahba. Allstar (A) times were also swum by Yuri Hayashi, Max Printz, Tyson Wang, Eugene DeCosse, Amelie Steck, Yu Kunita, Aisa Takahara, Bien Bagui, Lyon Schaefer, Roland Bridgman, Natsuki Uchino, Kenji Nomura, Ryota Misaki,  Bastien Bagui, Philipp Steck, and Robin Heyn.

SMST swimmers look forward to hosting the Buccaneer Invitational on November 1st and 2nd.

Fall Swim Meet @ St. Mary’s

The Buccaneers Swim Team played host to 9 teams at the annual October swim meet on Sunday. Unfortunately with typhoon looming, only a few swimmers from the Yokosuka Seahawks could attend. Shane Brett, Yutaro Sahara, Jun Asano, Max Wahba, and Natsuki Uchino all posted a maximum 4 individual wins. Kazuki Martin, Naoki Nomura, Coco Yamamoto, and Kenji Nomura each took 2 individual titles. Other Bucs with individual wins were; Shunichi Ichimura, Kaitlin Rossman, Naoki Martin, Keigo Hayashi, Aisa Takahara, Ryan Fenwick, Takanobu Kanda, Torjiro Someya, and Robin Heyn. 

The finale to the meet provided plenty of excitement.  The Bucs split their 2 relays evenly in the spirit of  competition for the 200 meter Freestyle relay. Junu Moon, Joshua Brown, Stefano A’DeLima, and Shun Ichimura combined to go 1:40.66 to outlast the team of Shane Brett, Kazuki Martin, Takashi Kanazawa, and Charlie Roth (1:41.44). Relays are always fun and the team of Ryota Misaki, Robin Heyn, Kenji Nomura, and Max Wahba got very close to bettering the boys 100 Freestyle relay AREA mark.

US Swimming AAAA standards were turned in by Shane Brett, Kazuki Martin, Yutaro Sahara, and Naoki  Nomura. AAA swims were produced by Joshua Brown and Raunak Khosla.

Once again the team enjoyed excellent support from Buc parents volunteering for officiating and timing duties ensuring that the meet ran smoothly - nearly 1,100 individual entries and 46 relays were contested with plenty of changes to be made due to the expected weather. Buccaneer swimmers are getting the itch to race at Tatsumi -  the Tokyo South vs. Tokyo West meet will be held at the International Swimming Complex on October 19th.

September 2014

Top Dog Swim Meet @ Yokosuka’s 50 meter Natatorium

The SMST Buccaneers took a large contingent of 88 swimmers to the Top Dog swim meet at Yokosuka’s 50 meter natatorium on Sunday. The meet was in a long course 50 meter format. Bucs swimmers set 7 new meet records. Bucs swimmers establishing new meet standards were; Yutaro Sahara (1), Ryan Fenwick (2), Max Wahba (3), and Natsuki Uchino (3). 

High point trophies were awarded to the top swimmer in each age group. A maximum of four individual events could be contested. High point winners were;

Joshua Brown  (15 – 18 Boys)  /  Coco Yamamoto  (15 – 18 Girls)  /  Yutaro Sahara  (13 + 14 Boys)  /  Amelie Steck  (13 + 14 Girls) /

Jun Asano   (11 + 12 Boys)  /  Ryan Fenwick   (9 + 10 Boys) /  Max Wahba   (8 & Under Boys)  / Natsuki Uchino   (8 & Under Girls)                

Joshua Brown, Coco Yamamoto, Yutaro Sahara, Jun Asano, Max Wahba, and Natsuki Uchino each won four individual events.Ryan Fenwick took 3 titles and  double event wins went to Amelie Steck, and Yuri Hayashi. Others capturing individual wins were Shun Ichimura, Stefano A’De Lima, and Naoki Martin. The  swim team will be in action again at St. Mary’s on Sunday Oct. 5th.               

Fall Swim Season Kick-off  @ St. Mary’s

The swim team held their annual Fall Kick-off time trial on September 13th. Expected results are already beginning to show after almost one month of practices.  The meet gave veteran swimmers an opportunity to ease into the season. The coaches had a chance to get a good look as well as become better acquainted new members of the team. Most of the experienced swimmers contested the Individual Medley as well as non specialty events. 

Freshman Yutaro Sahara had the only US Swimming AAAA standard with a stellar 2:16.92 effort in the Boys 13 + 14 200 meter Individual Medley. Seisen 3rd grader Natsuki Uchino set a new AREA record in the girls 8 & Under 25 meter Butterfly with an 18.93 swim.

US Swimming AAA standards or better were turned in by Joshua Brown, Kazuki Martin, Shunichi Ichimura, Stefano A’De Lima, and Naoki Nomura. AA swims were produced by Junu Moon, Takashi Kanazawa, Kaitlin Rossman, Jun Asano, Naoki Martin, Ryan Fenwick,  and Max Wahba.

Other A swims came from Riki Motoyama, Coco Yamamoto, Ryan Shimizu, Naoki Martin, Ian Takahara, Aisa Takahara, Alex Platzer, Natsuki Uchino, Bastien Bagui, and Kenji Nomura. The Bucs will take a large contingent to Yokosuka’s long course 50 meter Top Dog swim meet on Saturday, Sept. 28th.

August 2014

Japan Age Group National Swimming Champs Aug. 26-30 @ Tatsumi

The Swim Team started their season with both senior Shane Brett and sophomore Joshua Brown performing at Japan's Age Group National Championships. Age Group Nationals are contested twice a year, in late March in a short course 25 meter format and in August in the Olympic-sized 50 meter pool. 3,913 athletes from 47 prefectures throughout the nation competed in the 5 day annual classic. 

Shane placed 22nd in the 17 -18 boys 400 meter Individual Medley (4:39.42). He also finished 25th in the 200 meter Individual Medley (2:11.76). Joshua Brown went 53.73 in the 15 -16 Boys 100 meter Free for the 24th spot. He also took 29th place in the 50 meter Free with a 24.92 effort.

The Swim Team will hold 1st meet of the season – an intersquad time trial at St. Mary’s on Saturday, September 13th. The SMST Buccaneers will then travel to Yokosuka on September 28th for the Seahawk’s Fall long course invite.

May 2014

Pentathlon @ St. Mary’s

The Buccaneers held an inter-squad pentathlon contesting 5 events; the 100 meter Individual Medley, 50 m Butterfly,  50 m Backstroke, 50 m Breaststroke, and 50 m Freestyle. It was a fun day around the pool with 12 alumni and long time Buc Coach Yoshiharu Endo swimming a number of races. St. Mary’s Alumni winning races were;  Miguel Molina, Ryutaro Kamiya, and Kelly Moodie.

 Rankings were compiled by total time after 5 events. 

SMST Pentathlon Results

Swimmers winning their age group by taking wins in all 5 events were; Natsuki Uchino (8 & Under), Max Wahba (8 & Under), Ryan Fenwick (9-10), Ayaka Yoshihashi (11-12), and Luka Honobe (13-14). The most hotly contested age group was the 11-12 Boys with Naoki Martin finishing just 1.14 seconds ahead of runner-up Kota Uchino and 3.48 seconds ahead of Jun Asano in 3rd place. Yutaro Sahara edged Takashi Kanazawa for the top spot for 13-14 Boys and Shun Ichimura outpaced Stefano A’De Lima for the 15-18 Boys title. 

The Individual Medley is always fun to watch as it combines the four competitive strokes – Butterfly, Backstroke, Breaststroke, and Freestyle – into one race. Training the Individual Medley is fun as you can mentally challenge yourself while outsmarting fatigue to the muscle groups performing all strokes. Most swimmers have a stroke that that they are weak at and striving to become more proficient on the weak stroke enhances the athletes overall development.  Working the IM really provides a full body workout.

Jolly Roger Invitational Swim Meet @ St. Mary’s

The Swim Team hosted their last home meet of the year on Sunday. Nine teams competed in the Jolly Roger Invitational with 256 swimmers attending with 981 individual entries and 37 relays. The Bucs finished the day with the team title amassing 1,381 points. The British School Swim Team finished in 2nd place with 556 points followed by the Yokosuka Jr. Seahawks with 406 points.

Buc Swimmers took 8 out of the 10 High Point trophies awarded, winners were;

Shane Brett (15-18), Coco Yamamoto (15-18), Joshua Brown (13-14), Kaitlin Rossman (13-14 Girls), Jun Asano (11-12), Ryan Fenwick (9-10), Max Wahba (8 & Under), and Natsuki Uchino (8 & Under).

SMST’s 13 – 14 Boys continued their tear on the record books setting a new OPEN + AREA record in the 200 meter Medley Relay with the following splits; Yutaro Sahara (Back – 29.77 ), Joshua Brown (Breast – 30.56), Naoki Nomura (Fly – 27.24), and Takashi Kanazawa (Free – 25.22). 

The Swim Team annual awards were presented following the completion of the meet. Graduating senior Nicolas Flint gave a heartfelt speech to all in attendance. SMST’s annual awards went to the following team members;

Elementary School  MVP  - Jun Asano

Elementary School  Most Improved  - Ryan Fenwick

Elementary School  Outstanding Swimmer - Keigo Hayashi

Middle School  MVP  - Takashi Kanazawa

Middle School  Most Improved – Yutaro Sahara

Middle School  Outstanding Swimmer – Naoki Nomura

St. Mary’s Swimmer of the Year – Joshua Brown

High School MVP – Shane Brett

Senior Award – Nicolas Flint

High School  Most Improved – Shunichi Ichimura

High School  Outstanding Swimmer – Kazuki Martin

The Bucs will compete at the long course Summer Kanto Plains Championships at Yokosuka on June 1st.

April 2014

International School Manila Invitational @ Taguig, Philippines

St. Mary's Swim Team participated in their first meet in the Philippines on April 26th + 27th. ISM hosted the annual event in their outdoor picturesque 8 lane 25 meter facility amongst towering palm trees.St. Mary's finished in 2nd overall out of seven teams with just 22 swimmers. The Bucs finished just a bit more than 100 points behind the host International School Manila Sailfish, fielding a team of 116 swimmers. The Brent International School Aquadragons (Manila) finished in 3rd place. In boys scoring, the team was clearly dominant taking 11 of the 15 high point trophies awarded.     

SMST took 12 high point trophies overall. The buccaneers solo girl participant, Natsuki Uchino, took the 2nd place high point award for the 8 & Under Girls division - Natsuki also broken her own AREA record with a 19.12 swim in the 25 meter Butterfly. Buccaneer boys garnering High Point trophies were; Junu Moon (1st place; 15 - 18), Takashi Kanazawa (1st place; 13 -  14), Jun Asano (1st place; 11 - 12), Ryan Fenwick  (1st place; 9 - 10), Max Wahba (1st place; 8 & Under), Charlie  Roth (3rd place; 15 - 18), Yutaro Sahara (2nd place; 13 - 14), Kota Uchino  (2nd place; 11 - 12), Skyler Pang (3rd place; 11 - 12), Bien Bagui (3rd place; 9 - 10), and Bastien Bagui (3rd place; 8& Under).

Brent International School's Patrick Tierie took the top male performance of the meet award. The top performance award was based on FINA points scored in a single event; Junu Moon, Takashi Kanazawa, and Yutaro Sahara finished in the running placing 2nd, 3rd, and 4th, respectively.

