February 2012

Winter 2012 Kanto Plains Championships @ St. Mary’s

The International Buccaneers Swim Team captured their 39^th consecutive Kanto Plains Championship on Feb. 5^th. 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; 9^th 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 2^nd 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 2^nd High Point 34 points

Kazuki Martin tied 2^nd High Point 34 points

Riki Motoyama 3^rdHigh Point 　 28 points

13 + 14 Girls

Yuri Hayashi tied 2^nd High Point 30 points

Coco Yamamoto tied 2^nd High Point 30 points

11 + 12 Boys

Joshua Brown High Point 34 points

Naoki Nomura 2^nd High Point 33 points

William Tronsen 3^rd High Point 32 points

11 + 12 Girls

Kaitlin Rossman 2^nd High Point 34 points

9 + 10 Boys

Matthew Tronsen tied 2^nd High Point 　32 points

Naoki Martin 3^rd High Point 29 points

8 + Under Boys

Keigo Hayashi High Point 36 points

Bien Bagui 3^rd High Point 29 points

8 + Under Girls

Riho Fujiwara 3^rd 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. 10^th + 11^th. 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. 28^th + 29^th. 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. 11^th + 12^thmeet will also be the International Swimming Complex at Tatsumi.

The Bucs are looking forward to hosting the Winter Kanto Plains Championships at St. Mary’s on Feb. 5^th.

Annual Swim-a-thon @ St. Mary’s

The Swim Team held their annual Swim-A-Thon on January 21^st. The road to success is always under construction - SMST swimmers have churned out numerous laps in workouts since the beginning of the school year. As always, it is inspiring to watch swimmers give their all. The swim-a-thon is also a great chance to hone technique that always pays off when it’s game on at the championship meet time..

9^th grader Mokhtar Al-Yamani set an all-time (13 + 14 Boys) record erasing Miguel Molina’s standard from 1999. Mokhtar swam 199 lengths – 4,975 meters in one hour averaging 1:12’s per 100 meters non-stop. Seisen 10^th grader Kana Moodie surpassed Seiko Setoguchi’s (2007 Sacred Heart) mark to take the 3^rd all-time spot with 176 lengths – 4,400 meters.

Top finishers for the 2012
“How far can you swim in 1 hour?” challenge were:

15 – 18 Boys

1^st Christian Brown	18 yrs.	187 lengths	4,675 meters
2^nd Nicolas Flint	16 yrs.	185 lengths	4,625 meters
3^rdMasaya Takeda	17 yrs.	179 lengths	4,475 meters

15 – 18 Girls

1^st Kana Moodie

16 yrs

176 lengths

4,400 meters

13 + 14 Boys

1^st Mokhtar Al-Yamani	14 yrs.	199 lengths	4,975 meters
2^nd Toshiki Takahashi	13 yrs.	184 lengths	4,600 meters
3^rd Stefano A’De Lima	13 yrs.	162 lengths	4,050 meters

13 + 14 Girls

1^st Yuri Hayashi	13 yrs.	161 lengths	4,025 meters
2^nd Coco Yamamoto	13 yrs.	156 lengths	3,900 meters
3^rd Marina Chun	14 yrs.	143 lengths	3,575 meters

11 + 12 Boys

1^st Joshua Brown	12 yrs.	170 lengths	4,250 meters
2^nd Yutaro Sahara	11 yrs.	169 lengths	4,225 meters
3^rd Naoki Nomura	11 yrs.	166 lengths	4,150 meters

11 + 12 Girls

1^st Kaitlin Rossman

12 yrs

136 lengths

3,400 meters

9 + 10 Boys

1^st Kota Uchino	10 yrs.	132 lengths	3,300 meters
2^nd Naoki Martin	10 yrs.	130 lengths	3,275 meters
3^rd Yu Kunita	10 yrs.	127 lengths	3,175 meters

9 + 10 Girls

1^st Sophie Mitchell

9 yrs

109 lengths

2,725 meters

8 + Under Boys

1^st Keigo Hayashi	8 yrs	116 lengths	2,900 meters
2^nd Bien Bagui	8 yrs	114 lengths	2,850 meters
3^rd Young Ju Choi	8 yrs	107 lengths	2,675 meters

8 + Under Girls

1^st Marina Pang	8 yrs	120 lengths	3,000 meters
2^nd Lisa Purcell	6 yrs	116 lengths	2,900 meters

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.

9^th 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 4^th 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 2^nd place finish (26.24) in the finals.

Joshua Brown and Yutaro Sahara also made it to the finals for 5^th + 6^th graders. Joshua finaled twice with a 3^rd place finish in the 50 meter Free (27.44) and a 4^th 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.

8^th 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 5^th 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 6^th 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 5^th 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.

The Buccaneers are looking forward to their annual Swim-a-thon at St. Mary’s on January 21st.

December 2011

Tokyo South Club Championship Meet

Buccaneer swimmers made a big splash at the Tokyo South Club Championship meet on Dec. 11^th. 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. 8^th 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 10^th 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 – 1^st place (52.96) + 100 Fly – 1^st place (58.86)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

11 + 12 Boys 200 Meter Free Relay 2^ndplace (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 - 4^th place , Nic Flint 200 IM - 5^th place, Peter Arnet 100 Free - 5^th place (15 – 18 Girls) Kana Moodie 100 Back - 6^th place, + 100 Free -7th place (13 + 14 Boys) Toshiki Takahashi 100 Breast - 4^th place, + 50 Breast - 5^th place, Kazuki Martin - 50 Free - 6th place (11 + 12 Boys) Yutaro Sahara 50 Back - 5^th place + 100 Back - 7^th place (8 + Under Boys) Young Ju Choi 50 Breast – 5^th place and Laszlo Wenk 50 Breast – 6^th 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 AAAA time averaging 1:06.9 for 15 100’s. Seisen 10^th 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 (2^nd place 13 + 14 Boys) AAAA

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Bucs are looking forward to the All Tokyo South Championships at Tatsumi’s International Swimming Complex on Dec. 11^th.

Kohei Kawamoto Swim Clinic @ St. Mary’s

Elite swimmer Kohei Kawamoto held a swim clinic on Tuesday November 15^th at St. Mary’s pool. Kohei recently placed 2^nd and 3^rd 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. 26^th. 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 2^nd World Cup meet on November 12^th & 13^th. 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 2^nd place and $25,000 for the 3^rd 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 27^th place for the 400 Free (3:55.69) and in 37^th 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 15^th after school. Kohei took 2^nd place and 3^rd 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.

10^th 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 2^nd 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 2^nd FINA (Federation International de Natation) World Cup swim meet on Nov. 12^th + 13^th. 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 – 9^th grader Junwoo Moon took 2^nd place overall with a 40 points over 2 days. Masaya Takeda captured the 3^rd 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 10^th 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 – 9^th 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 3^rd place honors with a 42 point total and Kazuki Martin was close behind finishing 5^th 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. 7^th grader Joshua Brown captured the High Point for Boys 11 – 12 with 50 points. The 3^rd High Point went to 6^th grader Naoki Nomura with a 40 point total just 2 points ahead of 5^th 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 - 3^rd grader Keigo Hayashi netted the 2^nd 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 3^rd 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. The Bucs will be at the International Swimming Complex in Tastumi for the Tokyo Kirokukai on Nov. 5 + 6.

7^th Asian Age Group Swimming Championships in Jakarta, Indonesia

Senior Kelly Moodie represented Team Japan at the 7^th 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 4^th 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 5^th 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 1^st place wins were Toshiki Takahashi, Kazuki Martin, Jared Mason, Yutaro Sahara, Kota Uchino and Young Ju Choi. The swim team will be in action again at St. Mary’s on Sunday Oct. 2^nd.

Fall Swim Season Kickoff @ St. Mary’s

The Swim Team held their first home meet on Sept. 19^th. 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 1^st home meet on Oct. 2^nd.

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). The Bucs will be at Yokosuka’s long course 50 meter meet on Sept. 24^th.

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 37^th 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 3^rd 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 4^th 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

The Buccaneers hope to make it to the 2012 Keo Nakama Invitational once again.

The Swim Team will hold their 1^st meet of the season at St. Mary’s on Saturday, September 17^th.

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 2^nd 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 19^th in the 13 -14 boys 50 meter Free (25.64) just .37 seconds from qualifying for the top eight finals. Mokhtar also finished 43^rd and 44^th 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.

The Age Group Nationals will be televised nationally on Sept. 16th.

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

This past summer marked the 3^rd 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］

April 2011

The Swim Team held a time trial after school last Friday afternoon. It was good to get back to racing after a number of meets were cancelled in the aftermath of the Tohoku earthquake.

US Swimming AAAA standards were turned in by Kelly Moodie and Mokhtar Al-Yamani. AAA times came from Kana Moodie, Yuri Hayashi, and Naoki Nomura. AA swims were produced by Masaya Takeda, Nicolas Flint, Junwoo Moon, Toshiki Takahashi, Shunichi Ichimura, Kazuki Martin, and Joshua Brown. Arun Janssens, Yutaro Sahara, Ryan Shimizu, Hosei Kijima, and Keigo Hayashi also popped A times.

Mokhtar Al-Yamani set a new 13 - 14 Boys AREA record in the 200 meter Butterfly (2:15.00) lowering his own standard from the January KP meet.

The Bucs will hold their final home meet on May 28^th. Junior Kelly Moodie will represent St. Mary’s at the Japan Open Swim Meet at the Namihaya Dome in Osaka on May 21 + 22. The Japan Open will serve as a selection meet for the World championships, World University games as well as the World Junior Championships.

March 2011 – MARCH AGE GROUP CHAMPIONSHIPS & JAPAN AGE GROUP NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS cancelled due to the March 11^th Tohoku Earthquake.

February 2011

2011 JAPAN SHORT COURSE SENIOR NATIONALS @ Tatsumi

Senior Nationals is always a “hot meet” with the top swimmers in the nation going head to head in a trials and finals format. The best in the nation came together for the February 26^th + 27^th event held at the International Swimming Complex in Tatsumi. The short course nationals are contested once a year. The long course senior nationals will be April 5 – 10 and will serve as the selection meet for FINA’s 2011 World Swimming Championships in Shanghai.

Junior Kelly Moodie swam both the 200 meter Freestyle (1:49.20) and the 400 meter Freestyle (3:58.31). Kelly’s 200 Free was an in season best good enough for 21^st place and .68 seconds away from a 2^nd swim in the afternoon finals. He finished 6^th overall among high school swimmers. It was a great opportunity to swim with world ranking swimmers and will surely pay off at the upcoming Age Group National Champs and the long course Senior National meets.

Shogo Hihara won the 200 Free and Bejing bronze medalist in the 200 Fly Takeshi Matsuda won the 400 Free. Double Olympic gold medalist from both Athens and Beijing Kosuke Kitajima won all three Breaststroke events in national record times on route to taking Swimmer of the meet honors. The Bucs are looking forward to hosting the always competitive Age Group championships at St. Mary’s on March 12^th and 13^th.

2011 J.O. Yosen Swim Meet @ Tatsumi

The J.O. Yosen meet is always an exciting one – the meet provides the best swimmers in the Kanto region with

an opportunity to compete against each other and to qualify for Japan’s Age Group National Championships.

22 members from the International Buccaneers competed along with 2,873 swimmers from 137 clubs at the annual event held at Tatsumi’s International Swimming Complex.

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. Mokhtar Al-Yamani, Kazuki Martin, and Christian Brown all swam in the challenge races after just missing the JOC Cup standards. Mokhtar missed the 200 meter Individual Medley cut in the morning by a scant .48 seconds. Mokhtar came through with a stellar 2:14.24 well under the required 2:16.03 time in the evening challenge.

6^th grader Kazuki Martin missed the National time by a heartbreaking .06 seconds for the 50 meter Freestyle with a personal best 27.20. Kazuki also came close in the 100 Free with a swift 1:00.49. Christian swam two challenge races - the 50 Free and the 50 Breast and came up just shy of the standard in both.

Junior Kelly Moodie and Mokhtar Al-Yamani will represent St. Mary’s at the Age Group Nationals on March 27 – 30. Kelly will compete in the 100, 200, and 400 Freestyle events. Mokhtar will swim the 200 IM, 100 Butterfly, and 50 Freestyle.

Seisen 9^th grader Kana Moodie set 2 AREA records in the 15 – 18 Backstroke events. Kana shattered Okinawa’s Jill Stern 200 Back record from 2000 by more than 5 seconds with a 2:24.27 mark. Moodie’s dorsal swim of 1:07.24 over 100 meters bettered her own standard set last month.

Personal bests were the norm for the weekend. Other Buc swimmers popping US allstar time standards were; Masaya Takeda, Amelia Abe, Junwoo Moon, Shunichi Ichimura, Toshiki Takahashi, Yuri Hayashi, Yutaro Sahara, Ryan Shimizu, Naoki Martin, and Hosei Kijima.

Kelly Moodie will compete in the 200 and 400 meter Freestyle events at Japan’s Senior National Short Course Swimming Championships. The meet will be held at Tatsumi’s International Swimming Complex on Feb. 26^th and 27^th. This year’s Age Group Championships at St. Mary’s (March 12^th + 13^th) will surely provide lots of competition with teams from Beijing, Korea, and Okinawa as well as many nationally ranked Japanese swimmers in attendance.