The whole team would like to thank Christine and Bedi Bagui for their help making arrangements for the team dinner; authentic Filipino cuisine after the fist day of the competition hit the spot and kept the ball rolling for solid performances on the next day. The opportunity to travel as a team abroad and compete in a quality meet offers a valuable experience. The Bucs look forward to a new season and the chance to travel and make new friends again. The swim team will host their final home meet with Jolly Roger Invitational May 18th.

Tokyo South Block Swim Meet @ Tatsumi

The Swim Team had strong performances at Sunday's Tokyo South meet at International Swimming Complex in Tatsumi. It was a small meet by Japan Amateur Swimming Federation standards with just 1,314 swimmers from 37 clubs. The Bucs had 45 swimmers at the meet and it provided a great opportunity for newer team members to experience a meet in a state-of-the-art facility. Veteran swimmers were afforded the chance to compete in events that they don’t always contest early in the season.  

Both Shane Brett and Joshua Brown set new OPEN + AREA records. Shane's new 15 - 18 mark in the 200 meter Butterfly (2:01.89) was also well under the national qualifying standard. Joshua Brown broke the Boys 13 - 14 OPEN + AREA mark swimming a 2:10.50 in the 200 meter Individual Medley.  

Other US swimming AAAA times were turned in by Kazuki Martin breaking the 24 second mark for the 50 meter Free for the first time with a 23.91; Takashi Kanazawa (1:59.78 – 200 Free + 2:17.36 – 200 IM); Naoki Nomura (2:12.88 – 200  Butterfly + 1:00.37 – 100 Fly); and Yutaro Sahara (1:01.29 - 100 Fly). Shane and Josh also popped AAAA times – Shane (2:06.66 – 200 Backstroke + 55.68 – 100 Fly) and Joshua (4:11.06 – 400 Free). 

Swimmers with AAA times were Junu Moon and Stefano A’De Lima. AA came from Riki Motoyama, Coco Yamamoto, Luka Honobe, Skyler Pang, Jun Asano, Keigo Hayashi, and Ryan Fenwick.

Charlie Roth, Tyson Wang, Nicolas Popov, Yu Kunita, Kota Uchino, Neo Yoshii, Joshua Harper, Cameron Fenwick, Aisa Takahara, Marta Nieto-Kuruc, Max Wahba, Karl Bodenheimer, Natsuki Uchino, Kenji Nomura, and Ryota Misaki all bettered US A time standards. 

The Swim Team will travel to Manila to compete at the International School Manila Invitational on April 26th + 27th. It will be the Bucs first time attending a meet in the Philippines.   

March 2014

Japanese Age Group National Swimming Championships @ Tatsumi 

3,590 swimmers from 859 clubs packed into the Tatsumi's International Swimming Complex for the annual March 27th - 30th  JOC Cup - All Japan Age Group National Short Course Championships. It was the 36th annual spring championships with swimmers from 47 prefectures throughout the nation in the competition.

Junior Shane Brett was the first buccaneer to compete on day two of the meet swimming the 400 meter Individual Medley. Shane finished in 20th place and 1st overall in Tokyo with a solid 4:24.45 swim.

                   Joshua Brown pulls the trigger and wins the 50 Free at National Champs !

There was lots of excitement around SMST's section on day three of the meet. Freshman Joshua Brown was in 4th place in the 50 meter Freestyle after a morning prelim swim of 23.93. It was a different story in the finals - Josh nailed his start and had a great breakout after the dive to take a lead that he never relinquished to become this years' 13-14 Boys national champion. Josh blazed a 23.63 in the finals ahead of Kagawa-Ken's Masaya Murakami of Sakaide Swimming School (23.77).

Less than an hour after Josh's win and award ceremony presentation a pumped up group threw down a combined 3:37.97 good enough for 5th place in the Boys 13-14  400 meter Freestyle relay. The quartet of Takashi Kanazawa (54.07), Joshua Brown (51.78), Yutaro Sahara (55.33), and Naoki Nomura (56.78) bettered their two week old OPEN + AREA record by a whopping 3.53 seconds to take 5th overall in the nation. It was rather remarkable as the boys swam almost identical splits from their earlier prelim time of  3:37.99  to qualify for the afternoon finals.

   13-14 Boys   4 x 100 meter Freestyle Relay Results

    1st     Tokyo Swimming Center (Tokyo)         3:33.90

    2nd    Swin Omiya (Saitama)                            3:34.68             

    3rd    Okazaki Tatsuki (Chiba)                        3:35.96            

    4th    Konami Nishimiya (Hyogo)                    3:37.89     

    5th     St. Mary’s (Tokyo)                                 3:37.97            

    6th     NEC Green Tamagawa (Kanagawa)    3:38.28

    7th     Sakaide Ito SS (Kagawa)                       3:38.64

    8th     Kaneda Swim Club (Tokyo)                  3:39.15

Kazuki Martin and Takashi Kanazawa also both competed individually in the 50 meter Free going 24.09 and 24.78, respectively. 

Kazuki M., Shane Brett, Nicolas Flint, and Junu Moon competed in the Boys 15-18  400 meter Free Relay and were a bit off their time from the J.O. Yosen meet two weeks ago - it's a young relay team and it looks like things will set up well for a "hot" relay next season.

Shane Brett started day four of the competition off great for the Bucs with a swift 200 meter Individual Medley race going 2:04.38 with splits of (26.95) - Fly, (31.57) - Back, (36.02) - Breast, and (29.83) - Free. Unfortunately, Shane was disqualified for an illegal dolphin kick on the breaststroke leg - Brett would have finished 19th without the DQ.

Josh Brown had a grueling schedule tackling three races in a span of 1 hour and 40 minutes competing in the 100 Breast, 100 Free, and the 400 Medley Relay. Josh went 1:06.04 in the 100 meter Breast before finishing in 17thoverall in the 100 meter Free with a 53.37 effort. The final event for SMST was the 13-14 Boys 400 meter Medley Relay. The Bucs relay finished in 18th place overall bettering their own OPEN + AREA record with a very competitive 4:01.66 - the splits were; Yutaro (Back – 1:02.89), Joshua (Breast – 1:05.51), Naoki Nomura (Butterfly - 59.85), and Takashi Kanazawa (Freestyle - 53.41).

The Age Group Nationals will be televised nationally on BS-11 on April 12th - coverage starts from 8:00 pm.

March Age Group Swimming Champs @ St. Mary’s

The Bucs played host to 19 teams at the March Age Group Championships on Saturday and Sunday. Championship meets always seem to bring the best out of all – it was quite a meet with 473 athletes attending the annual competition. The coaches would like to thank all the volunteers that helped make the weekend a success – your hard work is greatly appreciated! The Bucs parents were incredible running a meet with 2,115 individual entries as well as 142 relays. The combined effort of the parents resulted in finishing earlier than expected despite encountering difficulties with the timing system on day two of the competition. An awards ceremony was held in a packed gymnasium following the last event on Sunday afternoon.

St. Mary’s took the overall team trophy with 4,066 points. Setagaya-Ku’s Kibogaoka Swim Team amassed 1,855 points for 2nd place. The Okinawa Dolphins Swim Team followed with 1,777 points to finish in the 3rd spot. High Point trophies are awarded to the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place finishers in each age group based on six events over 2 days. Buc swimmers took a total of eleven high point honors.  Swimmers capturing high point trophies were Nicolas Flint (15-18) 1st; Junu Moon (15-18) 2nd;Stefano A’De Lima (15-18) 3rd; Yutaro Sahara (13-14) 1st; Kaitlin Rossman (13-14) 1st; Naoki Nomura (13+14) 2nd; Takashi Kanazawa (13-14) 3rd; Luka Honobe (13-14) 3rd; Jun Asano (11+12) 3rd; Ryan Fenwick (9+10) 1st; Max Wahba (8 + Under) 1st; and Natsuki Uchino (8 + Under) 2nd.

Other swimmers finishing in the top 8 in overall points for their age groups were Shunichi Ichimura, Kai McGuire, Shane Brett, Coco Yamamoto, Yuri Hayashi, Tyson Wang, Eugene Decosse, Kota Uchino, Naoki Martin, Neo Yoshii, Keigo Hayashi, Bien Bagui, and Kenji Nomura.  

The Crescendo relays are always a crowd favorite as swimmers from each age group are featured. The Buccaneers won both the Boys 200 meter Crescendo relay and the 400 meter Crescendo Freestyle relay.

Keigo Hayashi (11 + 12), Naoki Martin (13 + 14), Shane Brett (15-18) and Ryan Fenwick (9 + 10) combined to  win the Boys 200 meter Crescendo relay in 2:08.05. The Bucs girls team of Coco Yamamoto (15 - 18), Kaitlin Rossman (13 + 14), Marta Nieto-Kuruc (11 + 12) and Lisa Purcell (9+ 10) also took 1st place in 2:25.59.

The Bucs easily won the 400 meter Crescendo Freestyle Relay – the Freestyle crescendo features 5 swimmers from each age group swimming either a 50 or a 100. Max Wahba (8 + Under – 50m), Ryan Fenwick (9/10 -   50m), Kota Uchino (11/12 – 100m), Takashi Kanazawa (13/14 – 100m), and Nicolas Flint (15/18 – 100m) posted an impressive in 4:08.74 nearly 9 seconds ahead of the nearest competition.

The final race of the meet, the Boys 15 – 18 4 x 100 Freestyle Relay, was arguably one of the most exciting races of the weekend. St. Mary’s and Nittai Ebara went head to head over 400 meters with the Buccaneers winning at the end on the strength of senior Nicolas Fints anchor leg. Nic got his hand to the wall first touching out Nittai Ebara’s anchor leg by .03 seconds and making up a deficit of 2.5 seconds. Both relay teams will compete at Japan’s Age Group national Championships on March 29th.

US Swimming AAAA standards were turned in by Shane Brett, Nicolas Flint, Takashi Kanazawa, Naoki Nomura, and Yutaro Sahara. AAA times came from Junu Moon, Kaitlin Rossman, Stefano A’De Lima, and Laszlo Wenk. AA swims were produced by Shunichi Ichimura, Coco Yamamoto, Riki Motoyama, Kai McGuire, Jared Mason, Naoki Martin, and Ryan Fenwick. A times came from Yuri Hayashi, Tyson Wang, Luka Honobe, Kota Uchino, Skyler Pang, Neo Yoshii, Keigo Hayashi, Jun Asano, Max Wahba, Karl Bodenheimer, Kenji Nomura, and Natsuki Uchino.

The Bucs will send 8 swimmers to compete at Japan’s Age Group Nationals at the International Swimming Complex in Tatsumi from March 27 – 30.

2014 J.O. Yosen Swim Meet @ Tatsumi

 The J.O. Yosen meet is always an exciting one – the meet serves as the last chance to qualify for Japan’s Age Group National Championships. 35 team members from the International Buccaneers competed along with 2,973 swimmers from 133 clubs throughout Tokyo at the two day competition held at the International Swimming Complex at Tatsumi.

                                                                 Three SMST relays qualify !

It was poise under pressure when the 4 x 100 Free Relay came up at the end of day one. The girls events were already completed so oddly both boys (13 + 14) and (15 - 18) relays were run simultaneously across 16 lanes of the pool. St. Mary's 15 - 18 Boys relay was down to their last chance to qualify for nationals. Buc swimmers needed to average better than 52.4 per man over 100 meters.The Bucs have a tradition in the event having finaled at nationals on several occasions. Freshman Kazuki Martin, Shane Brett, Nicolas Flint, and Junu Moon combined to punch their ticket to the dance of all dances well under the national qualifying standard. Freshman Kazuki M. led off the relay in 51.97 bettering the national qualifying standard for 15 - 16 year olds - the relay split time of a lead-off swimmer is official. Shane B. swam the 2nd leg with a 51.68 effort. Senior Nicolas F. threw down a 52.18 followed by Junior Junu M. that anchored with a 52.39 for a total of 3:28.22 well under the 3:29.53 required for nationals. The SMST relay finished in 1st place overall in Tokyo.

The 13-14 Boys qualified for nationals in December with a 3:43.03. The favored did not disappoint. Takashi Kanazawa, Joshua Brown, Yutaro Sahara, and Naoki Nomura combined to better their own OPEN + AREA record with a 3:41.47. The boys finished 3rd overall with splits of 54.27 (Takashi K.), 53.20 (Josh B.), 56.17 (Yutaro S.), and 57.83 (Naoki N.).

The assault in the record board does not abate - the Bucs set 4 new records. Along with the 13 + 14 Free Relay record, Joshua Brown reeled off a 2:21.05 in the 200 meter Breaststroke to lower his own OPEN + AREA mark. Kaitlin Rossman erased her recently set 100 + 200 Breaststrokes to 1:16.89 + 2:46.00. 

The buccaneers produced 6 national qualifying times over the weekend and now have eight swimmers in for the March 27 – 30 J.O.C. Cup.

J.O.C. performances at the J. O. Yosen meet

15 – 18  400 meter Free Relay (Kazuki Martin, Shane Brett, Nicolas Flint, and Junu Moon)  3:28.22

13 – 14 400 meter Free Relay (Takashi Kanazawa, Joshua Brown, Yutaro Sahara, and Naoki Nomura)    3:41.47

14 yr. olds 50 meter Free   Takashi Kanazawa    24.80

15 - 16  100 meter Free  Kazuki Martin       51.97

15 - 16  400 meter Individual Medley  Shane Brett   4:23.76

14 yr. olds 100 meter Butterfly    Joshua Brown     57.94 

Swimmers close to the JOC Cup qualifying times were eligible to compete in the “challenge races” at the end of the regular session of events. Takashi Kanazawa swam the "challenge" on Sunday and came up .24 seconds off the required 54.07 for the 14 year old Boys 100 Freestyle. Takashi swam a 54.21 in the morning missing the cut by a mere .14 seconds. 

"Body does what the mind prefers" - the coaches were pleased to see the approach the swimmers took to the meet. Along with the twelve AAAA standards put in by Buc swimmers, the Bucs had nine AAA swims, nine AA and twenty-three A standards. Not including the previously mentioned, allstar times were produced by Shunichi Ichimura, Stefano A’De Lima, Coco Yamamot, Luka Honobe, Tyson Wang, Nicolas Popov, Neo Yoshii, Kota Uchino, Cameron Fenwick, Keigo Hayashi, Ryan Fenwick, Riku Ichimura, and Torajiro Someya.

SMST is looking forward to hosting the March Age Group Championships at St. Mary’s (March 15 + 16th). The meet will surely provide lots of competition with more than 15 teams competing.

February 2014

Tokyo-To Winter Swim Meet @ Tatsumi

The Tokyo-To winter swim meet is always an exciting one and a huge one as well – the end of the season is near and folks are ready to swim FAST. The two day meet was held at the International Swimming Complex at Tatsumi and was run in a trials and finals format - swimmers attempt to qualify for a spot in the afternoon top eight finals. Some races were set as timed final

s. Thirty-six from the St. Mary's Buccaneers Swim Team competed along with 2,954 competitors from 152 clubs throughout Tokyo. The Bucs set seven new records and had six swims that were under Japan’s Age Group National qualifying standards. There was lots of excitement around the pool with 2013 World Champion, Daiya Seto of Waseda University competing.

Junior Shane Brett broke Miguel Molina's 400 Individual Medley OPEN + AREA record from 2002 with a 4:23.26 effort taking 3.19 seconds off the old mark. The IM is always fun to watch as it combines the four competitive strokes - Butterfly, Backstroke, Breaststroke, and Freestyle - into one race. The 400 meter IM is considered to be swimming's most grueling event. Shane took 1st place overall in the 15 - 16 boys division and was well under the national qualifying standard with stellar splits of; 1:00.34 (Fly), 1:06.20 (Back), 1:15.35 (Breast), and 1:01.37 (Free). Shane also qualified for nationals in the 200 Freestyle with a swift 1:52.06 capturing 2nd place. 

Freshman Kazuki Martin capped off a great first day for the Bucs making his first nationals with a 24.02 in the 15 - 16 Boys 50 meter Freestyle. Kazuki took 2nd place in the finals after just missing the cut in the prelims - it's always great to see the guys go faster in the finals! Joshua Brown finaled in two events, finishing 2nd in the 13 - 14  50 meter Free and 7th in the 200 Free - his 24.36 time in the 50 was just off his best and under the "nats cuts". Takashi Kanazawa finished 8th in the 50 Free (25.31) – his prelim time of 25.13 was a scant .07 off the nationals. 

                                   BUCS 13 + 14 medley relay qualifies for the JOC Cup !

The quartet of Joshua Brown, Takashi Kanazawa, Yutaro Sahara, and Naoki Nomura had already qualified for the nationals in the 4 x 100 Free Relay last December. The boys took 3rd place overall in the Free Relay on Saturday afternoon and added the 4 x 100 Medley Relay to their repertoire for nationals bettering the "cut" and placing 3rd overall. Splits on the medley relay were Yutaro – Backstroke (1:03.98), Joshua – Breaststroke (1:04.26), Naoki - Butterfly (1:00.14), and Takashi - Freestyle (54.03). The boys obliterated the old OPEN + AREA record of 4:09.48 blazing a 4:02.41 more than two seconds under the national standard. 

Shane Brett stayed hot on Sunday breaking the 15 - 18 Boys 100 meter Butterfly AREA record twice. In the prelims, Shane took down Miguel Ortiz's 2009 mark with 55.75 swim to qualify 2nd. Shane took another .15 seconds off the newly established standard in the final going 55.60, also a national cut. Joshua Brown, Kauki Martin, and Takashi Kanazawa made it to the finals on Sunday – Joshua finished 5th in the 200 Breast (2:22.53), Kazuki and Takashi were 7th and 8th in the 100 Free with times of 52.66 and 55.20, respectively. 

Seisen Freshman, Kaitlin Rossman, set three records breaking her own OPEN + AREA mark in the 13 -14 girls 50 meter Breaststroke throwing down a 35.26 swim. Kaitlin also set AREA marks in the 100 + 200 Breaststroke going 1:17.00 and 2:46.76, respectively.  

The 15 - 18 Boys 400 Freestyle relay was 5th overall and was again close to making the national time. Kazuki M., Shane B., Nicolas Flint, and Junu Moon combined to swim a 3:31.90 - the last chance to punch a ticket to the March 27th - 30th national championships will be at the J.O. Yosen meet at Tatsumi on March 1st + 2nd. The team is well positioned to continue “on a roll” at the Yosen meet next week. So far it is Shane Brett, Joshua Brown, Kazuki Martin, Takashi Kanazawa, Yutaro Sahara, and Naoki Nomura that will represent St. Mary's at the March annual classic.  

Personal bests were the norm for the weekend.  Shane B., Kazuki M., Joshua B., Nicolas F., Junu M., Shunichi Ichimura, Stefano A’De Lima, Takashi K., Naoki N., Yutaro S., and Keigo Hayashi all popped AAA standards or better. Other Buc swimmers with US swimming A/AA time standards were; Riki Motoyama, Coco Yamamoto, Luka Honobe, Naoki Martin, Kota Uchino, Jun Asano, Ryan Fenwick, Max Wahba, and Natsuki Uchino. 

January 2014 

Winter 2014 Kanto Plains Championships @ St. Mary’s

The pool was abuzz yesterday for the Winter Kanto Plains Swimming Championships. St. Mary’s Buccaneers Swim Team captured their 41st consecutive league title. The team amassed a total of 1,492 points - The British School came in 2nd place with 654 points then followed by the Yokosuka Junior Seahawks with a total of 518.50 points. Heats were run as mixed events with both boys and girls competing together regardless of age however, events were scored by gender and age.  The coaches would like to thank all volunteers for keeping a meet with 11 teams and 285 student/athletes running smoothly – 1,014 individual entries and 92 relays ! It was the first time a St. Mary’s swim meet has been streamed live and the team would like to give a big thank you to Mr. Sirkka and his crew.

The Kanto Plains Champs challenges swimmers with a full day of racing. Swimmers compete in four individual events as well as 2 relays in the one day meet. High Point trophies were awarded to the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place finishers in each age group based on four individual events. Buccaneer swimmers captured 19 out of a possible 30 high point trophies - the following swimmers garnered trophies in their respective age groups:

BUC swimmers continue to compile new records; Freshman Joshua Brown set two new records in the Boys 13 + 14 200 meter Breaststroke (OPEN + AREA) and the 400 meter Individual Medley (AREA) throwing down times of 2:22.68 and 4:44.25, respectively. Seisen Freshman, Kaitlin Rossman, bettered her own Team record in the 13 + 14 Girls 200 Breast going 2:49.20. In the 8 + Under age group, Lisa Purcell was a mere .49 seconds off the Team record in the 25 meter Free. The quartet of Philipp Steck, Kenji Nomura, Max Wahba, and Karl Bodenheimer came within striking distance of the AREA record in the 100 meter Freestyle Relay blazing a 1:10.89. 

Buc swimmers producing  US Swimming AAAA times were Nicolas Flint, Shane Brett, Joshua Brown, and Naoki Nomura. AAA swims were turned in by; Junu Moon, Shunichi Ichimura, Kazuki Martin, Kaitlin Rossman, Stefano A’De Lima, Yutaro Sahara, Takashi Kanazawa, and Keigo Hayashi.  Other swimmers bettering US Swimming AA + A times were Riki Motoyama, Coco Yamamoto, Yuri Hayashi, Yu Kunita, Naoki  Martin, Kota Uchino, Neo Yoshii, Skyler Pang, Jun Asano, Ryan Fenwick, Lazlo Wenk, Aisa  Takahara, Max Wahba, Kenji Nomura, Natsuki Uchino, and Lisa Purcell.

Annual Swim-a-thon @ St. Mary’s

The Swim Team held their annual Swim-A-Thon on January 18th. Both coaches and spectators were inspired to see swimmers give their all in the team’s annual event. It’s hard to think of an exercise that demands simultaneous full and constant use of the arms, legs and core muscle groups. Building the aerobic base is key - crunch the #’s - 1,320 breaths are taken when you swim 5,000 meters and take 6 breaths per lap. The road to success is always under construction and the laps churned out will pay off when it’s championship meet time.  