2011 Tokyo-To Winter Kirokukai Meet @ Tatsumi

“The body achieves what the mind believes !”

2,756 swimmers from 141 clubs packed into the International Swimming Complex at Tatsumi for 2 full days of swimming. The meet featured elite athletes as well as top junior competitors.

Junior Kelly Moodie maintained his position as the top High Schooler in Tokyo in the 200 meter Freestyle – Moodie went a season best 1:50.77 well under the National Age Group qualifying time. Kelly also had a US Swimming AAAA swim in the 100 meter backstroke with a 57.87 effort.

6^th grader Kazuki Martin inched closer to the National qualifying time both the 50 and 100 meter Freestyle events. Kazuki’s 100 time (1:00.40) was a AAAA standard while his 50 was just .83 off the “cuts”.

8^th grader Mokhtar Al-Yamani has already qualified for the JOC Cup meet in multiple events and must now decide which events to challenge. Moku was close to the 200 Individual Medley time again and hopes to add this to his repertoire next week. Junwoo Moon had a breakthrough swims in the 200 meter Free with a 2:05.53 and a 57.39 in the 100. Shunichi Ichimura continues to improve clocking a triple A time with a 1:10.99 in the 100 Breast.

7^th grader Toshiki Takahashi also swam two US Swimming AAAA times with his 2:34.13 effort in the 200 meter Breaststroke and a 1:12.33 over the 100 meter distance.

Other Swimmers turning in US Swimming Allstar standards Masaya Takeda, Amelia Abe, Philip Langhauser, Yuri Hayashi, Joshua Brown, Yutaro Sahara, Ryan Shimizu, Hosei Kijima, and Keigo Hayashi.

The February 19^th and 20^th J.O. Yosen meet at Tatsumi is always an exciting one as it provides the last opportunity to achieve national qualifying times. Swim On.

Tokyo-To Senshuken Championships @ Tatsumi

The Swim Team was at the Tokyo-To Senshuken Championships at Tatsumi on Feb. 5^th + 6^th. 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 and only times produced in long course meets were acceptable for participation.

Many elite swimmers were in attendance with 10 members of Japan’s National team 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.

Junior Kelly Moodie had the 2^nd fastest time among High Schoolers in the 200 meter Freestyle with a 1:54.44 effort. Moodie also finished 3^rd in the B Final of the 100 meter Freestyle. No High School swimmers advanced to the A final of the 100 Free – Kelly’s 52.93 was a new long course best.

The Bucs will have a much larger team at the Tokyo Kirokukai meet at Tatsumi on Feb. 12 + 13.

January 2011

Winter 2010 Kanto Plains Championships @ St. Mary’s

The International Buccaneers Swim Team captured their 38^th consecutive Kanto Plains Championship on Jan. 23^rd. 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. It was the 1^st Kanto Plains meet in St. Mary’s new pool and run with a slightly different format than years past; 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 helping run a meet with 11 teams on schedule and cranking out - 883 individual entries and 60 relays !

SMST swimmers established 3 new AREA records; 8^th grader Mokhtar Al-Yamani broke Jason Calanog’s 1996 mark for 13 + 14 Boys in the 200 meters Butterfly with a swift 2:15.65. Seisen 9^th grader Kana Moodie reeled off two new records in the girls 15 – 18 dorsal events with a 1:07.76 in the 100 meter Backstroke and a 2:27.94 in the 200 meter Backstroke.

The host Bucs had many veteran swimmers win high point honors as well as newcomers breaking into the ranks. The following swimmers were awarded high point trophies in their respective age groups:

15 – 18 Boys

Kelly Moodie High Point 36 points Christian Brown 2^nd High Point 31 points

Arun Janssens 3^rd High Point (tied) 28 points

Masaya Takeda 3^rd High Point (tied) 28 points

15 + 18 Girls

Kana Moodie High Point 36 points

Lisa Torio High Point 31 points

13 + 14 Boys

Mokhtar Al-Yamani High Point 36 points

Shunichi Ichimura tied 2^nd High Point 30 points
Junwoo Moon tied 2^nd High Point 30 points

11 + 12 Boys

Toshiki Takahashi tied High Point 36 points

Kazuki Martin tied High Point 36 points

Joshua Brown 2^nd High Point 30 points
Riki Motoyama 3^rd High Point 27 points

11 + 12 Girls

Yuri Hayashi 2^nd High Point 32 points

9 + 10 Boys

Yutaro Sahara tied High Point 36 points

Ryan Shimizu 2^nd High Point 29 points

8 + Under Boys

Hosei Kijima High Point 34 points

Keigo Hayashi 2^nd High Point 32 points

Senin Hyun 3^rd High Point 30 points

8 + Under Girls

Sophie Mitchell 3^rd High Point 30 points

Multiple event winners were Kelly Moodie (15 – 18) - 4, Kana Moodie (15 – 18)- 4, Toshiki Takahashi (11 + 12) – 4, Kazuki Martin (11 + 12) – 4. Yutaro Sahara (9 + 10) - 4, Mokhtar Al-Yamani (13 + 14) – 3. And Hosei Kijima (8 + Under) – 3. Double event winners were Masaya Takeda (15 + 18), Lisa Torio (15 – 18), Shunichi Ichimura (13 + 14), Junwoo Moon (13 + 14), Hannah Langhauser (13 + 14), and Keigo Hayashi (8 + Under).

The team is well positioned for good performances in upcoming competitive meets at the International Swimming Complex in February.

Annual Swim-a-thon @ St. Mary’s

The Swim Team held their annual Swim-a-Thon on January 15th. SMST swimmers have churned out numerous laps in workouts since the beginning of the school year and expected results are beginning to show. As always, it is inspiring to watch swimmers give their all. Swimmers breaking into the All-Time Swim-a-thon record books were;

11^th grader Kelly Moodie (Boys 15 – 18) 2^nd all time - 204 lengths

9^th grader Kana Moodie (Girls 15 - 18) 1^st all time - 175 lengths

8^th grader Mokhtar Al-Yamani (Boys 13 + 14) 2^nd all time - 192 lengths

7^th grader Toshiki Takahashi (Boys 11 + 12) 2^nd all time - 181 lengths

7^th grader Yuri Hayashi (Girls 11 + 12) 5^nd all time (tied) - 158 lengths

Top finishers for the 2011
“How far can you swim in 1 hour?” challenge were:

15 – 18 Boys

1^st Kelly Moodie	17 yrs.	204 lengths	5,100 meters
2^nd Masaya Takeda	16 yrs.	184 lengths	4,600 meters
3^rdAdam Mason	16 yrs.	168 lengths	4,200 meters

15 – 18 Girls

1^st Kana Moodie	15 yrs	183 lengths	4,575 meters
2^nd Lisa Torio	17 yrs.	159 lengths	3,975 meters
3^rd Amelia Abe	15 yrs.	157 lengths	3,925 meters

13 + 14 Boys

1^st Mokhtar Al-Yamani

13 yrs.

192 lengths

4,800 meters

2^nd Philipp Langhaeuser +

Kacey Ries

14 yrs.

174 lengths

4,350 meters

3^rd Shunichi Ichimura +

Junwoo Moon

14 yrs.

173 lengths

4,325 meters

11 + 12 Boys

1^st Toshiki Takahashi	12 yrs.	181 lengths	4,525 meters
2^nd Kazuki Martin	12 yrs.	158 lengths	3,950 meters
3^rd Joshua Brown	11 yrs.	157 lengths	3,900 meters

11 + 12 Girls

1^st Yuri Hayashi	12 yrs.	158 lengths	3,950 meters
2^nd Coco Yamamoto	12 yrs.	154 lengths	3,850 meters
3^rd Marina Chun	12 yrs.	147 lengths	3,675 meters

9 + 10 Boys

1^st Yutaro Sahara	10 yrs.	144 lengths	3,600 meters
2^nd Joshua Ries	10 yrs.	143 lengths	3,575 meters
2^nd Ryan Shimizu	10 yrs.	132 lengths	3,300 meters

8 + Under Boys

1^st Hosei Kijima	8 yrs	120 lengths	3,000 meters
2^nd Keigo Hayashi	7 yrs	116 lengths	2,900 meters
3^rd Kai Henri Atobe	8 yrs	107 lengths	2,675 meters

8 + Under Girls

1^st Sophie Mitchell

8 yrs

106 lengths

2,650 meters

December 2010

Tokyo South Club Championship Meet

Buccaneer swimmers made a big splash at the Tokyo South club championship meet on Dec. 13^th. 977 swimmers from 27 swim clubs competed at the annual meet. Swimmers finishing in the top 8 in the preliminary heats advanced to the afternoon finals.

In the finals, BUC swimmers surfaced with times good enough to win medals. Three SMST swimmers bettered Age Group National qualifying times - Kelly Moodie, Mokhtar Al-Yamani and Toshiki Takahashi. 7^th grader Toshiki Takahashi set a new OPEN + AREA record in the 11 + 12 Boys 100 Breaststroke with a sizzling 1:12.32 swim. Toshiki also set an AREA mark in the 50 Breaststroke going a 34.08. Seisen 9^th grader Kana Moodie bettered her own OPEN + AREA standard in the 50 Backstroke with a 32.02 effort.

Buc swimmers making it to the medals podium were;

Kelly Moodie (15 - 18 Boys) 100 Free – 1^st place (51.23)

Mokhtar Al-Yamani (13 + 14 Boys) 100 Fly – 2^nd place (1:00.64) + 200 IM – 3^rd place (2:18.42)

Shunichi Ichimura (13 + 14 Boys) 50 Breast – 3^rdplace (32.38)

Kana Moodie (13 + 14 Girls) 50 Back – 3^rdplace(32.02) 100 Back – 3^rdplace (1:07.76)

Toshiki Takahashi (11 + 12 Boys) 100 Breast – 2^nd place (1:12.32) 50 Breast – 3^rdplace (34.08)

Kazuki Martin (11 + 12 Boys) 50 Free – 1^st place (27.64) 100 Free – 3^rdplace (1:00.74)

Yutaro Sahara (9 + 10 Boys) 50 Free – 3^rdplace (31.16)

Naoki Martin (8 + Under Boys) 50 Breast – 3^rd place (48.06)

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 200 IM - 4^th place + 100 Breast – 7^th place, (15 – 18 Girls) Lisa Torio 100 Butterfly – 7^th place, (13 + 14 Boys) Shunichi Ichimura 100 Breast – 4^th place, Junwoo Moon 50 Butterfly – 7^th place + 100 Butterfly – 8^th place, + Hirokazu Kamei 50 Breaststroke – 8^th place, (11 + 12 Boys) Joshua Brown 200 IM – 5^th place, (11 + 12 Girls) Yuri Hayashi 100 meter Breaststroke – 6^th, (8 + Under Boys) Hosei Kijima 50 Freestyle – 4^th place, Naoki Martin 50 Freestyle – 6^th place, and Keigo Hayashi 50 Backstroke – 8^th place.

The Buccaneers look forward to good training leading to strong swims in the new year.

November 2010

Distance Swim Meet @ St. Mary’s

The swim team played host to Taiyo Kyoiku Sports Center in a rare Thursday afternoon Swim meet. The dual meet contested just one event – the 1500 meter Freestyle. Younger swimmers swam two to a lane as the time of each race makes for a long meet.

Junior Kelly Moodie a new AREA record for 15 + 18 Boys bettering his own record with a 16:05.19 swim. Seisen 9^th grader Kana Moodie bettered the 13 + 14 Girls AREA record placeing 3^rd overall in 18:57.24.

Top finishers: US Swimming Standards

Kelly Moodie - 16:05.19 (2^nd place 15 - 18 Boys) AAAA

Mokhtar Al-Yamani - 17:51.54 (3^rd place 13 + 14 Boys) AAA

Toshiki Takahashi - 19:39.39 (2^nd place 11 + 12 Boys) AAA

Kana Moodie - 18:57.24 (3^rd place 13 + 14 Girls) AA

Junwoo Moon - 18:52.78 (7^th place 13 + 14 Boys) A

Kacey Ries - 18:58.28 (9^th place 13 + 14 Boys) A

Kazuki Martin - 20:29.83 (3^rd place 11 + 12 Boys) AA

Joshua Brown - 21:37.80 (4^th place 11 + 12 Boys) A

Adam Mason - 18:14.34 (4^th place 15 - 18 Boys) A

Philipp Langhauser - 18:46.82 (5^th place 15 - 18 Boys)

Masaya Takeda - 19:04.55 (6^th place 15 - 18 Boys)

Jordan Lewis - 22:43.47 (5^th place 11 + 12 Boys)

Amelia Abe - 20:36.90 (1^st place 15 - 18 Girls)

Emiko Mason - 21:15.83 (2^nd place 15 - 18 Girls)

Lisa Torio - 21:20.94 (3^rd place 15 - 18 Girls)

Hannah Langhauser - 21:21.41 (6^th place 13 + 14 Girls)

Paige Delany - 22:35.63 (4^th place 15 - 18 Girls)

Keila Mitchell - 22:57.19 (5^th place 15 - 18 Girls)

The Bucs are looking forward to the All Tokyo South Championships at Tatsumi’s International Swimming Complex on Dec. 13^th.

Citicorp Taipei American School Invitational Swim Meet @ Taiwan

Once again the Swim Team had a very successful trip to the Citicorp Taipei American School Invitational. This year marked the 4^th time the BUCS have participated in the event. 14 teams throughout Asia participated in the event. The Buccaneers took the overall TEAM Trophy for small teams (under 30 swimmers). SMST finished the 2 day meet with 2,139 points with just 22 swimmers 2^nd only to the host Taipei American School Tigersharks.

SMST swimmers established 10 new meet records. Swimmers establishing new individual meet records were Mokhtar Al-Yamani (2), Kana Moodie (2), Toshiki Takahashi (2), and Yutaro Sahara (2). Mokhtar, Junwoo Moon, Shunichi Ichimura, Toshiki, and Kacey Ries also combined to set 2 meet relay records.

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 – Seisen 12^th grader Lisa Torio finished 1^st overall and 10^th grader Amelia Abe took the 3^rd place overall high point trophy.

13 + 14 – 8^th grader Mokhtar Al-Yamani captured the 2^nd High Point in a close race with Taipei’s Blue Devils Guan Yu Ke. Seisen 9^th grader Kana Moodie finished just 3 points back of Western Academy of Beijing’s Danielle Liu to take the 2^nd High Point honors. Kana also set a new TEAM record with a 1:08.11 100 meter Butterfly swim. Junwoo Moon finished in 4^th place just 1 point away from the Boys 3^rd place High Point.

11 - 12 - 7^th grader Toshiki Takahashi amassed 111 points enough for the 3^rd High Point. Toshiki blazed a US Swimming AAAA time with a 2:37.34 effort to win the 200 meter Breaststroke.

9 - 10 - 5^th grader Yutaro Sahara captured the High Point with a perfect 120 points winning 6 individual events.

8 + Under - 3^rd grader Hosei Kijima grabbed the overall High Point with breakthrough performances and 2^nd grader Tyler Corwin scored 96 points to take the overall 3^rd place honors.

Other swimmers finishing in the top 8 in overall points for their age groups were Junwoo Moon, Kacey Ries, Yuri Hayashi, Ryan Shimizu, and Joshua Ries.

After the events finished on Sunday, an awards banquet for swimmers, coaches, and families was held at one of Taipei’s icons – the Grand Hotel. All enjoyed the event before the dash to the airport to catch the late the flight back to Tokyo.

Tokyo-To Kirokukai Swim Meet

43 Buccaneer swimmers competed in the Nov. 6 + 7 Tokyo Kirokukai Swim Meet at Tatsumi. 2,488 swimmers from 99 teams participated in the annual event. The coaches were pleased with the weekends’ performances coming off the 2 day Buccaneer Invitational the previous week.

The BUCS continue their streak of compiling Age Group National qualifying times very early in the swim season. Bucs bettering the JOC Cup standards at Saturday + Sunday’s Tokyo Kirokukai were; Kelly Moodie - 100 meter Freestyle and Mokhtar Al-Yamani – 50 meter Butterfly + 50 Freestyle. Mokhtar’s 27.73 Butterfly swim was also a new AREA record.

7^th grader Toshiki Takahashi bettered his own OPEN + AREA mark in the 11 – 12 Boys 100 meter Breaststroke to improve the standard to 1:13.36.

Swimmers finishing in the top 12 in individual events were; Kelly Moodie 15 - 18 (100 Free – 1^st, 100 Individual Medley – 2^nd, 50 Back – 5^th), Christian Brown 15 – 18 yrs. (50 Breast – 5^th), Mokhtar Al-Yamani 13 + 14 (100 Individual Medley – 6^th + 100 Free – 1^st + 50 Fly – 3^rd + 50 Free – 4^th), Kana Moodie 13 + 14 yrs. (100 Individual Medley – 10^th+ 100 Back – 10^th), and Toshiki Takahashi 11 + 12yrs. (100 Individual Medley – 7^th+ 50 Breast - 6^th+ 100 Breast - 5^th), Yutaro Sahara 9 + 10 (100 Individual Medley – 7^th).

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., and Yutaro S. Triple A times came from Kana Moodie, Kazuki Martin, Adam Mason, and Christian Brown. AA times were turned by Masaya Takeda, Shunichi Ichimura, Yuri Hayashi, and Coco Yamamoto. Arun Janssens, Philipp Langhauser, Kacey Ries, Riki Motoyama, Marina Chun, Joshua Ries, Naoki Martin, and Hosei Kijima.

Two weeks later the Buccaneers will be in 2 locations; 22 swimmers will attend the Taipei American School Invitational in Taiwan. Junior Kelly Moodie and Senior Bruno Ortiz will be going the Tokyo Swimming Center’s shotai elite meet in Sugamo.

October 2010

Buccaneer Invitational Meet

The Swim Team played host to 9 teams throughout the Kanto Plains on Saturday and Sunday. There was a lot of activity around the pool with 295 athletes attending and a total of 1,267 individual entries and 81 relays. Once again the coaches would like to thank all the volunteers who helped make the weekend a success.

The Bucs do not count themselves in the team trophy race for the Invitational but, amassed 1,028.5 points over the 2 days of competition. Taiyo Kyoiku Sports Center of Setagaya-Ku took 1st place with 1,564 points, followed by Setagaya-Ku’s Mishuku Sakura Swim Team (506) and Ota-Ku’s Nittai Ebara Swim Team (285).

This years’ Invitational featured 10 elite athletes from Nittaidai (Nihon Sports Science University) in Komazawa. The NSSU swimmers competed as exhibition swimmers and did not score points.

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 – 11^th grader Kelly Moodie finished 3^rd overall with a perfect 27 points for 3 individual contested. Moodie swam the 1^st day of the meet only due to Team Tokyo’s special training camp at the Tatsumi swimming center on Sunday. In the girls 15 – 18 division Seisen 10^th grader Amelia Abe took 2^nd place overall high point trophy.

13 + 14 –8^th grader Mokhtar Al-Yamani captured the High Point for with 52 points. Seisen 9^th grader Kana Moodie amassed 45 points to finish in a tie with Taiyo’s Runa Konno for the overall High Point. Kana M. set 2 new AREA records in the 100 Back (1:07.72) + 200 Back (2:25.78) as well as breaking Alexis McCoy’s 100 Butterfly team record (1:08.44).

11 - 12 - 7^th grader Toshiki Takahashi captured the High Point for Boys 11 – 12 with 6^th grader Kazuki Martin taking 3^rd place honors wih 41 points. Toshiki T. broke his own AREA record in the 50 Breaststroke (34.70).

9 - 10 - 5^th grader Yutaro Sahara captured the 2^nd High Point for Boys 9 – 10 in a close race with Taiyo’s Ken Asano.

8 + Under - 3^rd grader Naoki Martin snared the 2^nd high point with a 2 day total of 43 points.

Other swimmers finishing in the top 8 in overall points for their age groups were Masaya Takeda, Lisa Torio, Emiko Mason, Junwoo Moon, Shunichi Ichimura, Joshua Brown, Yuri Hayashi, Marina Chun, and Hosei Kijima.

The Bucs will be at the International Swimming Complex in Tastumi for the Tokyo Kirokukai on

Nov. 6 + 7.

Seibu – Nanbu Tatsumi Meet

The International Buccaneers had strong early season performances at the International Swimming Complex on Sunday. The swim team had 29 swimmers compete at Tatsumi’s Tokyo West vs. Tokyo South swim meet. 1,412 swimmers from 42 clubs competed in the annual event in a relatively small meet by Tatsumi standards.

Buccaneer Swimmers set 3 new records; Senior Bruno Ortiz set a 15 – 18 Boys AREA record in the 100 meter Breaststroke (1:03.46) bettering Miguel Molina’s 2002 standard. Seisen 9th grader Kana Moodie broke her own OPEN + AREA record for the 13 + 14 Girls 50 meter Backstroke with a 32.45 effort. 7^th grader Toshiki Takahashi dropped his 11 + 12 50 meter Breaststroke AREA mark with split time of (35.01) on his way out in the 100 meter Breast.

The Coaches were pleased to see good racing so early in the season. Swimmers turning in US Swimming AAA Allstar Standards standards or better were Kelly Moodie, Bruno Ortiz, Mokhtar Al-Yamani, Christian Brown, Kana Moodie, Toshiki Takahashi, and Yutaro Sahara. AA times were produced by Lisa Torio, Shunichi Ichimura, and Yuri Hayashi. US A times were also turned in by Masaya Takeda, Amelia Abe, Kazuki Martin, Joshua Brown, Coco Yamamoto, Marina Chun, Naoki Martin, and Hosei Kijima.

Tokyo will host its 1^st FINA (Federation International de Natation) World Cup swim meet on Oct. 20^th + 21^st. The Buccaneers will be represented by Junior Kelly Moodie competing in both the 200 + 400 meter Freestyle events. Olympic gold medalist and world record holders from various nations will be in attendance. The meet will be televised nationally on Asahi TV. St. Mary’s will have 8 students assisting Japan’s Amateur Swimming Federation acting as translators at the competition.

Fall Swim Meet @ St. Mary’s

The International Buccaneers Swim Team hosted 9 teams at their annual October swim meet on Sunday. Bucs posting the maximum 4 individual wins were Kelly Moodie, Kana Moodie, and Yutaro Sahara. 8^th grader Mokhtar Al-Yamani took 3 individual titles. Other Multiple winners were Junwoo Moon, Toshiki Takahashi, Kazuki Martin, and Marina Chun. Bucs with individual wins were; Alex Auvaro, Lisa Torio, Yuri Hayashi, Coco Yamamoto, Shunichi Ichimura, Joshua Brown, Stefano A’De Lima, Yu Kunita, Naoki Martin, Senin Hyun, Sophie Mitchell, Mayank Bhandari, and Kai Wittmann.

US Swimming AAAA standards were turned in by Kelly Moodie and Toshiki Takahashi. Mokhtar A. Kana M., and Yutaro S. posted triple A times. Other AA Allstar times came from; Alex A., Junuwoo M., Kazuki M., and Shunichi I.

The Bucs had 81 swimmers compete and it was a good training meet for all before the competitive Buccaneer Invitational on October 30^th + 31^st.

The Swim Team will be at the International Swimming Complex at Tatsumi on Oct. 10^th for the annual Tokyo West vs. Tokyo South meet.

September 2010

Seahawk Swim Meet @ Yokosuka’s 50 meter Natatorium

The International Buccaneers Swim Team took a large contingent of 74 swimmers to the Junior Seahawks Fall meet at Yokosuka’s 50 meter Natatorium. The meet was the last long course 50 meter meet of the season. The Bucs set 6 new meet records. Bucs swimmers setting new meet records were; Kana Moodie (4), Mokhtar Al-Yamani (1), and Yuri Hayashi (1).

Bucs swimmers with 4 individual wins were; Bruno Ortiz (15 – 18), Mokhtar Al-Yamani (13 + 14), Kana Moodie (13 + 14), and Joshua Brown (11 + 12). Junu Moon Baik (13 + 14), Naoki Martin (8 & Under), and Sophie Mitchell (8 & Under) each won 3 events. Double event wins went to Arun Janssens, Marina Chun, and Hosei Kijima.

Others capturing individual 1^st place wins were Masaya Takeda, Philipp Langhaeuser, Shunichi Ichimura, Yu Ogawa, Coco Yamamoto, Stefano A’De Lima, and Kota Uchino. The Swim Team will be in action again at St. Mary’s on Sunday Oct. 3^rd playing host to 9 teams.

National Sports Festival (Kokutai) in Chiba

The 65^th annual National Sports Festival (Kokutai) for swimming was held in Chiba from

Sept. 10^th - 12^th. Junior Kelly Moodie represented Team Tokyo which captured the overall

1^st place trophy for the 36^th consecutive time in a tight finish with Kanagawa-Ken. Events are contested in 3 categories; 3^rd yr. middle school – 1^st yr. high school, 2^nd yr. - 3^rd yr. high school, and adults.

Tokyo took 3^rd place overall in the 4 x 200 meter Freestyle relay with a time of 7:30.42. St. Mary’s Junior Kelly Moodie led off with a 1:52.12 swim. Junior Koki Yokozeki (Nichidai Buzan) followed with a 1:52.98 with Junior Daichi Okuda (Hachioji High School) in 3^rd spot with a 1:54.99 effort. Senior Takaumi Ichikawa (Nichidai Buzan) anchored the team with a 1:50.85. The finals were nationally televised on NHK.

October World Cup Meet in Tokyo

This October (20 & 21) will mark the 1^st time that Tokyo will host a World Cup swim meet. The World Cup is an international series of short course (25m) swim meets organized by FINA, the International Federation for Swimming. Currently, the overall 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place finishers are awarded prize money. The meet will be at the International Complex at Tatsumi and is sure to provide lots of excitement. The Buccaneers will be represented by Kelly Moodie. Kelly qualified to compete in the 200 meter Freestyle off of his 1:51.75 performance at the Okinawa Inter-High Championships and the 400 meter Freestyle with his 3:57.17 swim from the Age Group Nationals. Tickets are now on sale for the event. The Bucs are planning to take a group to watch the evening finals on Thursday October 21st.