It was only the second time that two swimmers completed over 200 lengths in an hour; both Kelly Moodie and Ryutaro Kamiya topped the 5,000 meter mark in 2010. Junior Shane Brett and Senior Nicolas Flint put in splendid performances – Shane posted the 2nd best all-time performance for 15 - 18 Boys swimming 205 lengths (5,125 meters) and Senior Nicolas Flint went 202 lengths (5,050 meters) achieving a tie for the all time 4th place. Freshman Joshua Brown was equally impressive completing 190 lengths – 4,750 meters – good enough to tie for 4th place all-time for 13–14  Boys. Scores of team members showed marked improvement over last year’s results.           

                            Top finishers for the 2014

                   “How far can you swim in 1 hour?” challenge were:

          15 – 18 Boys                

May 2012

Japan Open @ Tatsumi

The Japan Open was held at the International Swimming Complex in Tatsumi on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. The Competition was fierce as the entire Japanese contingent for the London Olympic games was competing. The ev will be televised nationally on TV Asahi.

Senior Kelly Moodie just missed the finals of the 100 meter Freestyle by a scant .06 seconds. His 51.04 was .2 seconds of his personal best and placed him 20th overall. 2010 St. Mary’s graduate and 12 year Buccaneer Ryutaro Kamiya, now a standout at the University of Michigan, placed 12 overall in the men’s 200 meter Backstroke with a lifetime best 2:01.32 effort.

Jolly Roger Swim Meet @ St. Mary’s

The Swim Team hosted their last home meet of the year - the Jolly Roger Invitational. High Point Trophies were awarded to the top point scorer in each age group based off of four individual events. Buc swimmers capturing high point awards were; Mokhtar Al-Yamani & Peter Arnet (15 – 18) tied; Shane Brett (13 + 14); Joshua Brown (11 + 12); Naoki Martin & Matthew Tronsen (9 + 10) tied; Bien Bagui (8 & Under); Kaitlin Rossman (11 + 12). 

Swimmers turning in United States Swimming AAA standards or better were Mokhtar Al-Yamani, Peter Arnet, Shane Brett, Toshiki Takahashi, Joshua Brown, Naoki Nomura, Joshua Brown, Yutaro Sahara, William Tronsen, and Takashi Kanazawa. US AA standards were swum by Masaya Takeda, Coco Yamamoto, Shunichi Ichimura, Yuri Hayashi, Matthew Tronsen, Naoki Martin, Adam Suh, and Kaitlin Rossman. Kota Uchino and Neo Yoshii also bettered A time standards.

The Swim Team annual awards were presented following the completion of the meet. Awards went to;

Elementary School  MVP  - Naoki Martin

Elementary School  Most Improved  - Kota Uchino

Middle School  MVP  - Joshua Brown

Middle School  Most Improved - Takashi Kanazawa                                                                                                                                                                                                                           High School MVP - Mokhtar Al-Yamani                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           High School Most Improved - Nicolas Flint                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Senior Award - Kelly Moodie + Christian Brown

Rookie of the Year - Peter Arnet + Naoki Nomura

Outstanding Swimmer Awards - Kazuki Martin / Yutaro Sahara / Toshiki Takahashi / Yuri Hayashi

Female Swimmer of the Year & High School MVP - Kana Modie

Middle School Girls MVP - Coco Yamamoto                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Middle School Girls Most Improved – Kaitlin Rossman  

April 2012 

Nanbu Block Swim Meet @ Tatsumi

The Swim Team had a lot of good performances at the annual Tokyo South meet. It was a small meet by Tatsumi standards with just 1,604 swimmers from 39 teams. Freshman Mokhtar Al-Yamani continued his assault on the record books. Mokhtar set two new 13 + 14 OPEN + AREA records in the 200 meter Butterfly (2:05.18) and the 200 meter Freestyle (1:52.95). Both times were under the Age Group National “cuts” and his 200 Fly mark also bettered the 15 - 18 Boys Open + AREA standard. Other swimmers turning in United States Swimming AAA standards or better were Kazuki Martin, Peter Arnet, Christian Brown, Nicolas Flint, Joshua Brown, Yutaro Sahara, Takashi Kanazawa, and William Tronsen. US AA standards were swum by Masaya Takeda, Junwoo Moon, Shunichi Ichimura, Coco Yamamoto, Matthew Tronsen, Naoki Martin, Adam Suh, and Kaitlin Rossman. Yuri Hayashi, Riki Motoyama, Marina Chun, Kota Uchino, and Laszlo Wenk bettered A time standards. 

Japan Olympic Swimming Trials @ Tatsumi

Japan’s Olympic Trials for the London Games were held at the International Swimming Complex at Tatsumi from April 2nd - April 8th. Trials were be televised nationally on both Asahi BS-1 and NHK. St. Mary’s senior Kelly Moodie competed in both the 100 and 200 meter Freestyle events. Kelly’s 51.46 in the 100 meter Free was just .78 seconds off making the evening semi-finals. Olympic trials is a tough enough meet with everyone who is anyone vying for a spot on the Olympic roster but, the process was even tougher this year with the federation utilizing very stringent qualifying times faster than the FINA A “cuts”. For many of the elite swimmers, trials is the last meet before retirement and a changing of the guard often takes place in the next four year cycle. Japan will surely field a small but strong contingent in London. 

March 2012

Japanese Age Group National Swimming Championships @ Tatsumi

3,638 swimmers from 887 clubs packed into the International Swimming Complex at Tatsumi for the annual March 27th - 30th JOC Cup - Age Group National Short Course Championships. March Madness continued to see St. Mary’s swimmers excelling on the national scene.

Mokhtar Al-Yamani wins the 50 Free ! Freshman Mokhtar A. scorched the field in the finals of the 13 + 14 Boys 50 meter Free to become the National Champion. Al-Yamani’s 23.48 shattered his Open + Area standard and was .41 seconds ahead of the 2nd  place finisher. The Bucs had a great first day with three swimmers advancing to the afternoon finals. Christian Brown placed 6th overall in the 50 Free (23.19) off a 23.00 prelim effort. He also finished in 8th in the 50 meter Breaststroke going 28.62 - Christian’s 28.36 preliminary swim set a new Open + Area record. Peter Arnet made it to the B final in the 50 Free finishing in 16th place in 23.45 just off his am 23.23 time. Mokhtar reached the podium for the 2nd time in two days finishing with a bronze medal in the 100 meter Freestyle blazing a 51.92. His finals time bettered his am prelim Open + Area standard (52.01). The 100 was a gut wrenching race with the top four finishers within .25 seconds of each other. Peter Arnet finished in 28th Place in the 15 - 18 100 Free with a personal best 51.36. 7th grader Joshua Brown popped a personal best in the 11 + 12 50 meter Free going 26.81 good enough for 26th overall.

Day three saw Mokhtar Al-Yamani remaining “on fire” with a great 100 Butterfly swim. Mokhtar placed 4th overall after advancing to finals with a 56.55 prelim swim. He set a new Open + Area record of 56.09 in the finals and his 26.05 split set a new record for the 50 meter Fly. With Japan’s Olympic Selection meet    just days away, St. Mary’s senior Kelly Moodie elected to swim a limited schedule at the Age Group meet. Kelly anchored hi 4 x 100 Free relay team to a come from behind victory to overcome Osaka’s Itoman team in the last three meters. Kelly’s 48.78 spilt for the 10 meters was the 2nd fastest at the meet. Marine Toneri’s Inter-High champion for the 100 Freestyle, Katsumi Nakamura, set a new High School National record with a 48.08 split. Kelly repeated his third day performance on the last day of the competition anchoring the 4 x 100 medley relay with a 48.91 split for the Freestyle leg.

The NCAA Division I Swimming Champiohips were held a week ago and both 2009 + 2011 St. Mary’s graduates  Miguel Ortiz and Bruno Ortiz helped the University of Michigan Wolverines to a 5th place overall finish. Miguel placed 10th overall individually in the 100 yard Backstroke for Honorable Mention All-American staus. Boy boths attained All-American status for their performances in Michigan’s 400 and 200 Medley relays. Miguel and Bruno and presently competing at Spain’s Olympic Swimming Trials.

Japan’s Olympic Trials for the London Games will be held at the International Swimming Complex at Tatsumi from April 2nd - April 8th. Trials will be televised nationally on both Asahi BS-1 and NHK. Daily coverage on Asahi BS-1 will be from 7:00 pm and NHK’s coverage starts from 8:00 pm. St. Mary’s senior Kelly Moodie will compete in the 100 and 200 meter Freestyle events.

2012 March Age Group Swimming Champs @ St. Mary’s

The Bucs played host to 15 teams at the March Age Group Championships on Saturday and Sunday. There was a lot of activity around the pool with 494 athletes attending the annual competition. The coaches would once again like to thank all the volunteers that helped make the weekend a huge success – your hard work is greatly appreciated ! The Bucs parents were incredible running a meet with 2,142 individual entries as well as 176 relays. An awards ceremony was held in a packed gymnasium following the last event on Sunday afternoon. There was plenty of FAST swimming with personal best times the norm and numerous nationally ranked swimmers present.

At 2:46 pm on Sunday the swimming stopped in memory of theTohoku Earthquake/Tsunami from a year ago. Taiyo Kyoiku Sports Center of Setagaya-Ku took the overall Team trophy with 4,496.5 points. The Bucs amassed 3,614.5 points for 2nd place. Nittai Ebara followed St. Mary’s with 1,988 points to finish in the 3rd spot.  In Boys team scoring the Bucs finished far ahead with 2,892.5 points to Taiyo’s 2,006 and Nittai Ebara’s 1,035.

High Point trophies are awarded to the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place finishers in each age group based on six events over 2 days.  Swimmers capturing high point trophies were Peter Arnet (15-18) 2nd; Kana Moodie (15-18) 1st; Mokhtar Al-Yamani (13-14) 1st; Toshiki Takahashi (13-14) 3rd; Joshua Brown (11-12) 1st; Naoki Nomura (11-12) 2nd; William Tronsen (11-12) 3rd; Matthew Tronsen (9-10) 3rd; Young Ju Choi (8 + Under) 1st; Riho Fujiwara (8 + Under) 2nd. Other swimmers finishing in the top 8 in overall points for their age groups were Nicolas Flint (6th), Junwoo Moon (8th), Kazuki Martin (4th), Yutaro Sahara (4th), Takashi Kanazawa (5th), Kaitlin Rossman (6th), Naoki Martin (8th), Riku Ichimura (6th), and Bien Bagui (7th).  

7 new records were established at the meet with Buccaneer swimmers setting 4 new marks. Mokhtar Al-Yamani broke the 2:10 barrier in the 200 meter butterfly with a stellar 2:09.16 swim. Kana Moodie set a new Team record in the 100 meter Freestyle leading off the 4 x 100 girls relay with a 59.60 split. Mokhtar, Toshiki Takahashi, Kazuki Martin, and Stefano A’De Lima combined to better the 13 + 14 Boys 200 meter Medley Relay record (1:57.89). The Crescendo relay features one swimmer from each age group – Naoki  Martin, Joshua Brown, Mokhtar Al-Yamani, and Christian Brown lowered the OPEN + AREA standard with a 2:01.11 in the 200 meter Medley Relay.