August 2010

Japanese Summer Age Group National Swimming Championships @ Tatsumi

Congrats to both Kelly Moodie and Bruno Ortiz for their performances at Tatsumi from August 28^th-30^th. Just one week after the Inter-High in Okinawa the boys competed at the annual summer JOC Cup Age Group Nationals. Kelly Moodie made in to the awards podium with a 3^rd place bronze medal in the 400 meter Freestyle for SMST’s first individual medal at the meet since Miguel Molina’s in 2002. Kelly went 3:57.17 after a preliminary 3:58.56 in the morning heats – his time also bettered the qualifying standard for the upcoming World Cup meet in Tokyo in mid-October. Senior Bruno Ortiz finished 4^th in the 100 meter Free with a 52.12 swim in the finals off a morning heats time of 52.36. Bruno missed a medal just .07 seconds off 3^rd place.

Kelly placed 11^th in the 200 Free with a 1:53.53 effort just off qualifying for the evening final and Bruno placed 32^nd in the 50 Free with a 24.84. Both Kelly’s and Bruno’s finals will be televised nationally on Sky A Sports on Sept. 19^th from 10:30 – 12:30.

All Japan Inter-High Championships @ Okinawa

This past summer marked the 2^nd year that St. Mary’s participated in Japan’s prestigious Inter High Championships. The road to Okinawa – site of the 2010 National Champs - included 2 preliminary meets; the All Tokyo High School Champs meet and the All Kanto Champs meet. 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.

Junior Kelly Moodie and Senior Bruno Ortiz competed at the Tokyo-To High School Champs on June 26^h + 27^th. Both Kelly and Bruno finished the meet with a ticket to the all Kanto meet - Kelly made it in the 200 Free + 400 Free and Bruno qualified in the 100 Free. The boys were once again successful in qualifying for the next round at the all Kanto meet at Yokohama’s Kokusai Pool on July 25^th – 27^th.

Congratulations to Kelly Moodie on his 4th place finish in the 200 meter Freestyle at the Okinawa Inter High Championships (August 17 - 20). Kelly advanced to the finals after a 1:52.26 preliminary swim. Moodie bettered his prelim swim with a 1:51.75 in the finals.

The finals were nationally televised on NHK.

Both Kelly and Bruno Ortiz produced lifetime bests in their races in Okinawa;

Kelly 200 meter Free (long course) 1:51.75 4th place / 81 participants

400 meter Free (long course) 3:58.64 11th place / 56 participants

Bruno 100 meter Free (long course) 52.71 16th place / 99 participants

July 2010

JO Yosen - The J.O. Yosen meet is always an exciting one – the meet provides the best swimmers in the Kanto region with an opportunity to compete against each other and to qualify for Japan’s Age Group National Championships. The Bucs had 5 swimmers in the meet. Swimmers close to the Age Group National qualifying times are eligible to compete in the Challenge Races at the end of the regular session of events. 8^th grader Mokhtar Al-Yamani + 7th grader Toshiki Takahashi swam the afternoon challenge. Mokhtar came agonizingly close just missing the National “cuts” by a mere .01 in the 50 meter Free. Toshiki was just .53 off the standard in the 100 Breast. Both Toshiki Takahashi (100 meter Breast - 1:13.46 + 50 meter Breast - 35.08) and Kana Moodie (100 meter Back - 1:07.92) set new records at the meet.

June 2010

The Summer Kanto Plains Championships were held at Yokosuka’s 50 meter pool on June 5th. It was a great way to finish off the school year and lead into the summer - We’re looking forward to another good meet at Yokosuka on September 25th.

The following Buc swimmers took High Point Trophies at the summer KP’s

Point Total

15 - 18 Boys Josef Budde High Point Winner 77
Arun Janssens 2nd place 67

Philipp Langhaeuser 3rd place 64

15 - 18 Girls Lisa Torio High Point Winner (tied) 74

Keila Mitchell High Point Winner (tied) 74

Amelia Abe 2nd place 72

13 & 14 Boys Mokhtar Al-Yamani High Point Winner (tied) 77

Shawma Chun High Point Winner (tied) 77

Shunichi Ichimura 2nd place (tied) 69

Junu Moon Baik 3rd place 68

13 & 14 Girls Kana Moodie High Point Winners 80

11 & 12 Boys Toshiki Takahashi High Point Winner 80

Kazuki Martin 2nd place 73

11 & 12 Girls Yuri Hayashi High Point Winner 77
Coco Yamamoto 2nd place 73

Marina Chun 3rd place 64

9 & 10 Boys Joshua Brown High Point Winner 80

Joshua Ries 3rd place 73

8 + U Boys Kota Uchino High Point Winner 80
Naoki Martin 2nd place 67

Hosei Kijima 3rd place 62

April 2010

Kanto Shunki Finals Swim Meet @ Tatsumi

8 swim team members qualified earlier in April for the finals of the Kanto Shunki Swim Meet. The Shunki meet is contested annually with a long tradition dating back to 1965. The competition featured 1,551 swimmers from 171 teams from Tokyo and the 7 surrounding prefectures of Kanagawa, Chiba, Saitama, Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, and Yamanashi. Many new meet records were established with the meet being held in a short course 25 meter format for the 1^st time since 2002.

Swimmers needed to finish in the top 8 in the morning preliminary rounds to qualify for afternoon finals. 3 Buccaneers advanced to the finals; Bruno Ortiz, Kelly Moodie, and Mokhtar Al-Yamani. Bruno took 1^st place in a new meet record for the 50 meter Free by a mere .01 seconds over Kanagawa’s Yugo Kawamata from Tachibana High School. Kelly finished in 3^rd place in the 200 meter Free in a tight race with just .39 seconds separating the top 3. All 3 finishers broke the meet record and bettered Japan’s 2011 Senior National Championships qualifying time. The previous meet mark was held by Miguel Molina from 2002.

In his last meet as a 12 year old, Mokhtar Al-Yamani tied for 1^st place in the 50 meter Free (26.54) with Gunma Fujioka’s Taiki Suehiro. Moku’s prelim time of 26.20 was a new meet record. Mokhtar also took 2^nd in the 100 meter Butterfly taking his own OPEN + AREA mark down to 1:02.31. Bruno O. also finished in 4^th with a 51.10 effort in the 100 meter Freestyle. 6^th grader Toshiki Takahashi also improved his AREA record in the 11 + 12 100 meter Breaststroke to 1:14.77.

Bucs results from afternnon Finals

Bruno Ortiz (17)	50 Freestyle 1^st place	23.30 (new meet record)
Mokhtar Al-Yamani (12)	50 Freestyle 1^st place (tied)	26.54
Kelly Moodie (16)	200 Freestyle 3^rd place	1:49.54 (new meet record)
Mokhtar Al-Yamani (12)	100 Butterfly 2^nd place	1:02.31
Bruno Ortiz (17)	100 Freestyle 1^st place	51.10

Preliminaries swims for Bucs

Mokhtar Al-Yamani (12)	50 Freestyle (new meet record) 26.20	100 Butterfly 1:03.17
Bruno Ortiz (17)	50 Freestyle 23.43	100 Freestyle 51.17
Kelly Moodie (16)	200 Freestyle 1:52.89	100 Backstroke 1:01.42
Shawma Chun (14)	200 Freestyle 2:07.98	100 Breaststroke 1:12.15
Kana Moodie (14)	200 Freestyle 2:14.21	100 Backstroke 1:09.24
Christian Brown (16)	50 Freestyle 24.29	100 Freestyle 53.84
Toshiki Takahashi (12)	50 Breaststroke 35.67	100 Breaststroke 1:14.77
Joshua Brown (10)	50 Butterfly 35.73	50 Freestyle 32.55

Japan Swim 2010 - Senior National Swimming Championships

Japan held its Senior National Championships at Tatsumi’s International Swimming Complex from April 13^th – 18^th. The meet was held in a 50 meter long course format and televised nationally. Nihon Senshuken serves as the selection meet for the major competition of the year - The Pan Pacific Championships to be held in late August in Irvine, California. This year marked the 1^st time the St. Mary’s Buccaneers Swim Team qualified 3 athletes for “Seniors”.

SMST Results from Nihon Senshuken

Bruno Ortiz (17)	50 Free 24.41	52^nd place out of 58 participants (4^th among high schoolers)
Kelly Moodie (16)	400 Free 4:01.18	46^th place out of 97 participants (8^th among high schoolers)
Kelly Moodie (16)	200 Free 1:53.45	46^th place out of 93 participants (4^th among high schoolers)
Ryutaro Kamiya (18)	200 Free 1:54.00	55^th place out of 93 participants
Ryutaro Kamiya (18)	200 Back 1:53.45	30^th place out of 87 participants
Ryutaro Kamiya (18)	100 Free 52.46	60^th place out of 73 participants

The Bucs are looking forward to the Kanto Shunki Finals and have qualified 8 swimmers for the competition. The meet features the top swimmers from the 8 prefectures throughout the Kanto Region and will be in a trials + finals format at Tatsumi on April 24 + 25^th.

Nanbu Block Swim Meet @ Tatsumi

The Swim Team had a lot of good performances in a long meet at the annual Tokyo South meet. It was a small meet by Tatsumi standards with 1,458 swimmers from 39 teams.

7^th grader Mokhtar Al-Yamani broke Ryutaro Kamiya’s 2004 AREA mark for the boys 11 + 12 200 Individual Medley with an 2:21.17 swim. Mokhtar’s time also was under the Age Group national cut. 6^th grader Toshiki Takahashi set a new AREA record for the 11 + 12 Boys 50 meter Breaststroke ripping a 35.60.

Swimmers turning in USS AAA times or better were Shawma Chun, Kana Moodie, and Joshua Brown. US AA standards were swum by Arun Janssens, Josef Budde, Alex Auvaro, Keila Mitchell, Junu Moon Baik, Nicolas Flint, Shunichi Ichimura, Kazuki Martin, and Haruto Ima. Lisa Torio, Masaya Takeda, Amelia Abe, Yuuki Wood, Hirokazu Kamei, Yuri Hayashi, Coco Yamamoto, and Kouki Wood all bettered A time standards.

This will be a big week in swimming as Japan will select their 2010 Pan Pacific team from the Senior National Championships. The Nihon Senshuken meet will be held at the International Swimming complex at Tatsumi from April 13 – April 18 and can be seen on NHK – BS 1.

Kanto Shunki + Tokyo-To Kirokukai Swim Meet @ Tatsumi

It was another busy weekend at the International Swimming Complex in Tatsumi. A total of 3,810 swimmers from 153 teams within the Kanto Plains participated in the annual Kanto Shunki/Kirokukai Swim Meet. Two separate meets were run simultaneously; the Kanto Shunki Yosen Meet and the Tokyo-To Kirokukai.

Swimmers competing in the Kanto Shunki needed to finish in the top 8 to qualify for the Kanto Shunki Finals to be held at Tatsumi on April 24 + 25. The Kanto Shunki preliminaries were run in a short course (25 meters) format and the finals meet will be in a long course 50 meter pool.

Buccaneers qualify 8 swimmers for the Shunki Finals meet !

Bruno Ortiz (17)	200 Individual Medley 1^st place	2:05.68 (new meet record)
Kelly Moodie (16)	100 Freestyle 1^st place	51.94 (new meet record)
Christian Brown (16)	100 Breaststroke 3^rd place	1:05.81 US AAAA Time
Shawma Chun (14)	100 Breaststroke 8^th place	1:11.17 US AAA Time
Kana Moodie (14)	100 Backstroke 7^th place	1:09.45 US AAA Time
Mokhtar Al-Yamani (12)	100 Freestyle 1^st place	59.13 US AAAA Time
Toshiki Takahashi (12)	100 Breaststroke 4^th place	1:14.94 US AAAA Time
Joshua Brown (10)	50 Freestyle 8^th place	31.73 US AAA Time

Toskiki Takahashi bettered his own 11 + 12 Boys AREA record by more than a second in the 100 meter Breast with a 1:14.94. Kana Moodie set a new 13 + 14 Girls OPEN +AREA mark in the 50 meter Backstroke with a 33.15 split going out in the 100 Back.

Buccaneer Swimmers posting All star times at the Kirokukai meet were Josef Budde, Arun Janssens, Alex Auvaro, Masaya Takeda, Emiko Mason, Adam Mason, Amelia Abe, Keila Mitchell, Nicolas Flint, Junu Moon Baik, Shunicji Ichimura, Ryoya Wakamatsu, Kacey Ries, Hirokazu Kamei, Naoki Martin, Yuri Hayashi, Coco Yamamoto, Takashi Kanazawa, Naoki Martin, and Kota Uchino.

The Swim Team will be back at Tatsumi on April 11^th for the Tokyo South Block meet.

March 2010

Japanese Age Group National Swimming Championships @ Tatsumi

5,136 swimmers from 978 clubs packed into the International Swimming Complex at Tatsumi for the annual March 27^th – 30^th JOC Cup - Age Group National Short Course Championships.

Qualifying to swim at the Nationals is tough enough but, this year has proved to be a breakthrough season as Buc swimmers are now setting a new standard by advancing to finals from their morning preliminary swims.

Day 1

3 Buc swimmers advanced to finals on the first day of the competition; Kelly Moodie finished 6^th overall in the evening finals of the 400 meter Freestyle. Kelly’s 3:48.12 prelim swim set a new All Tokyo record bettering Tokyo Swimming Center’s Kai Kohata’s 2009 standard. The mark also shattered his own existing Open + Area Record by 3.81 seconds.

Bruno Ortiz placed 6^th overall in the 50 meter Free with a finals time of 23.07 off a morning swim of 23.14. Bruno’s effort was just .13 off his newly established Open + Area record.

Senior Ryutaro Kamiya just missed the A final with a prelim swim in the 200 meter backstroke just .10 seconds off making the A final. Ryutaro took 10^th overall taking 2^nd in the consolation final with a 1:56.09 knocking 2.15 seconds off his Open + Area record.

Day 2

Again Buc swimmers advanced to the finals. Ryutaro’s 50.02 swim qualified 5^th overall for the “A” final. In a freak accident, the back of Ryutaro’s swimsuit ripped as he was sitting down during the swimmers introduction just before the start to the final. Clearly unable to swim and forced to scratch it was a huge disappointment. Bruno made it to the “B” final going a 51. 18 to take 16^th place.

Day 3 Bucs relay takes 3^rd in the nation !

For the 2^nd consecutive year the Buccaneers relay made it to the awards podium finishing with a bronze medal. After qualifying in 4^th place in the morning preliminaries, the SMST foursome really stepped it up in the finals in a race that was incredibly tight at the finish with just .70 seconds separating the 2^nd - 6^th place teams. 12 year swim team veteran Ryutaro Kamiya

got things going with a strong lead-off leg going 50.22. Junior Bruno Ortiz followed with a 49.89 swim. Kelly Moodie pulled the Bucs closer to Osaka’s Itoman with a 49.27 leg. Christian Brown closed with a 51.79 effort to secure the 3^rd place finish.

SMST’s 3:20.96 bettered their 3:22.23 finish at last year’s Nationals and established a new All time Tokyo record !

Finals standings for the 4 x 100 Freestyle Relay were;

1^st Itoman (Osaka) - (new National High School record) 3:18.51

2^nd Toyokawa High School (Nagoya) 3:20.92

3^rd St. Mary’s Swim Team 3:20.96

4^th NEC Green (Kanagawa) 3:21.25

5^th Miyukigahara Swim Team (Ibaraki) 3:21.50

6^th Marine Toneri (Tokyo) 3:21.52

7^th Kanamachi Swim Team (Tokyo) 3:22.00

8^th Gunma Swimming School (Gunma) 3:24.86

7^th grader Mokhtar Al-Yamani swam a swift 26.17 in the 11 + 12 Boys 50 meter Freestyle finishing in 9^th place overall. It was a real heartbreaker as Mokhtar missed qualifying for the afternoon finals by just .01 seconds.

Day 4　

Kelly advanced to the finals placing 7^th in the preliminaries with a 1:48.29 swim. The afternoon finals are always nerve wracking - particularly on the 4^th day of the competition. Kelly finished with an impressive 1:47.94. Ishikawa-Ken’s Yuki Kobori won the event with a new High School national record in 1:46.02. Ryutaro placed 21^st overall with a 1:49.93 morning swim. Mokhtar bettered his own Open + Area record with a 57.75 in the Boys 11 + 12 100 meter Freestyle finishing 21^st overall.

SMST results at Nationals:

Day 1 Ryutaro Kamiya (15–18) 200 meter Back 1:56.09 (10^th place) / 91 entries

Prelim time 1:57.03

Kelly Moodie (15-18) 400 meter Free 3:49.11 (6^th place) / 87 entries

Prelim time 3:48.12

Mokhtar Al-Yamani (11+12) 50 meter Fly 28.34 (13^th place) / 122 entries

Christian Brown (15–18) 50 meter Breast 29.46 (58^th place) / 105 entries

Bruno Ortiz (15–18) 50 meter Free 23.07 (6^th place) / 84 entries

Prelim time 23.14

Christian Brown (15–18) 50 meter Free 23.92 (51^st place) / 84 entries

Day 2 Ryutaro Kamiya (15–18) 100 meter Free 50.02 (5^th in Prelims) / 97 entries

Bruno Ortiz (15–18) 100 meter Free 51.18 (16^th place) / 97 entries

Prelim time 50.77

Kelly Moodie (15-18) 100 meter Free 50.86 (20^th place) / 97 entries

Bruno Ortiz (15–18) 50 meter Fly 25.64 (67^th place) / 102 entries

Day 3 Mokhtar Al-Yamani (11+12) 50 meter Free 26.17 (9^th place) / 92 entries

(Kamiya/Ortiz/Moodie/Brown) 400 meter Free Relay 3:20.96 (3^rd place) / 62 entries

Day 4 Kelly Moodie (15-18) 200 meter Free 1:47.94 (5^th place) / 93 entries

Prelim time 1:48.29

Ryutaro Kamiya (15–18) 200 meter Free 1:49.93 (21^st place) / 93 entries

Mokhtar Al-Yamani (11+12) 100 meter Free 57.75 (23^rd place) / 75 entries

2010 March Age Group Swimming Champs @ St. Mary’s

The Swim Team played host to 17 teams in the major event of the year on March 13^th + 14^th. 496 athletes competed with 2,276 individual entries and 136 relay entries. The coaches would like to thank all the volunteers that helped make the weekend a success – your hard work is greatly appreciated !

The Buccaneers finished the two-day Invitational in 2^nd place overall with 3,114 points. Setagaya-Ku’s Shindaita Swimming School took the Championship crown with a total of 3,809.5 points. The Bucs finished 40 points ahead of 3^rd place finishers Taiyo Kyoiku Sports Center. The Okinawa Dolphins took 4^th and Mishuku Sakura placed 5^thoverall.

It was great to have a number of nationally ranked swimmers at the meet. 6 new OPEN records were broken. The Bucs 400 meter Crescendo relay set a new OPEN + AREA mark; the Crescendo features 5 swimmers from each age group. Naoki Martin (8 + Under – 50m), Joshua Brown (9/10 – 50m), Mokhtar Al-Yamani (11/12 – 100m), Shawma Chun (13/14 – 100m), and Kelly Moodie (15/18 – 100m) combined to shatter the existing record by nearly 5 seconds finishing in 3:59.10.

The Bucs also easily won the 200 meter Medley Crescendo relay. The team of Ryoya Wakamatsu (11/12 - Back), Shawma Chun (13/14 - Breast), Bruno Ortiz (15/18 - Butterfly) and Joshua Brown (9/10 - Free) finished in a impressive 2:04.00.

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

Kelly Moodie + Bruno Ortiz tied for the 15 – 18 High Point trophy finishing with 117 points each. Christian Brown finished with the 3^rd high point. In the 13 + 14 Boys age group, 8^th grader Shawma Chun captured the High Point with 110 points. Seisen 8^th grader Kana Moodie took the 3^rd high point for the 13 – 14 girls. 7^th grader Ryoya Wakamatsu won the 11 – 12 Boys 2^nd high point.

Other Buccaneers finishing in the top 8 in total scoring were; Josef Budde (5^th place - 15 – 18), Arun Janssens (7^th place – 15 – 18), Lisa Torio (7^th place - 15 – 18 girls), Toshiki Takahashi (8^th place - 11 – 12 Boys), Joshua Brown (7^thplace – 9 + 10), Naoki Martin (5^th - 8 + Under Boys), and Sophie Mitchell (8^th - 8 + Under Girls).

US Swimming AAAA standards were turned in by Bruno Ortiz, Kelly Moodie, Ryutaro Kamiya, Mokhtar Al-Yamani, Christian Brown, and Toshiki Takahashi. AAA times came from Shawma Chun, Kana Moodie, Ryoya Wakamatsu, and Joshua Brown. AA swims were produced by Junu Baik, Nicolas Flint, Keila Mitchell, Shunichi Ichimura, Haruto Ima, Adam Mason, and Emiko Mason. A times came from Arun Janssens, Josef Budde, Masaya Takeda, Lisa Torio, Kacey Ries, Hirokazu Kamei, Kazuki Martin, Yuri Hayashi, Coco Yamamoto, Miki Kamei, Kaitlin Rossman, Joshua Ries, Naoki Martin, and Kota Uchino.

The Bucs will send 5 swimmers to compete at Japan’s Age Group Nationals at the International Swimming Complex in Tatsumi from March 27 – 30.

February 2010

JAPAN OPEN 2010 @ Tatsumi

Elite swimmers from abroad came to compete with Japan’s best for the Japan Open held at the International Swimming Complex on February 27^th + 28^th. The Japan Open is contested twice a year; every February in the short course 25 meter season and in early June in the summer long course season. Senior Ryutaro Kamiya swam both the 200 meter Freestyle (1:50.97) and the 100 meter Freestyle (50.76). It was a great opportunity to swim with world ranking swimmers and will surely pay off at the upcoming Age Group National Champs and Senior National meets.

2010 Tokyo-To Winter Kirokukai Meet @ Tatsumi

“The body achieves what the mind believes !”

Buccaneers Freestyle Relay establishes a new National High School Record !

2,754 swimmers from 148 clubs packed into the International Swimming Complex at Tatsumi for 2 full days of fantastic swimming. The meet featured elite athletes as well as top junior competitors.

The highlight of the meet for St. Mary’s was the finale to the 2 day competition - the Freestyle Relay. The Buccaneers 400 Free relay previously qualified for the National Champs 2 weeks ago so, the quartet of Ortiz/Kamiya/Moodie/+ Brown wanted to contest the 200 meter Free Relay to challenge the All Tokyo record. SMST took the lead right from the start and never relinquished finishing well in front with a 1:32.43 to stun the crowd with a new National High School record in 1:32.43. A special awards ceremony was held after the meet to acknowledge their performance.

Bucs relay also cracks the All Tokyo record in the 200 medley relay on day one

The Buccaneers 200 medley relay [Moodie – Back(26.23)/Ortiz – Breast (27.80)/Kamiya – Fly (24.99)/ and Brown – Free (23.54)] bettered the All Tokyo Record as well as the All Tokyo High School record. The Bucs relay shattered their own Open + Area mark from April 2009 by a full 4.1 seconds.

Other top performances were; Junior Bruno Ortiz qualifying for Japan Senior Nationals blazing a 22.94 in the 50 meter Freestyle bettering older brother Miguel O.’s 2009 Open + Area record by .03 seconds. This year marks the 1^st time that the Bucs have 3 Senior National qualifiers. Bucs with Senior “cuts” are; Ryutaro Kamiya - 100 + 200 Free + 200 Backstroke / Kelly Moodie – 200 + 400 Free / Bruno Ortiz – 50 Free.

Age Group National qualifying times were produced by Kelly Moodie (50.87) 100 Free + (1:50.51) 200 Free / Bruno Ortiz (25.19) 50 Fly/ Mokhtar Al-Yamani – 11 + 12 (2:07.33) 200 Free + (28.62) 50 Butterfly.

6^th grader Toshiki Takahashi bettered his own AREA record in the 11 + 12 Boys 100 meter Breaststroke with a swift 1:16.12. Toshiki also swam a US Swimming AAAA time with his 2:42.87 effort in the 200 meter Breaststroke.

Swimmers turning in US Swimming Allstar Standards AAA standards or better were Shawma Chun and Kana Moodie. Others producing Allstar standards were Lisa Torio, Josef Budde, Adam Mason, Ryoya Wakamatsu, Junu Moon Baik, Haruto Ima, and Takashi Kanazawa.

The Buccaneers are looking forward to hosting the March Age Group Championships at St. Mary’s on March 13^th + 14^th.

Buccaneers on fire at Tatsumi !!

The J.O. Yosen meet is the Big Enchilada for the winter short course swim season. The top swimmers in the Kanto Region come together to compete against each other and to try to qualify for Japan’s Age Group National Championships. 2,968 swimmers from 134 swimming clubs were at the annual event held at Tatsumi’s International Swimming Complex.

Buc Swimmers produced more National qualifying times (15) than ever in any one meet. The Bucs previous best was 9 “cuts” at the Feb. 2009 J.O.Yosen meet. SMST swimmers also popped 2 Senior national qualifying times and set 6 OPEN + AREA records along with 2 AREA marks.

10^th grader Kelly Moodie bettered Japan Senior National Championships (Nihon Senshuken) qualifying standards in both the 200 + 400 meter Freestyle. Moodie’s 3:51.93 in the 400 shattered the OPEN + AREA record by 2.80 seconds. 7^th grader Mokhtar Al-Yamani set 2 new OPEN + AREA marks for 11 + 12 Boys; 50 Free (26.01) + 100 Butterfly (1:03.05) as well as an AREA record in the 100 Freestyle (57.92). Christian Brown bettered Miguel Molina’s 2002 50 Breaststroke record with a 29.84 swim. Seisen 8^th grader Kana Moodie topped the AREA standard for the 200 meter Backstroke (2:27.54).