February 2012

2012 J.O. Yosen Swim Meet @ Tatsumi 

Swimming’s version of “March Madness” has begun. Much of the season is spent doing long aerobic sets mixed with bouts of lactate accumulation sets, specific skill drills, kicking pulling, underwater stuff, and a variety of work in all 4 strokes. The end of the season brings the “Taper period” when the everyone starts swimming faster. During the “Taper” more speed work and rest enables the body to catch up and it becomes time to “Free the Magician”.  

The J.O. Yosen meet is always an exciting one - it is the “last chance meet” for the best swimmers in the Kanto region to compete against each other and to qualify for the end of March Japanese Age Group National Championships. 22 members from the International Buccaneers competed along with 2,776 swimmers from 139 clubs at the annual event held at Tatsumi’s International Swimming Complex. Buc Swimmers produced 7 times under the Age Group national “cut”, 6 new records, 11 US Swimming AAAA standards, 10 AAA times, as well as a slew of other “hot” times.  

Swimmers close to the JOC Cup qualifying times were eligible to compete in the “challenge races” at the end of the regular session of events. Kazuki Martin, Joshua Brown and the 11 – 12 Boys 200 Free relay (Joshua, Naoki Nomura, Yutaro Sahara, and Takashi Kanazawa) all swam in the challenge races after just missing the JOC Cup standards. Kazuki missed both the 50 and the 100 meter Free cut in the morning by a scant .17 and . 63 seconds, respectively. Kazuki came closer in the 50 Free with a swift 25.81 missing the cut by only .10 seconds in the evening challenge. Joshua Brown already has the 50 meter Free cut but came within .84 seconds in the 100 Free (59.55).

The 11 + 12 Boys missed the National time by a heartbreaking .36 seconds in the challenge for the 200 Free Relay. Joshua (27.27), Naoki (29.34), Yutaro (28.93), and Takashi (27.38) came up just shy (.36 seconds) of the standard. An early takeoff, by just -.04 resulted in the relay being disqualified. The Bucs 15 - 18 Boys 400 meter Freestyle relay went a 3:31.54 (each swimmer averaging 52.9 per 100) and missed nationals by just .72. Year by year the standards get tougher - just a couple of years ago the BUCS went the same time and got 14th in the nation.  

Mokhtar Al-Yamani set new OPEN + AREA records in the 50 (26.13) + 100 (57.72) meter Butterfly events. Toshiki Takahashi broke his own 100 meter Breast mark with a 1:07.83 effort. He also bettered Bruno Ortiz’ (2008)  200 meter Breaststroke record with a 2:25.58. Kana Moodie set a new AREA mark in the 100 meter Backstroke with a 1:06.62 swim. 

Personal bests were the norm for the weekend. Other Buc swimmers popping US allstar time standards were; Masaya Takeda,  Junwoo Moon, Shunichi Ichimura, Riki Motoyama, Adam Suh, and Naoki Martin. 

The Big Ten Swimming Championships were held over the weekend. It was great to see St. Mary’s graduates play a leading role for the University of Michigan Wolverines. Miguel Ortiz, Bruno Ortiz, and Ryutaro Kamiya all scored well leading the Wolverines to the championship. Miguel and Bruno took 2nd place finishes in the 100 yard Back and 100 yard Breast. More information on the meet can be found @: http://www.mgoblue.com/sports/m-swim/recaps/022512aae.html# 

2012 Tokyo-To Winter Kirokukai Meet @ Tatsumi

2,678 swimmers from 142 clubs squeezed into the International Swimming Complex at Tatsumi for 2 full days of swimming. The meet featured Tokyo's top age groupers as well as university athletes. The Bucs set 6 new OPEN + AREA records and had 3 swims that  were under Japan’s Age Group national qualifying standards. 5 different SMST swimmers qualified for the top 8 afternoon finals. 

Freshman Mokhtar Al-Yamani won the 100 meter Butterfly. Mokhtar set a new 13 + 14 OPEN + AREA mark in the prelims going 57.97 and bettered his own record in the finals - 57.77. Mokhtar also broke Ryutaro’s 2006  200 meter Individual Medley standard with an impressive 2:10.82 taking 2nd place in the finals. Al-Yamani came back on just 25 minutes rest for a 2nd place finish in an exciting final of the 50 meter Butterfly – his 26.14 was a new OPEN + AREA record and just .01 from Style 1’s Mizuki Nakayama’s winning time.  7th grader Joshua Brown made it to the finals in both the 50 meter (27.53) and 100 meter (59.88) Freestyles snaring 3rd + 5th place, respectively. 6th grader Naoki Nomura bettered his own 50 meter Breaststroke time twice in the prelims and the finals. Naoki finished 7th overall with a 34.34 effort close to the age group national qualifier standard.

Peter Arnet took 2nd place in the 50 meter Freestyle (24.18). Christian Brown broke his own 50 meter Breaststroke OPEN + AREA record with a 29.14 swim – under the Age Group National qualifying standard.  8th grader Toshiki Takahashi bettered his own 13 + 14 100 meter Breaststroke OPEN + AREA mark (1:07.86). Toshiki also set a new record in the 50 meter Breaststroke going 31.77. 7th grader Kazuki Martin inched closer to the National qualifying time in the 50 meter Freestyle. Kazuki's 26.11 was just off the 25.67 JOC Cup standard for 13 year olds. Kazuki also went 57.01 in the 100 to also move within striking distance. An early takeoff on the 15 - 18 Boys relay resulted in a disqualification – the timing system indicated that the changeover from 1 to 2 was (-.10) seconds. On relays, swimmers can be moving prior to the start but, the next swimmers’ toes must remain on the starting block before the preceding racer touches the wall. SMST has a tradition of making it to the “Nationals” – the BUCS relay was just 1.69 seconds off the “cut” prior to the DQ. 

Other Swimmers turning in US Swimming AAA standards or better were Nicolas Flint, Kana Moodie, Masaya Takeda Yutaro Sahara, and Takashi Kanazawa. Other Allstar swimmers were Junwoo Moon, Shunichi Ichimura, Riki Motoyama, Kota Uchino, Hosei Kijima, and Laszlo Wenk. 

Japan Short Course Senior National Championships @ Tatsumi

Senior Kelly Moodie competed at the 53rd Nihon Senshuken Championships on Feb. 11th + 12th. TV Asahi provided nation-wide television coverage. Moodie qualified for the top 8 finals in the morning preliminaries with a stellar swim. The afternoon finals always provide a lot of excitement with TV crews, streamed music and lively announcers – atmosphere in the ready room is certainly different than prelims.  In the final, Kelly finished in 8th place just 1.19 seconds out of the medals. Central Sports’ Shunsuke Kuzuhara broke the Japanese national record to take the gold medal.

Kelly’s 1:47.39 swim was a new OPEN + AREA record surpassing his own record set in the days of the full body suits. FINA (Federation International de Natation), the governing body for swimming, banned rubberized suits and imposed measurement restrictions on swim suits following the Rome World Championships. Kelly’s 200 Free swim scored 788 points on the FINA point scale. 

Moodie also swam the 100 and 400 Freestyles finishing in 20th and 25th place, respectively. The 50.23 in the 100 Free was just .54 seconds off a chance for a second swim in the afternoon finals. The Short Course Nationals was the last big meet for Japan’s top swimmers before folks go off for training camps leading up to the 2012 Olympic Trials. The London Games Trials will be held the first week of April at the International Swimming Complex in Tatsumi – tickets for the event are now on sale at the Lawson convenience store chain. 

Winter 2012 Kanto Plains Championships @ St. Mary’s

The International Buccaneers Swim Team captured their 39th consecutive Kanto Plains Championship on Feb. 5th. The KP Championship has a long tradition and challenges swimmers with a full day of  racing. Competitors compete in four individual events as well as 2 relays in the one day meet. Heats were run as mixed events with both boys and girls competing together regardless of age however, events were scored by gender and age.  The coaches would like to thank all volunteers for keeping a meet with 10 teams and 302 student/athletes running smoothly -  1,027 individual entries and 97 relays !

SMST swimmers established 3 new records; 9th grader Mokhtar Al-Yamani (13 + 14) continued his assault on the record books setting a new OPEN + AREA in the 400 meter Individual Medley. Moku’s 4:46.60 swim broke Bruno Ortiz’s standard from 2008. Al-Yamani’s win in the 50 meter Freestyle (24.48) was also under Japan’s Age Group National qualifying time. Seisen sophomore Kana Moodie reeled off  two new records (151- 18) in the 200 meter  Individual Medley and the 200 meter Butterfly. Moodie’s 200 Fly was a new AREA mark bettering one of the older records by the Bucs Eva Grodzka from 1993. Kana’s 200 IM swim smashed Isabelle Vandenbroucke’s team record by 3 seconds (2:28.70).

The host Bucs had many veteran swimmers win high point honors as well as newcomers breaking into the ranks. High Point trophies were awarded to the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place finishers in each age group based on four individual events. More often than not the competition in the Individual Medley decides the overall winner. In the race of the meet, sophomore Nicolas Flint came home gangbusters in the last 25 meters of the 200 IM to win the event by .02 seconds and securing High Point honors for the 15 – 18 boys.

The following swimmers were awarded high point trophies in their respective age groups:

15 – 18 Boys

Nicolas Flint               High Point                  34 points                                     

Peter Arnet                2nd High Point            33 points

15 + 18 Girls

Kana Moodie             High Point                  36 points                                 

13 + 14 Boys

Mokhtar Al-Yamani    High Point                  36 points                              

Toshiki Takahashi        tied 2nd High Point    34 points                            

Kazuki Martin              tied 2nd High Point    34 points                          

Riki Motoyama             3rd  High Point           28 points      

13 + 14 Girls

Yuri Hayashi                tied 2nd High Point       30 points                            

Coco Yamamoto           tied 2nd High Point       30 points                           

11 + 12 Boys

Joshua Brown            High Point                    34 points

Naoki Nomura            2nd High Point            33 points                          

William Tronsen        3rd High Point            32 points                            

11 + 12 Girls

Kaitlin Rossman        2nd High Point               34 points  

 9 + 10 Boys

Matthew Tronsen       tied 2nd High Point     32 points                  

Naoki Martin              3rd High Point               29 points

8 + Under Boys

Keigo Hayashi             High Point                  36 points        

Bien Bagui                   3rd High Point             29 points  

8 + Under Girls

Riho Fujiwara            3rd High Point             31 points

Multiple event winners were Mokhtar Al-Yamani (13 + 14) - 4, Kana Moodie (15 - 18) - 4, Hayashi (8 + Under) – 4, Nicolas Flint (15 - 18) - 3, Peter Arnet (15 - 18)- 3, Toshiki Takahashi (13 + 14) – 3, Joshua Brown (11 + 12) – 3, Naoki Nomura (11 + 12) -3, William Tronsen (11 + 12) – 2, Kaitlin Rossman (11 + 12) – 3, Kazuki Martin (13 + 14) - 2, Riki Motoyama (13 + 14) - 2, and Matthew Tronsen (9 + 10) - 2. Other event winners were Masaya Takeda (15 + 18), Coco Yamamoto (13 + 14), Yutaro Sahara, Takashi Kanazawa (11 + 12), Naoki Martin (9 + 10), Bien Bagui, Laszlo Wenk and Riku Ichimura (8 + Under).