Relays always add a lot of excitement and the Bucs 15 – 18 relays did not disappoint. Senior Ryutaro Kamiya, Junior Bruno Oritz, K. Moodie, and C. Brown combined to qualify for the March Nationals in both the 4 x 100 Freestyle Relay (3:25.63) and the 4 x 100 Medley Relay (3:50.40). The Bucs Free relay was clearly the class of the field finishing in 1^st place ahead of Tama ISC, Marine Toneri, and Komaba High School - almost a full 6 seconds under the Nationals “cut”. The Bucs Medley Relay obliterated the OPEN + AREA records taking 5.11 seconds off the old mark and finishing in 2^nd place behind Komaba High School and ahead of Mitsubishi Yowa.

Buc Swimmers producing Senior National Cuts Time Overall Place

Kelly Moodie (15-16) 400 meter Free 3:51.93 1^st place

Kelly Moodie (15-16) 200 meter Free 1:49.00 2^nd place

Buc Swimmers producing National Cuts Time Overall Place

Ryutaro Kamiya (17-18) 200 meter IM 2:02.73 1^st place

Bruno Ortiz (17-18) 50 meter Free 23.17 1^st place

Ryutaro Kamiya (17-18) 100 meter Back 55.93 1^st place

Ortiz/Kamiya/ Moodie/Brown 400 Freestyle Relay 3:25.63 1^st place

Ryutaro Kamiya (17-18) 200 meter Back 2:00.28 2^nd place

Mokhtar Al-Yamani (11-12) 50 meter Free 26.01 2^nd place

Christian Brown (15-16) 50 meter Free 23.86 2^nd place

Moodie/Ortiz/Kamiya/Brown 400 Medley Relay 3:50.40 2^nd place

Bruno Ortiz (17-18) 50 meter Fly 25.54 2^nd place

Mokhtar Al-Yamani (11-12) 100 meter Fly 1:03.05 3^rd place

Mokhtar Al-Yamani (11-12) 100 meter Free 57.92 3^rd place

Bruno Ortiz (17-18) 100 meter Free 50.88 3^rd place

Christian Brown (15-16) 50 meter Breast 29.84 3^rd place

Ryutaro Kamiya (17-18) 100 meter Free 51.48 4^th place

Kelly Moodie (15-16) 200 meter IM 2:06.39 5^th place

Personal bests were the norm for the weekend. Other Buc swimmers producing US Allstar times were; Arun Janssens, Josef Budde, Alex Auvaro, Lisa Torio, Emiko Mason, Adam Mason Masaya Takeda, Shawma Chun, Keila Mitchell, Shunichi Ichimura, Junu Moon Baik, Yuuki Wood, Haruto Ima, Kacey Ries,

Toshiki Takahashi, Hirokazu Kamei, Kazuki Martin, Yuri Hayashi, Coco Yamamoto, Joshua Ries, and Takashi Kanazawa.

The Tokyo-To Kirokukai (Feb. 20 + 21) is always fun as many of Japan’s top university as well as elite athletes

will also compete.

January 2010

Tokyo-To Senshuken Championships @ Tatsumi

The Swim Team had 3 swimmers compete at the Tokyo-To Senshuken Championships at Tatsumi on Jan. 30^th + 31^st. The meet provided an opportunity to race in the long course 50 meter format in the midst of the short course season.

Many elite swimmers were in attendance with 12 members of Japan’s National team competing. Preliminaries and finals were held for each event and competitors placing well could advance to either A, B, or C finals. University and elite athletes were prohibited from swimming in the B or C finals.

All 3 Buc swimmers advanced to finals in their respective events;

10^th grader Kelly Moodie made it to the A finals in both the 200 and the 400 meter Freestyle events. Senior Ryutaro Kamiya captured a spot in the A finals for the 200 meter Backstroke.

After qualifying 6^th in the morning prelims for the 200 Free, Moodie finished in 5^th with a 1:52.98 effort just .28 seconds from a spot on the podium. National team member Hiroaki Yamamoto (Meiji University) took 1^st place in 1:51.26. Hosei University’s Kazuki Nagura (1:51.89) and Chuo University’s National teamer Ranmaru Harada (1:52.70) placed 2^nd and 3^rd respectively.

Kamiya finished in 6^th place overall in the 200 meter Back with a 2:05.89 swim. Beijing Olympian Mizuno’s Takashi Nakano and Meiji University’s Satoshi Kamei both finished with a time of 2:00.83 to tie for 1^st place. Nihon University’s Yuya Kataoka (2:01.80) finished in 3^rd.

Moodie finished in 5^th place again in the 400 meter Free with a 4:00.43 swim just .73 seconds of the Senior National qualifying standard. Yasunari Hirai (Meiji University) captured the top spot in 3:54.91. Chuo University’s Kohei Yamada and Kenichi Teranishi placed 2^nd and 3^rd with 3:57.91 and 3:58.53 swims.

Ryutaro Kamiya qualified for the B finals in the 100 meter Backstroke and 100 meter Freestyle. Ryu scratched the 100 Back final due to the event schedule allowing little time before the 100 meter Free. Ryu won the 100 Free consolation B final with a 52.28. Junior Bruno Ortiz took 7^th place in the same race going 53.61.

Bruno also took 2^nd place in the B final of the 50 Free (24.47) and 9^th place in the B final of the 200 meter Free (1:59.27 – 1:57.61 in prelims).

The Bucs will be at the International Swimming Complex in Tatsumi for the J.O. Yosen on Feb. 6 + 7.

Winter 2010 Kanto Plains Championships @ St. Mary’s

The International Buccaneers Swim Team captured their 37^th consecutive Kanto Plains Championship on Jan. 24^th. The KP Champs has a long tradition and challenges competitors as swimmers compete in four individual events as well as 2 relays in a one day meet. The coaches would like to thank all the volunteers for helping run a meet with 13 teams on schedule - 937 individual entries and 67 relays !

The host Bucs had many veteran swimmers win high point honors as well as newcomers breaking into the ranks. The following swimmers were awarded high point trophies in the respective age groups:

15 – 18 Boys

Ryutaro Kamiya tied for High Point 34 points 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 Kelly Moodie tied for High Point 34 points 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Bruno Ortiz tied for High Point 34 points 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Christian Brown 2^nd High Point 31 points

13 + 14 Boys

Shawma Chun High Point 34 points
Junu Moon Baik tied 2^nd High Point 31 points

13 + 14 Girls

Kana Moodie High Point 36 points 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Keila Mitchell tied 2^nd High Point 26 points

11 + 12 Boys

Mokhtar Al-Yamani High Point 36 points 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Ryoya Wakamatsu 2^nd High Point 34 points 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Toshiki Takahashi tied 3^rd High Point 30 points

9 + 10 Boys

Patrick Self 3^rd High Point 30 points

Bucs swimmers with a perfect 4 individual wins were; Kana Moodie (13 + 14) and Mokhtar Al-Yamani Takahashi (9 + 10). Other multiple event winners were Ryutaro Kamiya (15 – 18) - 3, Kelly Moodie (15 – 18) - 3, Bruno Ortiz (15 – 18) - 3, Shawma Chun (13 + 14) – 3, Ryoya Wakamatsu (11 + 12) – 3, Christian Brown (15 - 18) – 2, Junu Moon Baik (13 + 14) – 2, and Toshiki Takahashi (11 + 12) – 2.

Kamiya, Moodie, Ortiz, and Al-Yamani all posted US Swimming AAAA times. Ryoya Wakamatsu, Kana Moodie, and Toshiki Takahashi swam AAA times. AA performances came from Shawma Chun, Shunichi Ichimura, and Yuuki Wood. A times were also turned in by Masaya Takeda, Josef Budde, Alex Auvaro, Amelia Abe, Lisa Torio, Nicolas Flint, Keila Mitchell, Kazuki Martin, Haruto Ima, Yuri Hayashi, Senil Hyun, Soo Yeon Lee, Seung Yeon Lee, and Naoki Martin.

The Swim Team will send 4 swimmers to the Tokyo Senshuken Championships at the Kokusai Swimming Complex in Tatsumi on Jan. 30^thand Jan. 31^st.

Annual Swim-a-thon @ St. Mary’s

The Swim Team held their annual Swim-A-Thon on January 16^th. As always, it was inspiring to watch swimmers give their all. 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　It’s a cool event that gives all an idea of how training is going. 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 not-stop ! The swim-a-thon is also a great 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　chance to perfect technique that will certainly payoff when the championship meets are on.

Swimmers breaking into the All-Time Swim-a-thon record books were;

12^th grader Ryutaro Kamiya (Boys 15 - 18) (tied) 2^nd all time - 202 lengths

10^th grader Kelly Moodie (Boys 15 – 18) (tied) 2^nd all time - 202 lengths

11^th grader Bruno Ortiz 　　　　(Boys 15 – 18) (tied) 5^th all time - 184 lengths

10^th grader Josef Budde 　(Boys 15 – 18) (tied) 5^th all time - 184 lengths

8^th grader Shawma Chun 　　(Boys 13 + 14) 3^rd all time - 186 lengths

8^th grader Kana Moodie (Girls 13 + 14) 3rd all time - 175 lengths

7^th grader Mokhtar Al-Yamani 　 (Boys 11 + 12) 2^nd all time - 184 lengths

Top finishers for the 2010
“How far can you swim in 1 hour? ” challenge were:

15 – 18 Boys

1^st Ryutaro Kamiya	18 yrs	202 lengths	5,050 meters
1^st Kelly Moodie	16 yrs.	202 lengths	5,050 meters
2^nd Bruno Ortiz	16 yrs.	194 lengths	4,850 meters
2^nd Josef Budde	15 yrs.	194 lengths	4,850 meters

15 – 18 Girls

1^st Lisa Torio

16 yrs

159 lengths

3,975 meters

2^nd Emiko Mason

17 yrs.

155 lengths

3,875 meters

3^rd Paige Delany +

Cassandra Flint

16 yrs + 15 yrs.

153 lengths

3,825 meters

13 + 14 Boys

1^st Shawma Chun	14 yrs.	186 lengths	4,650 meters
2^nd Nicolas Flint	14 yrs.t	173 lengths	4,325 meters
3^rd Junu Baik	13 yrs.	171 lengths	4,275 meters

13 + 14 Girls

1^st Kana Moodie	13 yrs.	175 lengths	4,375 meters
2^nd Amelia Abe	14 yrs.	154 lengths	3,850 meters
3^rd Crescent Van der Linden	13 yrs.	148 lengths	3,700 meters

11 + 12 Boys

1^st Mokhtar Al-Yamani	12 yrs.	184 lengths	4,600 meters
2^nd Toshiki Takahashi	10 yrs.	155 lengths	3,875 meters
3^rd Kazuki Martin	11 yrs.	137 lengths	3,425 meters

11 + 12 Girls

1^st Yuri Hayashi	11 yrs.	151 lengths	3,775 meters
2^nd Miki Kamei	12 yrs.	151 lengths	3,775 meters
3^rd Coco Yamamoto	11 yrs.	135 lengths	3,350 meters

9 + 10 Boys

1^st Joshua Ries	9 yrs.	131 lengths	3,275 meters
2^nd Takashi Kanazawa	10 yrs.	126 lengths	3,150 meters
2^nd Richard Von Esebeck	10 yrs.	126 lengths	3,150 meters

9 + 10 Girls

1^st Kaitlin Rossman

10 yrs.

111 lengths

2,775 meters

8 + Under Boys

1^st Kota Uchino	8 yrs	121 lengths	3,025 meters
2^nd Soo Yeon Lee	8 yrs	118 lengths	2,950 meters
3^rd Naoki Martin	7 yrs	108 lengths	2,700 meters

8 + Under Girls

1^st Sophie Mitchell

7 yrs

94 lengths

2,350 meters

The Bucs will host the Kanto Plains Winter Championships on Sunday Jan. 24^th.

Tokyo New Year Swim Meet – Bucs qualify two for Senior Nationals !

The Swim Team started 2010 with a bang at the Tokyo-To New Year Swim Meet. 2,562 swimmers from 98 swim clubs competed at the annual meet. 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. There were 8 members of the Japanese Olympic team and this past summers’ World Championships team competing.

7^th grader Mokhtar Al-Yamani got the ball rolling on the 1^st day of the meet with a stellar 2:05.65 in the finals of the 200 meter Freestyle to take 2^nd place overall. Mokhtar’s swim was 1.63 seconds faster than the Age Group National qualifying standard for 11 + 12 Boys.

The Bucs qualified 1-2 for the 15 – 18 Boys 200 meter Free in the preliminaries. Senior Ryutaro Kamiya and sophomore Kelly Moodie outclassed the competition in the finals blazing 1:48.48 and 1:48.78, respectively, to finish 1^st and 2^nd and both qualify for Japan’s Senior National Swimming Championships. The Nihon Senshuken meet will be held in mid April and will serve as Japan’s selection meet for the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships to be held in mid-August in Irvine, California. This is the 2^nd consecutive season that the Bucs have qualified 2 swimmers for the Senior Nationals meet. Both Kamiya’s and Moodie’s times were faster than the previous meet record.

Kamiya also finished 3^rd overall in the Boys 100 meter Backstroke in his 2^nd final of the afternoon. Coincidentally, Ryu’s 56.00 swim earned him the bonus “Otoshidama” prize. Swimmers finishing with a .00 time after their races won a special gift.

Mokhtar Al-Yamani broke Hiro Hayashi’s 1999 OPEN and AREA record with an awesome 26.33 finish in the Boys 11-12 final for the 50 meter Free. Moku’s swim was well under the Age Group National qualifying time and also set a new meet record.

Junior Bruno Ortiz also set a new meet record with a new personal best 23.38 in the 15 – 18 Boys 50 meter Freesttyle on his way to a 1^st place finish. Bruno’s time qualified for the March Age Group Nationals and was just .32 seconds off the Senior Nationals “cut”.

On the 2^nd day of the meet, Ryutaro Kamiya shaved 1.32 seconds off his OPEN and AREA record on his way to a victory in the 200 meter Backstroke – Ryu’s time also qualified for Senior Nationals. Kelly Moodie won the 400 meter Freestyle with a new OPEN and AREA mark with a 3:54.73 swim well under the Age Group Nationals “cut” and just 1.11 seconds off Senior Nationals.

Bruno Ortiz and Mohktar Al-Yamani both won their 50 meter Butterfly swims in meet record times. Bruno went 25.15 in the 50 Fly (15 -18) and Mokhtar set a new OPEN and AREA standard with a 28.46 effort. Bruno also took 4^th place in the 100 Free qualifying for the Age Group Nationals with a 51.55 swim.

The Buccaneers are looking forward to their annual Swim-a-thon on January 16^th.

December 2009

Tokyo South Club Championship Meet

Buccaneer swimmers made a big splash at the Tokyo South club championship meet on Dec. 13^th. 928 swimmers from 23 swim clubs competed at the annual meet. Swimmers finishing in the top 8 in the preliminary heats advanced to the afternoon finals.

In the finals, BUC swimmers surfaced with times good enough to win medals. Senior Ryutaro Kamiya stunned the crowd and his teammates by storming through the 100 meter Freestyle to win in 49.30 seconds and set a new OPEN and AREA record and be the 1^st Buccaneer under the 50 second barrier. Ryu’s time was a Tokyo-To High School record in swimming’s Marquis event. Kamiya won his 2^nd gold medal in his dorsal specialty taking the 100 meter Backstroke in 55.28. Sophmore Kelly Moodie won gold in the 50 meter Backstroke with a swift 26.27 swim. Kelly also took a bronze medal with a 58.22 effort in the 100 meter Back. 7^th grader Mokhtar Al-Yamani won the 11 + 12 Boys 100 meter Freestyle with a new meet record 59.26 and also captured a silver medal with a 1:03.67 swim in the 100 meter Butterfly. Christian Brown took 2^nd place in the 15 – 18 Boys 50 meter Freestyle in 24.42. 7^th grader Ryoya Wakamatsu had a great race in the 11 + 12 Boys 50 meter Backstroke closing hard to touch in 3^rd place with a 32.63 swim.

The Buccaneer Boys also took bronze medals twice in both the 15 – 18 Boys 400 meter Free Relay (Ryutaro Kamiya, Kelly Moodie, Arun Jannsens,

and Christian Brown) and the 11 + 12 Boys 200 meter Free Relay (Mokhtar Al-Yamani, Ryoya Wakamatsu, Toshiki Takahashi, and Yuki Wood).

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 Breast - 4^th place, (13 + 14 Boys) Shawma Chun 50 Breast – 6^th place + 100 Breast – 5^th place, Shunichi Ichimura 50 Breast – 4^th place + 100 Breast – 8^th place, (13 + 14 Girls) Kana Moodie 100 Backstroke – 4^th place + 50 Butterfly – 5^th, (11 + 12 Boys) Toshiki Takahashi 100 Breaststroke – 4^th place + 50 Breaststroke – 6^th place, Yuuki Wood 50 Free – 6^th place, Kazuki Martin 50 Free – 7^th place, (11 + 12 Girls) Yuri Hayashi 100 meter Breaststroke – 7^th, Miki Kamei 50 meter Breaststroke – 8^th, (8 + Under Boys) Soo Yeon Lee 50 Butterfly – 5^th place, Yu Kunita 50 Freestyle – 5th place, and Hosei Kijima 50 Freestyle – 8^th place.

4 Buccaneer swimmers turned in qualifying times for Japan’s Age Group National Championships. It was good to see people making their “cuts” so early in the season and without tapering. The Age Group Nationals will be held at the Tatsumi complex from March 27 – 30. Age Group National cuts swum at the Tokyo South meet were; Ryutaro Kamiya (100 Free + 100 Back), Kelly Moodie (50 Back, + 100 Free), and Mokhtar Al-Yamani (50 Free, 100 Free, + 100 Fly). Kamiya’s 100 Free swim also bettered the Japanese Senior National qualify standard. Moodie’s 50 Back was just .08 seconds off the Japan Open elite meet cut.

The Buccaneers look forward to good training leading to strong swims in the New Year.

November 2009

Distance Swim Meet @ St. Mary’s

The swim team played host to Taiyo Kyoiku Sports Center in a dual meet that contested just one event – the 1500 meter Freestyle. Younger swimmers swam two to a lane as the time of each race makes for a long meet. Upon completing their races swimmers enjoyed pizza and drinks while taking splits, counting laps, and cheering on teammates.

7^th grader Mokhtar Al-Yamani set a new AREA record for 11 + 12 Boys in the 1,500 meter Freestyle with a 3^rd place finish in 18:16.38. Seisen 8^th grader Kana Moodie bettered the 13 + 14 Girls AREA record placing 3^rd overall in 19:31.16.

Top finishers: US Swimming Standards

Kelly Moodie 　　- 16:26.07 (1^st place 15 - 18 Boys) AAA

Mokhtar Al-Yamani 　　- 18:16.38 (3^rd place 11 + 12 Boys) AAAA

Shawma Chun - 18:24.46 (3^rd place 13 + 14 Boys) AA

Kana Moodie - 19:31.16 (3^rd place 13 + 14 Girls) A

Nicolas Flint 　　　 - 18:31.40 (4^th place 13 + 14 Boys) AA

Josef Budde 　 - 18:04.24 (6^th place 15 - 18 Boys) AA

Junu Moon Baik - 19:15.61 (6^th place 13 + 14 Boys) AA

Toshiki Takahashi - 20:28.55 (6^th place 11 + 12 Boys) AA

Emiko Mason - 20:31.19 (2^nd place 15 - 18 Girls)

Amelia Abe - 21:08.19 (4^th place 13 + 14 Girls)

Lisa Torio - 21:08.54 (3^rd place 15 - 18 Girls)

The Bucs next meet will be against ASIJ at home on Friday afternoon December 4^th.

Tokyo-To Kirokukai Swim Meet

41 Buccaneer swimmers competed in the Nov. 7 + 8 Tokyo Kirokukai Swim Meet at Tatsumi. 2,341 swimmers from 96 teams participated in the annual event. The coaches were pleased with the weekends’ performances coming off the 2 day Buccaneer Invitational the previous week.

The BUCS continue their streak of compiling Age Group National qualifying times very earlyin the swim season. Bucs bettering the JOC Cup standards at Saturday + Sunday’s Tokyo Kirokukai were; Ryutaro Kamiya - 100 meter Backstroke (55.10), Kelly Moodie - 50 meter Back (26.69) and Mokhtar Al-Yamani – 100 meter Free (58.53) and 100 meter Butterfly – (1:03.48). Several Buccaneers are closing in fast – Bruno Ortiz missed the 15 – 18 Boys 50 meter Free by a mere .01 seconds.

7^th grader Mokhtar Al-Yamani established a new Tokyo Record for Elementary School students (12 + Under) in the 100 meter Individual Medley. Moku’s swift 1:06.52 obliterated Hiro Hayashi’s AREA mark of 1:09.74 from 1999. Mokhtar also qualified for Nationals in the Boys 11 – 12 100 meter Free with a 58.53 swim to better Ryutaro Kamiya’s AREA mark of 58.54 from 2004. 6^th grader Toshiki Takahashi bettered his own AREA record in the 11 – 12 Boys 100 meter Breaststroke to improve the standard to 1:17.52. On Sunday, Mokhtar also blazed a 1:03.48 in the 100 meter Butterfly setting a new OPEN + AREA record and nearly a full seond under the National “cuts”. Moku’s 50 meter split time for going out in the 100 meter Fly (29.27) also bettered his own OPEN + AREA record.

Swimmers finishing in the top 12 in individual events were; Ryu Kamiya 15 – 18 yrs. (100 Back – 1^st), Kelly Moodie 15 - 18 (50 Back – 3^rd,100 Back – 4^th, + 50 Free – 5^th), Bruno Ortiz (50 Free – 2^nd, 100 IM – 4^th + 100 Free – 4^th), Christian Brown 15 – 18 yrs. (50 Breast – 5^th), Mokhtar Al-Yamani (100 Free – 1^st + 100 Free – 1^st + 100 Fly – 2^nd), Shawma Chun 13 + 14 yrs. (100 IM – 9^th), Kana Moodie 13 + 14 yrs. (100 Back – 11^th), and Toshiki Takahashi 11 + 12 (100 Breast - 5^th).

The Buccaneers will be back in action on Saturday November 21^st with just 1 event

contested – the 1,500 meter Freestyle - when they host their annual Distance meet with

Taiyo Kyoiku Sports Center.

Buccaneer Invitational Meet

The Swim Team played host to 11 teams throughout the Kanto Plains on Saturday and Sunday. There was a lot of activity around the pool with 321 athletes attending and a total of 1,358 individual entries and 85 relays. Once again the coaches would like to thank all the volunteers who helped make the weekend a success.

The Bucs do not count themselves in the team trophy race for the Invitational but, amassed 1,111 points over the 2 days of competition. Taiyo Kyoiku Sports Center of Setagaya-Ku took 1st place with 1,421 points, followed by Setagaya-Ku’s Mishuku Sakura Swim Team (649) and Setagaya-Ku’s Kibogaoka Swim Team (336).

There were a lot of best times and a number of Bucs bettered Japan Age Group National qualifying times; Ryutaro Kamiya (200 Backstroke), Bruno Ortiz (50 Free + 200 Individual Medley), Kelly Moodie (200 Free) and Mokhtar Al-Yamani (50 Free). The Bucs 15 – 18 Boys also blazed a 3:30.75 in the 400 meter Freestyle relay a full 5.4 seconds under the National “cuts”. In the 400 meter Medley relay the boys finished a scant .09 seconds off the nationals standard.

This years’ Invitational featured 5 elite athletes from Nittaidai (Nihon Sports Science University) in Komazawa. The NSSU swimmers competed as exhibition swimmers and did not score points. Nittaidai’s Kosaku Matsui and Saki Shimazoe were available to present trophies at the award ceremony following the meet.

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 – 11^th grader Bruno Ortiz and 10^th grader Kelly Moodie finished in a tie with 50 points each after 6 individual events for the overall High Point. Senior Ryutaro Kamiya took the 3^rd place trophy. In the girls 15 – 18 division Emiko Mason took 2^nd place honors and Lisa Torio finished just 1 point back to take 3^rd place overall.

13 + 14 – Seisen 8^th grader Kana Moodie finished with a 46 points to take the 2^nd High Point and 9^th grader Amelia Abe claimed the 3^rd High Point with 33 points amassed.

11 - 12 - 7^th grader Mokhtar Al-Yamani captured the High Point for Boys 11 – 12 with Ryoya Wakamatsu tying for 2^nd with Taiyo’s Meguru Hotta.

Other swimmers finishing in the top 8 in overall points for their age groups were Paige Delany, Nicolas Flint, Junu Moon Baik, Shunichi Ichimura, Keila Mitchell, Toshiki Takahashi, Kazuki Martin, Soo Yeon Lee, Seung Yeon Lee, Naoki Martin, and Sophie Mitchell.

The Bucs will be at the International Swimming Complex in Tastumi for the Tokyo Kirokukai on

Nov. 7 + 8.

October 2009

Seibu – Nanbu Tatsumi Meet

The International Buccaneers had strong early season performances at the International Swimming Complex on Sunday. The swim team had 32 swimmers compete at Tatsumi’s Tokyo West vs. Tokyo South swim meet. 1,435 swimmers from 40 clubs competed in the annual event.

Buccaneer Swimmers set 4 new records; Senior Ryutaro Kamiya set two new 15 – 18 Boys OPEN + AREA marks in the 200 meter Freestyle (1:48.98) and tied his own 100 meter Back record with a 56.16 swim. 10th grader Kelly Moodie bettered his own OPEN + AREA record for the 15 – 18 Boys in the 400 meter Freestyle with a 3:55.22 effort. 6^th grader Toshiki Takahashi came home gangbusters in the 100 meter Breaststroke to set a new AREA standard (11 – 12 Boys) in a swift 1:17.78 bettering Miguel Molina’s 1997 standard.