The team is well positioned for good performances in upcoming competitive meets at the International Swimming Complex in February. Japan Senior National Short Course National Championships will be held at Tatsumi on Feb. 10th + 11th. Senior Kelly Moodie will swim the 100, 200 + 400 Freestyle events. The short course nationals is the last big meet for Japan’s top swimmers before folks go off for training camps leading up to the 2012 Olympic Trials in early April. 

January 2012

Tokyo-To Senshuken Championships @ Tatsumi     

The Swim Team was at Tatsumi for the Tokyo-To Senshuken Championships on Jan. 28th + 29th. The meet provided an opportunity to race in the long course 50 meter format in the midst of the 25 meter short course season. It was a small meet by Tatsumi standards (739 swimmers from 100 clubs) as strict qualifying times were required and only times produced in long course meets were acceptable for participation. 

Many elite swimmers were in attendance with plenty of National team members also competing. Preliminaries and finals were held for each event and competitors placing well could advance to either A, B, or C finals. University and pro athletes were prohibited from swimming in the B or C finals. Spots in the A finals for the men’s events were almost exclusively taken by university and elite swimmers. Takeshi Matsuda’s performances were unquestionably the class of the meet. Matsuda currently holds the #1 ranking in the world for the 200 Butterfly and is world ranked in several other events. Matsuda hails from Miyazaki Prefecture so, he was ineligible to swim finals.  

SMST Seniors Kelly Moodie and Christian Brown made the B final in their events. Moodie qualified in the 50, 100, and 200 Free events. Brown made it to the B finals in the 100 Breast. Kelly won the B final of the 100 Free to take the top spot among Tokyo High Schoolers. His 52.27 prelim time was a mid-season untapered best. Best times come with more rest and taper time is looming - Japan’s Short Course Senior Nationals are just two weeks away. The venue for the Feb. 11th + 12th meet will also be the International Swimming Complex at Tatsumi.  

Tokyo New Year Swim Meet

The Swim Team started 2012 with a bang at the Tokyo-To New Year Swim Meet. 2,925 swimmers from 132 swim clubs competed at the annual meet. The meet  has  become popular with almost 1,000 more swimmers competing this year. Swimmers finishing in the top 8 in their preliminary heats advanced to the afternoon  finals. Some races were conducted as Time Finals. The meet also featured university swimmers and elite athletes throughout the Kanto Plains.  

Senior Kelly Moodie captured two wins. Kelly took first place in the finals of his signature event, the 200 meter Free, with a 1:49.69 swim - narrowly missing the meet record. He also won the 100 Freestyle with a 51.03 effort. Both swims were well under the Age Group National qualifying time. 

9th grader Mokhtar Al-Yamani won the Middle School 100 Butterfly (58.18) breaking his own OPEN + AREA record by .03 seconds and under the Age Group National qualifying standard. Mokhtar also took 4th place in 200 meter Freestyle (1:57.35) nipping under the Nationals ‘cut’ by .01 seconds. Mokhtar obliterated his own 50 meter Butterfly OPEN + AREA record twice with a 26.46 in the preliminaries before his 2nd place finish (26.24) in the finals.   

Joshua Brown and Yutaro Sahara also made it to the finals for 5th + 6th graders. Joshua finaled twice with a 3rd place finish in the 50 meter Free (27.44) and a 4th  place in the 100 meter individual medley (1:10.41). Yutaro bettered his morning prelim swim in the finals going 1:12.78 in the 100 IM. 8th grader Toshiki         Takahashi set two new OPEN + AREA records. Toshiki bettered his own 50 meter Breaststroke  (31.79) and broke the 100 meter Breaststroke mark held by Bruno Ortiz with a 1:08.05 swim. 

The Buccaneers Middle School 4 x 100 Freestyle relay (Mokhtar, Junwoo Moon, Kazuki Martin, and Shunichi Ichimura) finished in 5th place overall with a swift 3:45.11. Powerhouse Tokyo Swimming Center won the race with a new meet record. Swimmers in grades 7,8, and 9 are considered as middle schoolers in the Japanese system.   

The Bucs took 6th place in the boys 200 Medley Relay (grade 5 + 6). Yutaro Sahara, Naoki Nomura, Joshua Brown, and Takashi Kanazawa were a bit off their OPEN + AREA mark set in December at the Tokyo South meet. The four combined to place 5th overall in the 200 Free relay close to the national standard  however, a disqualification for an early take-off  nullified the result.  

The training is paying off as Bucs continue to produce US Swimming allstar time standards. AAAA times were put in by Kelly M., Mokhtar A., Toshiki T., Joshua B., and Naoki Nomura. Kana Moodie, Nicolas Flint, and Kazuki Martin  turned in AAA standards. Masaya Takeda, Shunichi Ichimura, Riki Motoyama, Takashi Kanazawa, Adam Suh, Naoki Martin, Kota Uchino, Keigo Hayashi, and Young Ju Choi bettered US Swimming AA  and/or A standards. 

December 2011

Tokyo South Club Championship Meet 

Buccaneer swimmers made a big splash at the Tokyo South Club Championship meet on Dec. 11th.  989 swimmers from 25 swim clubs competed at the annual  meet. Swimmers finishing in the top 8 in the preliminary heats advanced to the afternoon finals. The Bucs finished 3rd overall (best ever) in the combined boys scoring with 456 points behind Setagaya Swimming Team’s (535 points) and Mimi Swimming’s (499 points) total. 

In the finals, BUC swimmers surfaced with times good enough to win medals. Three SMST swimmers bettered Age Group National qualifying times and others are  getting closer quickly - Mokhtar Al-Yamani, Peter Arnet, and Joshua Brown. 8th grader Toshiki Takahashi set a new OPEN + AREA record in the 13 + 14 Boys 50 Breaststroke with a sizzling 31.91 swim. Toshiki also just missed Bruno Ortiz’s 2009 mark by .06 in the 100 Breaststroke going a 1:08.30. Seisen 10th grader Kana Moodie bettered her own AREA standard in the 100 Backstroke with a 1:06.67 effort. Joshua Brown, Naoki Nomura, Yutaro Sahara, and Takashi Kanazawa combined to set a new OPEN + AREA standard in the 200 meter Medley Relay (2:07.71). Buc swimmers making it to medal podium were;  

 Mokhtar Al-Yamani (13 + 14 Boys)  100 Free – 1st place (52.96) +  100 Fly – 1st place (58.86)

 Joshua Brown (11 + 12 Boys)               50 Free – 1st place (26.95) + 100 Free – 2nd place (1:00.30)

 Keigo Hayashi (8 + Under Boys)        50 Breast -  1st place (48.32) + 50 Free – 2nd place (36.84)

 Tyler Corwin (8 + Under Boys)          50 Breast – 3rd place (48.33)

 Naoki Nomura (11 + 12 Boys)              50 Breast – 3rd place (34.84) + 100 Breast – 3rd place (1:17.09)

Peter Arnet   (15 - 18 Boys)                   50 Free – 3rd place (24.01)

Christian Brown (15 - 18 Boys)            50 Breast – 3rd place (29.49)

13 + Over Boys 400 Meter Free Relay    1st place (3:34.36) Christian Brown, Mokhtar Al-Yamani, Peter Arnet, and Masaya Takeda

11 + 12 Boys 200 Meter Free Relay    2nd place (1:54.41) Joshua Brown, Naoki Nomura, Yutaro Sahara, and Takashi Kanazawa

 11 + 12 Boys 200 Meter Free Relay    2nd place (2:07.71) Yutaro Sahara, Naoki Nomura, Joshua Brown, and Takashi Kanazawa 

Buc Swimmers finishing out of the medals but stepping it up with scoring in the top 8 in finals were; (15 – 18 Boys) Christian Brown 50 Free - 4th place , Nic Flint 200 IM -  5th place, Peter Arnet 100 Free - 5th place (15 – 18 Girls) Kana Moodie 100 Back - 6th place, + 100 Free -7th place (13 + 14 Boys) Toshiki Takahashi         100 Breast - 4th place, + 50 Breast - 5th place, Kazuki Martin - 50 Free - 6th place (11 + 12 Boys) Yutaro Sahara 50 Back - 5th place + 100 Back - 7th place (8 + Under Boys) Young Ju Choi 50 Breast – 5th place and Laszlo Wenk 50 Breast – 6th place.   

November 2011

Distance Swim Meet @ St. Mary’s 

The Swim Team played host to Taiyo Kyoiku Sports Center on Saturday afternoon. The dual meet contested just one event – the 1500 meter Freestyle. Workouts are certainly  paying off and the aerobic base is being built – Endurance – an athlete’s edge !  

Freshman Mokhtar Al-Yamani missed Kelly Moodie’s AREA record for 13 + 14 Boys by a mere .63 seconds going 16:44.82. Moku’s effort was a US Swimming AAA time averaging 1:06.9 for 15  100’s. Seisen 10th grader Kana Moodie bettered Alexis McCoy’s  2007  15 – 18 Girls AREA mark with a 19:19.57 swim.  

Top finishers:                                                                            US Swimming Standards

Mokhtar Al-Yamani -   16:44.82    (2nd place 13 + 14 Boys)               AAAA

Nicolas Flint               -   17:28.03    (2nd place 15 - 18 Boys)                   AA

Kana Moodie             -   19:19.57    (1st place 15 - 18 Girls)                    AA

Christian Brown       -   18:21.23    (5th place 15 - 18 Boys)                     A

Masaya Takeda         -   18:32.49    (6th place 15 - 18 Boys)                     A

Toshiki Takahashi    -   19:20.27    (7th place 13 + 14 Boys)                    A

 Joshua Brown            -   19:47.25    (2nd place 11 + 12 Boys)                AAA

Yutaro Sahara           -   21:37.80    (3rd place 11 + 12 Boys)                  AA

Naoki Nomura           -   21:10.95    (4th place 11 + 12 Boys)                   A

Takashi Kanazawa   -   21:38.83    (5th place 11 + 12  Boys)                   A       

Kohei Kawamoto Swim Clinic @ St. Mary’s 

Elite swimmer Kohei Kawamoto held a swim clinic on Tuesday November 15th at St. Mary’s pool. Kohei recently placed 2nd and 3rd place in both the 100 and 50     Butterflys at FINA’s World Cup meet in Tokyo. Kohei will be vying for a spot on Japan’s 2012 Olympic Team for the London Games.  

St. Mary’s swim team members were fortunate to have Kohei interact with younger and veteran swimmers. He also provided valuable technique tips and drills for Butterfly and Freestyle as well as advice on both starts and turns. The Bucs were inspired by Kawamoto’s motivational speech and appreciated the time allowed for a Q + A session. Senior Kelly Moodie acted as translator for the clinic.  

The Bucs will be in action again on Saturday afternoon - Nov. 26th. Only one event, the 1,500 meter Freestyle, is contested at the annual distance swim meet with Setagaya-Ku’s Taiyo Kyoiku Sports Center.   

FINA World Cup Swim Meet  @ Tatsumi

Tokyo hosted its 2nd World Cup meet on November 12th & 13th. The World Cup is an international series of short course (25m) swim meets organized by FINA, the International Federation for Swimming. The 2011 series featured seven meets starting in early October. Meets were held in Dubai, Stockholm, Moscow, Berlin, Singapore, Beijing, and Tokyo. Each meet has 34 events – prize money is awarded to the top three swimmers in each event. Additionally, overall prize money is presented to the series top three swimmers – both male and female - $100,000 for the overall winner with $50,000 for 2nd place and $25,000 for the 3rd place finisher.  

St. Mary’s Senior Kelly Moodie swam the 200 and 400 Freestyles having qualified for the competition based off his August performances at the Inter-High            Championships and the Age Group National Championships. Kelly finished in 27th place for the 400 Free (3:55.69)  and in 37th for the 200 Free (1:50.43).  

Sweden’s Therese Alshammer and South Africa’s Chad Le Clos each received $100,000 as the overall series winners. The Tokyo meet was the last stop for the       2011 FINA series. 

The NCAA recruiting season for the 2012 graduating class is in full swing. Moodie, a five star recruit recently signed a national letter of intent/scholarship with the University of Arizona. Here is the link to the announcement - http://theswimmerscircle.com/blog/hansen-arizona-land-verbals-from-big-male-female-recruits/

The University of Michigan Wolverines are currently competing at the Minnesota Grand Prix meet.  St. Mary’s graduates Miguel Ortiz (2008), Ryutaro Kamiya (2009), Bruno Ortiz (2010) are all competing at the Grand Priz with the wolverines. Results can be found on the following link -http://www.gophersports.com/livestats/w-swim/index.htm

The St. Mary’s Swim Team will have a swim clinic with the Asian recordholder in the 100 Butterfly, Kohei Kawamoto on Tuesday November 15th after school. Kohei took 2nd place and 3rd place in the 100 and 50 Butterflys over the weekend at the World Cup meet. The Bucs are looking forward to benefiting from the experience.

Tokyo-To Kirokukai Swim Meet 

42 Buccaneer swimmers competed in the Nov. 5 + 6 Tokyo Fall Kirokukai Swim Meet at Tatsumi. 2,512 swimmers from 96 teams participated in the annual event. The coaches were pleased with the weekends’ performances and excited about the younger swimmers progress.  

The BUCS continue their streak of compiling Age Group National qualifying times very early in the swim season. Freshman Mokhtar Al-Yamani bettered the  JOC Cup standard for the 50 + 100 Freestyle as well as the 100 Butterfly. The 15 – 18 Boys won the Freestyle relay and were just 1.9 seconds off the ‘cut’ in the     400 meter relay with all swimmers averaging 53’s for a stellar 3:32.88.

Mokhtar Al-Yamani set 2 new OPEN + AREA records in the 13 + 14 Boys age group. Mokhtar blasted a 58.21 in the 100 meter Butterfly and blazed a 24.19 in       the 50 Free.  

10th grader Kana Moodie bettered her own OPEN + AREA mark in the 15 – 18 Boys 50 meter Backstroke to improve the standard to 31.97. 

The 11 + 12 Boys Relay took 2nd place overall in both the 200 Medley (2:10.29) and 200 Freestyle Relay (1:56.02). Joshua Brown, Yutaro Sahara, Naoki Nomura,  and Takashi Kanazawa narrowly missed the AREA record for the medley relay.  

The training is paying off as Bucs continue to produce US Swimming allstar time standards. AAAA times were put in by Mokhtar A., Toshiki Takahashi, Christian Brown, Joshua B., and Naoki N. Triple A times came from Kana M., Junwoo Moon, and Yutaro S.. AA times were turned  by Masaya Takeda, Nicolas   Flint, Shunichi Ichimura, Kazuki Martin, and Takashi K. A times were swum by Riki Motoyama, Jared Mason, Kacey Ries, Yuri Hayashi, Yudai Ichimura, Coco  Yamamoto, Marina Chun, Kaitlin Rossman, Yu Kunita, Keigo Hayashi, Young Ju Choi, and Laszlo Wenk. 

Tokyo will host its 2nd  FINA (Federation International de Natation) World Cup swim meet on Nov. 12th + 13th. The World Cup series was in Singapore this past weekend - Ian Thorpe’s long anticipated return to competition after retiring from the sport continues to grab headlines. The circuit will be in Bejing (Nov. 8 + 9) before the Tokyo meet.  St. Mary’s will be represented by Senior Kelly Moodie  competing in both the 200 + 400 meter Freestyle events. Olympic medalist and   world record holders from various nations will be competing. Tickets for the meet are on sale at the Lawson convenience store chain.   

October 2011

The Buccaneer Invitational has a long tradition always displaying strong swimming. The meet always features competitive Japanese teams – a decade ago Yasuko  Tajima swam in the meet 10 months prior to winning the Olympic silver medal in the 400 Idividual medley at the Sydney games. 10 elite nationally ranked athletes  from nearby Nihon Sports Science University (Nittaidai) competed on Sunday. Spectators were awe-struck by Nittaidai’s Senior Hiromasa Fujimori swim in the 200 Individual medley.

The swim team has held 58 workouts from the start of the school year leading to the Buc Invite – commitment determines success and the results were evident       over the weekend.

The Bucs played host to 11 teams throughout the Kanto Plains on Saturday and Sunday. There was a lot of activity around the pool with 331 athletes attending and a total of  1,435 individual entries and 85 relays.

The Bucs do not count themselves in the team trophy race for the Invitational but, amassed  1,063  points over the 2 days of competition. Taiyo Kyoiku Sports          Center of Setagaya-Ku took 1st place with 1,475.5 points, followed by Setagaya-Ku’s Mishuku Sakura Swim Team (605) and Kibogaoka finished with (290.5). In Boys team scoring the Bucs finished far ahead with 909 points to Taiyo’s 550, and Mishuku’s 287.

High Point trophies are awarded to the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place finishers in each age group   based on six events over 2 days.

15 – 18 – 9th grader Junwoo Moon took 2nd place overall with a 40 points over 2 days. Masaya Takeda captured the 3rd High Point with 36 points. Senior Kelly Moodie swam just 2 events; he won the 100 Free in a US Swimming AAAA time and led off the Bucs triumphant 400 Free relay. In the girls 15 – 18 division      Seisen 10th grader Kana Moodie took the overall high point trophy with a perfect 54 point total – Kana was close to breaking the AREA records in the 50, 100        Free, 100 Fly, and her own mark in the 100 Back.

13 + 14 – 9th grader Mokhtar Al-Yamani captured the High Point for with 52 points. Mokhtar bettered the Age Group National qualifying time in the 100 meter    Freestyle with a 53.89 effort. Toshiki Takahashi took 3rd place honors with a 42 point total and Kazuki Martin was close behind finishing 5th overall with 34 points. Mokhtar, Toshiki, Kazuki, and Riki Motoyama combined to break the AREA record in the Boys 400 Medley relay (4:19.50). In one of the more exciting races of the meet Toshiki Takahashi and Taiyo’s Takeshi Kiuchi battled head-to-head in the 200 Breast both swimming AAAA times – Kiuchi won the close race but, Toshiki came back on Sunday to win the 100 meter Breast.

11 - 12 -  The 11 - 12 age group was clearly the most competitive – just 12 points separated the top 5 swimmers in the high point standings. 7th grader Joshua Brown captured the High Point for Boys 11 – 12 with 50 points. The 3rd High Point went to 6th grader Naoki Nomura with a 40 point total just 2 points ahead of 5th place finisher, Yutaro Sahara. The quartet of Joshua, Naoki, Yutaro and Takashi Kanazawa won both the 200 Free and 200 Medley relays – narrowly missing the OPEN + AREA record in the Medley relay. 8 + Under -  3rd grader Keigo Hayashi netted the 2nd high point with a 2 day total of 50 points, just 2 points behind Taipei American School’s Hironori Kondo. Tyler Corwin had 44 points to capture the 3rd high point award. Bien Bagui and Young Ju Choi joined Keigo and Tyler to win the 100 Freestyle relay. Keigo, Tyler, Bien, and Laszlo Wenk also won the 100 Medley relay.

Other swimmers finishing in the top 8 in overall points for their age groups were Shunichi Ichimura, Riki Motoyama, Yuri Hayashi, Coco Yamamoto, Bien Bagui,  and Young Ju Choi. 

Once again the coaches would like to thank all the volunteers who helped make the weekend a success. 

7th Asian Age Group Swimming Championships in Jakarta, Indonesia 

Senior Kelly Moodie represented Team Japan at the 7th Asian Age Group Championships in Jakarta, Indonesia. Japan field a team of 30 – 15 boys and 15 girls. Selection for the Japanese team was based off of results from the All-Inter High School Championships and the JOC Cup meets.  

The original venue for the meet was Palembang, Sumatra however, pool construction was delayed resulting in the swimming portion of the aquatic games being moved to Jakarta. Water Polo, Diving, and Synchronised swimming remained in Palembang. The meet in Jakarta was held in the Senayan Aquatic Stadium, a       fifty year-old facility built by the Soviet Union. Facilities make a difference and best times were hard to come by but, everyone swims in the same water and the      spirit of competition was alive and well. 

The meet was run in long course meters and run in a trials and finals format. Kelly snared a bronze medal in the 200 meter Freestyle going  1:52.29 in the evening  finals. Oleg Robota of  Kazakhstan won the race with a 1:51.38. Teammate Ayatsugu Hirai won the 400 Free in 3:59.22 – Kelly placed 4th just out of the medals      with a 4:01.53. India’s standout Khade Virdhawal won the 100 Free (50.31) with Moodie finishing in 5th at 52.23. More info and photos of he games can be found at http://aasf-palembang2011.info/ 

The Buccaneers look forward to their annual Buccaneer Invitational (Oct. 22nd + 23rd). The meet has a long tradition will feature over 300 age group swimmers as well as nationally ranked elite athletes from nearby Nihon Sports Science University. Races will run from approximately 8:30 - 4:00 all day Saturday and Sunday.   

Seibu – Nanbu Tatsumi Meet 

St. Mary’s Swim Team had strong early season performances at the International Swimming Complex on Sunday. The swim team had 34 swimmers compete at  Tatsumi’s Tokyo West vs. Tokyo South swim meet. 1,440 swimmers from 43 clubs competed in the annual event.  

Many Bucs posted US Swimming Allstar Standards. Swimmers producing AAA standards or better were Mokhtar Al-Yamani, Peter Arnet, Kana Moodie, Junwoo Moon, Toshiki Takahashi, Kazuki Martin, Joshua Brown, Naoki Nomura, and Yutaro Sahara. Freshman Mokhtar Al-Yamani posted two Age Group National qualifying standards in the Boys 13 + 14 50 meter Free (24. 51) and the 100 meter Free (53.35).  

Other swimmers bettering US Swimming AA times were Nicolas Flint, Masaya Takeda, Shunichi Ichimura, and Takashi Kanazawa. A times were also turned in by Riki Motoyama, Yuri Hayashi, Coco Yamamoto, Adam Suh, Yudai Ichimura, Naoki Martin, Kota Uchino, and Keigo Hayashi, and Tyler Corwin. 

The Bucs 13-14 boys set a new AREA + OPEN record in the 200 meter Freestyle Relay (1:45.75). The quartet of Mokhtar Al-Yamani, Kazuki Martin, Junwoo Moon, and  Toshiki Takahashi combined to erase the 1999 standard held by Miguel Molina, Timothy Hawgood, Hiro Hayashi, and Sei Jorden.  

The team looks to “step it up” in training sessions with the Buccaneer Invitational Swim Meet  just two weeks away (Oct. 22 + 23). The Coaches know that those committed to putting in the aerobic work early in the season will reap rewards down the road.  

Fall Swim Meet @ St. Mary’s 

The International Buccaneers Swim Team hosted 5 teams at the annual October swim meet on Sunday. Bucs posting the maximum 4 individual wins were  Mokhtar Al-Yamani, Kana Moodie, and Peter Arnet. Nicolas Flint, Joshua Brown, and Keigo Hayashi took 3 individual titles. Other multiple winners were Naoki Nomura, Coco Yamamoto, and Tyler Corwin. Bucs with individual wins were; Junwoo Moon, Toshiki Takahashi, Yuri Hayashi, Stefano A’De Lima, Kaitlin Rossman, Naoki Martin, Kota Uchino, Marta Nieto Kuruc, Young Ju Choi, Bernardo Scardigli, and Bien Bagui. 

Records are always fun to break, particularly relay records, as it is the effort of four teammates working together. The 200 meter Medley Relay was uncontested at the meet so, an official Time Trial was conducted at the Buccaneer’s Monday workout  - Junwoo Moon (Backstroke), Toshiki Takahashi (Breaststroke), Mokhtar Al-Yamani (Butterfly), and Kazuki Martin (Freestyle) put it together to establish a new OPEN + AREA mark in 1:58.73.

September 2011

Seahawk Swim Meet @ Yokosuka’s 50 meter Natatorium

The International Buccaneers Swim Team took a large contingent of 66 swimmers to the Junior Seahawks Fall meet at Yokosuka’s 50 meter Natatorium. The trip to Yokosuka starts the team out right as more the competitive meets are quickly approaching. In the last long course 50 meter meet of the season, the Bucs set 7 new meet records. Bucs swimmers establishing new meet standards were; Mokhtar Al-Yamani (2), Kana Moodie (1), Toshiki Takahashi (1), Kazuki Martin (1), Naoki Nomura (1), and Naoki Martin (1).

Swimmers with 4 individual wins were; Adam Mason (15 – 18), Kana Moodie (15 - 18), Joshua Brown (11 + 12), and Keigo Hayashi (8 & Under). Mokhtar            Al-Yamani (13 + 14) and Junwoo Moon (13 + 14) each won 3 events. Double event wins went to Nicholas Flint, Coco Yamamoto, Naoki Nomura, Stefano A’De        Lima, Marina Chun, and Hosei Kijima.   

Others capturing individual 1st place wins were Toshiki Takahashi, Kazuki Martin, Jared Mason, Yutaro Sahara, Kota Uchino and Young Ju Choi.  

Fall Swim Season Kickoff  @ St. Mary’s

The Swim Team held their first home meet on Sept. 19th. The meet was a casual affair that gave the coaches a chance to take a look at the new folks trying out as well as having the veteran swimmers racing again. 81 swimmers participated in the event – The Bucs parent volunteers also had a chance to hone their skills prior to their 1st home meet on Oct. 2nd.

US Swimming AAA standards or better were turned in by Christian Brown, Mokhtar Al-Yamani, Nicolas Flint,  Kana Moodie, Peter Arnet, Adam Mason, Junwoo Moon, Joshua Brown and Naoki Nomura. AA swims were produced by Masaya Takeda, Toshiki Takahashi, Kazuki Martin, and Yutaro Sahara. Seisen sophomore Kana Moodie set a new OPEN + AREA record in the 50 meter Back (32.05).

National Sports Festival (Kokutai) @ Yamaguchi Prefecture 

The 66th annual National Sports Festival (Kokutai) for swimming was held in Yamaguchi Prefecture from Sept. 9th-11th. Senior Kelly Moodie represented Team Tokyo which captured the overall 1st place trophy for the 37th consecutive time. Events are contested in 3 categories; 3rd yr. middle school - 1st yr. high school, 2nd yr.- 3rd yr. high school, and adults. This was the St. Mary’s 3rd consecutive year contributing to Team Tokyo’s efforts – “Kokutai” participants; 2009 – Ryutaro Kamiya. 2010 & 2011 – Kelly Moodie.

Tokyo took 2nd place overall in the 4 x 200 meter Freestyle relay with a time of 7:27.20. St. Mary’s Senior Kelly Moodie led off with a 1:51.87 swim. Senior Koki Yokozeki (Nichidai Buzan) followed with a 1:51.88 with Junior Haruki Washio (Musahino High School) in the 3rd spot with a 1:52.92 effort. Junior Naoki Taguchi (Nichidai Buzan) anchored the team with a 1:50.53. Saitama-Ken’s team won the event with a 7:26.77. The finals were nationally televised on NHK.

Buccaneer swimmers were sad to hear that Hawaiian swimming legend, Keo Nakama, passed away this past week at 91 years young. Over the years, many Buc swimmers have participated in the Keo Nakama Invitational Swim Meet during the 4th of July weekend in Honolulu. The outbreak of World War II kept Keo Nakama from getting the chance to showcase his talents at the Olypmic Games. 

Keo always enjoyed conversing with many Buc swimmers and parents at the Honolulu meet named after him. Keo harboured a special feeling towards Japan recounted stories growing up as a “Niseijin” on the Maui plantations.

http://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/lane9/news/World/28030.asp?q=Passages:-Hawaii's-Keo-Nakama,-91

Japan Swimming announces Asian Age Group Championships Team

Kelly Moodie was selected by the Japan Swimming Federation to represent Team Japan at the Asian Age Group Championships to be held in Palembang, Indonesia in mid-October. The Japan Amateur Swimming Federation announced their team selection on September 2nd based on results of the Inter-High Championships and Age Group Nationals meet. Japan will field a team of 32 student/athletes - 16 boys and 16 girls; Kelly was the only high schooler in Tokyo selected and he is St. Mary’s first swimmer to represent Japan internationally. 

August 2011

Japan Age Group National Swimming Champs Aug. 28-30 @ Tatsumi

Congrats to both Kelly Moodie and Mokhtar Al-Yamani for their performances at Tatsumi from August 28th-30th. Just one week after the All-Japan Inter-High Championships in Morioka, Iwate, the boys competed at the annual summer JOC Cup Age Group Nationals. The Age Group Nationals are contested twice a year, in late March in a short course 25 meter format and in August in the Olympic-sized 50 meter pool. This year’s March Nationals were cancelled due to the Tohoku earthquake.

Kelly made it to the awards podium twice individually taking a silver medal in the 100 meter Freestyle (50.84) and a bronze in the 200 meter Freestyle (1:51.66). Moodie's time in the 100 Free also qualified for the World Cup meet making him eligible for the 100/200 + 400 Freestyle events. FINA’s November World Cup meet will be held in Tokyo at the Tatsumi International Swimming Complex. 

Freshman Mokhtar Al-Yamani finished 19th in the 13 -14 boys 50 meter Free (25.64) just .37 seconds from qualifying for the top eight finals. Mokhtar also finished 43rd and 44th in the 100 Free (56.46) and 100 Butterfly (1:00.58), respectively. Having just aged up Mokhtar is well positioned to make a good showing at the March 2012 Champs. 

2011 All-JAPAN INTER-HIGH SCHOOL CHAMPIONSHIPS @ Morioka, Iwate

This past summer marked the 3rd year that St. Mary’s participated in Japan’s prestigious Inter High Championships. The road to Morioka – site of the 2011          National Champs - included 2 preliminary meets; the All Tokyo High School Champs meet (June 25 + 26 @ Machida) and the All Kanto Champs meet (Kofu, Yamanashi – July 23 - 25 ). The Inter High series is the major event of the summer and features the top high school swimmers in the nation. The process is        merciless; swimmers are limited to 2 individual races and must place in the top 8 and/or better the National Inter-High Champs qualifying time each time in          order to advance to the next meet in the series. All meets are held in long course 50 meter venues. Senior Kelly Moodie successfully qualified for the 3rd year in a   row for the National meet in his two signature events - the 200 + 400 Freestyles.   

Kelly wins the 200 Free at Inter-High  +  Snares a silver medal in the 400 Free 

Kelly Moodie  200 meter Free (long course)   1:50.98     1st place / 43 participants                                                                                                                                                                        400 meter Free (long course)  3:56.09     2nd place / 66 participants  

Inter-High article from Nikkan Sports 

ムーディーＶ 日本から五輪狙う／総体

優勝したムーディーを父で監督のデービットさんが祝福（撮影・佐々木雄高）

＜高校総体：競泳＞◇１８日◇岩手・盛岡市立総合プール

男子自由形に、新星が誕生した。２００メートルで、セントメリーズ（東京）のムーディー・ケリー（３年）が初優勝を飾った。カナダ人の父と日本人の母を持つインターナショナルスクールの水泳部員が、１分５０秒９８で制した。本格的な強化をしてから半年で、一気にブレーク。カナダと日本の国籍を持つが、生まれ育った日本を代表しての五輪出場に意欲を見せた。

ラスト２０メートル、ムーディーの体がグイッと前に出た。２位以下を頭１つリードすると、そのままゴール。勝利を確認すると、両手を上げてスタンドの歓声に応えた。前日の４００メートルは終盤逆転されて２位。テレビのインタビューに「前半余裕で入り、ラストで勝負するつもりだった。作戦通り」と胸を張って答えた。

記者席では、ざわめきが起きた。「本名？」「どこの国の選手？」。全国大会初優勝、スポーツでは無名のインターナショナルスクール所属。「お父さんはカナダ人で、お母さんが日本人。国籍は両方持っています」と本人が解説した。

父デービッドさん（５４）は同校の体育教師で、水泳部の顧問。小さい時から水泳には親しんだが「趣味程度だった」とムーディーは言う。「日本と違って、複数のスポーツをするのが普通」だったからだ。練習は１日１時間強、土曜の午後と日曜は休み。「練習も自分で考える。父に強制されたことはない」と話した。

しかし、昨夏の高校総体同種目で４位に入り「本気で取り組みたくなった」。以前から夏場に通っていたＮＥＣグリーンＳＣでの練習を増やし、６月にはフロリダ大に短期留学。７月の世界選手権（中国・上海）の５冠ロクテ（米国）から「できると信じれば、必ずできる」と激励された。１８６センチ、７７キロの恵まれた体とカナダ五輪選考会に出場した父譲りの競泳センスで、半年前に目標にした優勝を達成。「去年の決勝は周りがすごい人たちに思えた。すごい人に勝ちたいと思ったら、今年は自分がすごい人になれた」。

お笑い芸人のムーディ勝山を連想されて「少し前までは、スタート前にスタンドから笑いが起きた」と話した。しかし、これで名前も全国区。卒業後は米国の強豪大学で水泳を続け、日本代表入りを目指すつもりだ。「全国をとったので、次は世界を狙いたい」。もちろん、一発屋で終わるつもりはない。【荻島弘一】

◆ムーディー・ケリー １９９３年（平５）１２月７日、東京生まれ。幼稚園からセントメリーに通い、水泳は６歳で始めた。中学まではテニス、剣道、野球などもこなしたが、その後水泳に専念。０９年春のジュニアオリンピック（ＪＯ）ではスペイン、ブラジル、米国など多国籍の同校チームで４００メートルリレー銀、１０年春は銅メダルを獲得した。

［2011年8月19日8時48分 紙面から］