Both Ryutaro’s and Kelly’s swims were under Japan’s Age Group Nationals qualifying times. Mokhtar Al-Yamani came just .20 seconds off the Age Group National “cut” in the 100 meter Free blazing a 59.59 sub 1 minute performance.

The Coaches were pleased to see a high percentage of personal bests so early in the season. Swimmers turning in US Swimming AA Allstar Standards standards or better were Arun Janssens, Alez Auvaro, Shawma Chun, Kana Moodie, Ryoya Wakamatsu, and Junu Moon Baik. US A times were also turned in by Josef Budde, Amelia Abe, Nicolas Flint, and Hiro Kamei.

The team is looking forward to good training with no meets scheduled before hosting the annual Buccaneer Invitational on Oct. 31^st + Nov. 1^st.

Fall Swim Meet @ St. Mary’s

The International Buccaneers Swim Team hosted 7 teams at their annual October Swim Meet on Sunday. Bucs posting the maximum 4 individual wins were Kelly Moodie, Mokhtar Al-Yamani, and Shawma Chun. Kana Moodie, Takashi Kanazawa, and Sophie Mitchell each won 3 individual events. Other Multiple winners were Arun Janssens, Kaitlin Rossman, Soo Yeon Lee, Seng Yeon Lee, KyU Kunita, and Naoki Martin.

US Swimming AAAA standards were turned in by Kelly Moodie and Mokhtar Al-Yamani. Ryoya Wakamatsu, Kana Moodie, and Toshiki Takahashi posted triple A times. Other Allstar times came from; Arun Janssens, Shawma Chun, Keila Mitchell, Nicolas Flint, Junu Moon Baik, Kazuki Martin, and Seung Yeon Lee.

The Bucs had 89 swimmers compete and it was a good training meet for all before the competitive Buccaneer Invitational on October 31^st + November 1^st. Bucs with individual wins were; Ryoya Wakamatsu, Hirokazu Kamei, and Vittoria Scardigli.

The Swim Team will be at the International Swimming Complex at Tatsumi on Oct. 11^th for the annual Tokyo West vs. Tokyo South meet.

September 2009

Fall Swim Season Kickoff @ St. Mary’s

The Swim Team had a busy weekend with 2 meets in 3 days. The team held a very casual time trial meet at St. Mary’s on September 19^th. It was a good chance to take a look at new folks trying out as well as having veteran swimmers racing again. 81 swimmers participated in the event – the Bucs parent volunteers also had a chance to hone their skills prior to the 1^st home meet on October 4^th.

Tokyo Junior Swim Meet @ Tatsumi

The International Buccaneers Swim Team competed at the Tokyo Junior Swim Meet at Tatsumi on September 21^st. The meet was the Bucs first Japan Amateur Swimming Federation competition for this school year. 1,449 swimmers from 57 clubs in the Kanto Plains participated in the event. The Tokyo Junior meet was run in the long course 50 meter format – October will mark the beginning of the short course 25 meter season.

7 Buc Swimmers placed in the top 10 in their age groups. 11^th grader Bruno Ortiz captured 2 titles winning the 15 – 18 Boys 50 meter (24. 54) + 100 (53.10) meter Freestyle events. 10^th grader Kelly Moodie took 1st place in the 15 – 18 Boys 200 meter Freestyle (1:54.33) and 2^nd in the 100 meter Backstroke (1:00.76). Kelly’s 200 meter Free swim bettered the Japan Swim Federation’s qualifying standard for selection to the winter break training camp at the International Swimming Complex at Tatsumi.

7^th grader Mokhtar Al-Yamani finished 2^nd in the Boys 11 – 12 50 (29.76) meter Butterfly and 3^rd in the 100 (1:02.60) meter Free. Others in the mix were; Ryoya Wakamatsu – 6^th 100 meter Backstroke + 8^th 50 meter Butterfly, Kana Moodie – 7th 200 meter Backstroke, Shawma Chun – 10^th 100 meter Breaststroke, and Junu Baik – 10^th 50 meter Free.

The Bucs will travel to Yokosuka on Sept. 26^th for the annual meet the Seahawks host.

August 2009

This summer marked the 1^st year that St. Mary’s received permission to compete in Japan’s prestigious Inter High Championships. The road to Osaka – site of the 2009 National Inter High Champs - included 2 preliminary meets; the All Tokyo High School Champs meet and the All Kanto Champs meet. 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.

Ryutaro Kamiya, Kelly Moodie, and Bruno Ortiz competed at the Tokyo-To High School Champs on June 27^th + 28^th. Both Ryutaro and Kelly finished the meet with a ticket to the all Kanto meet in the 200 Free + 200 Back and the 200 Free + 400 Free, respectively. The All Kanto meet was held in Tochigi Prefecture on July 24^th – 26^th. Once again, both Ryu and Kelly swam well enough to qualify for the next round. Both boys produced lifetime bests with Kamiya swimming the 200 Free + 200 Back and Moodie competing in the 200 + 400 Free in Osaka.

The Summer Age Group National Swimming Championships (JOC Cup) are always held just as our school year begins in the 50 meter long course format. This year the Bucs had 4 swimmers in the meet. Senior Ryutaro Kamiya, Junior Bruno Ortiz, Sophomore Kelly Moodie, and 7^th grader Mohktar Al-Yamani.

Individual results for SMST swimmers at Nationals:

Day	Name	Age Group	Event	Time	Place
1	Mokhtar Al-Yamani	11–12	50 meter Fly	29.50	28^{th -}103 entries

3	Ryutaro Kamiya	15–18	200 meter Back	2:05.27	13^{th -}65 entries
	Kelly Moodie	15–18	200 meter Free	1:54.26	28^{th -}113 entries
	Bruno Ortiz	15–18	200 meter Free	1:57.43	95^{th -}113 entries

4	Kelly Moodie	15–18	400 meter Free	4:07.15	66^{th -} 92 entries
	Ryutaro Kamiya	15–18	100 meter Free	52.01	16^{th -}119 entries
	Bruno Ortiz	15–18	100 meter Free	53.41	63^rd ^-119 entries

5	Bruno Ortiz	15–18	50 meter Free	24.88	51^st ^-83 entries

Other Highlights - Following the Inter High Champs, senior Ryutaro Kamiya was selected to represent Tokyo at the annual Kokutai Sports festival. This year’s Kokutai will be held in Niigata in mid-September. Kelly Moodie’s 200 meter Freestyle time at the Age Group nationals bettered the qualifying standard to be selected for the Japan Swim Federation winter training camp at Tatsumi over the Christmas holidays.

April 2009

Jolly Roger Invitational Swim Meet @ St. Mary’s

The International Buccaneers Swim Team played host to 8 teams for the Jolly Roger Invitational. The Bucs finished the day with the team title amassing 1,381 points. Setagaya’s Kibogaoka Swim Team finished in 2^nd place with 500 points followed by The British School with 276 points.

High Point trophies were won by the following Buc swimmers:

Ryutaro Kamiya (15-18), Lisa Torio (15-18), Shawma Chun (13-14), Kana Moodie (13-14 Girls), Mokhtar Al-Yamani (11-12), and Miki Kamei (11-12).

Swimmers turning in USS AA times or better were Ryutaro Kamiya, Kelly Moodie, Bruno Ortiz, Mokhtar Al-Yamani, Shunichi Ichimura, Kazuki Martin, Toshiki Takahashi, and Alan Ishikawa. Kana Moodie, Christian Brown, and Yuri Hayashi popped AA time standards. Shawma Chun, and Toshiki Takahashi.

Other Buc swimmers finishing with A times were Arun Janssens, Josef Budde, Lisa Torio, Anna Saber, Masaya Takeda, Shawma Chun, Nicolas Flint, Nicolette McGuire, Yuuki Wood, and Joshua Brown.

The Bucs will compete at the International Swimming Complex in Tatsumi on May 16^th + 17^th.

Japan Swim 2009 - Senior National Swimming Championships @ Hamamatsu, Shizuoka

Japan held its Senior National Championships at the brand new Hironoshin Furuhashi Memorial Swimming Complex in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture from April 16th – 19^th. The meet served as the selection meet for the World Championships in Rome this July. The St. Mary’s Buccaneer swim team had 2 participants in the long course meters championships – Senior Miguel Molina and Ryutaro Kamiya.

Miguel Ortiz swam the 50 Back (27.15) 33^rd place; 50 Butterfly (25.11) 50^th place; and the 50 Free (24.17) 53^rd place. Ryutaro Kamiya competed in the 200 Back (2:05.49) 38^th place and the 100 Free (52.66) 67^th place.

2002 St. Mary’s graduate Miguel Molina had a great meet going lifetime bests in his 3 events; 200 Individual Medley (2:00.54); 400 IM (4:19.75); 200 meter Breast (2:14.21).

Miguel will once again represent the Philippines at the 2009 World Champs. The Bucs host the Jolly Roger Invitational at St. Mary’s on April 26^th.

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 1,299 swimmers from 36 teams.

Kelly Moodie qualified for the Japan Open meet dropping his time by .73 seconds with a sizzling 1:50.13 to win the 200 meter Freestyle.

6^th grader Shunichi Ichimura set a new AREA record lowering Keisuke Hosoi’s 1998 standard in the 11 – 12 Boys 50 meter Breaststroke to 35.93.

The Bucs had 4 swims under the Age Group National “cuts” – Kelly’s 200 Free, Miguel Ortiz’s 23.49 effort in the 50 meter Free, and Mokhtar Al-Yamani’s (11yrs.) 28.01 in the 50 Free and 30.72 in the 50 meter Fly. Bruno Ortiz was a mere .09 seconds off the cut with a 30.49 in the 50 meter Breaststroke.

Other swimmers turning in USS AAA times were Josef Budde, Shunichi Ichimura, and Toshiki Takahashi. US AA standards were swum by Kana Moodie. Shawma Chun, and Yuuki Wood.

Shinto Mogi, Arun Janssens, Anna Saber, Masaya Takeda, Junu Moon Baik, Joshua Brown, Yuri Hayashi, and Coco Yamamoto all bettered A time standards.

This will be a big week in swimming for Japan as they will select their 2009 team for the World Championships in Rome, Italy. Miguel Ortiz and Ryutaro Kamiya will represent St. Mary’s at the Senior Nationals to be held at a brand new facility in Hamamatsu-shi, Shizuoka Prefecture.

Tokyo-To Kirokukai Swim Meet @ Tatsumi

It was another busy weekend at the International Swimming Complex in Tatsumi. A total of 3,765 swimmers from 149 teams within the Kanto Plains participated in the meet.

Buccaneers swimmers set 3 more new records. Senior Miguel Ortiz broke the AREA 100 meter Butterfly mark with a 55.93 swim. The 15 – 18 Boys relay also set new OPEN + AREA standards in the 200 meter Free Relay (1:34.41) + the 200 meter Medley Relay (1:46.66). The Bucs also had 7 swims that were under the Age Group National Qualifying Times;

Miguel Ortiz (18) - 100 Butterfly (55.93) / 50 Butterfly (25.24) 　　　　　　　　　　　　 Ryutaro Kamiya (17) - 200 Backstroke (2:02.64) / 50 Freestyle (23.85) Bruno Ortiz (16) - 100 Freestyle (52.01) / 200 Breaststroke (2:20.86) Kelly Moodie (15) - 400 Freestyle (359.23)

Buccaneer Swimmers posting US Swimming AAA times were; Mokhtar Al-Yamani, Adam Mason, Josef Budde, Ryoya Wakamatsu, Shunichi Ichimura, and Alan Ishikawa.

Emiko Mason, Kana Moodie, Shawma Chun, Toshiki Takahashi, Kazuki Martin, Joshua Brown, and Yuri Hayashi all produced AA times. A times were also turned in by Arun Janssens, Shinto Mogi, Junu Moon Baik, and Patrick Self.

The Swim Team will be back at Tatsumi on April 12^th for the Tokyo South Block meet.

March 2009

Japanese Age Group National Swimming Championships @ Tatsumi

5,654 swimmers from 1,018 clubs packed into the International Swimming 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Complex at Tatsumi for the annual March 27^th – 30^th short course Age Group National Championships.

Bucs relay – Smoke on the water !

Unquestionably the highlight of the meet for the Buccaneers was the 400 meter Freestyle relay. The Free relay was the finale to the 3^rd day of the 4 day competition. After qualifying in 1^st place in the morning preliminaries with a new OPEN + AREA record (3:23.33), the SMST foursome stepped it up in the finals with all members breaking 51 seconds for a final time of 3:22.23.

Having nearly finaled on several occasions in past years, the Bucs relay joined in the frenzy to finish in 2^nd place overall and earn a spot on the awards podium. Junior Ryutaro Kamiya got things going with a strong lead-off (50.66) and Senior Miguel Ortiz began pulling away from the field with a superb leg cracking the 50 second (49.89) barrier. Both Sophomore Bruno Ortiz (50.92) and Freshman Kelly Moodie (50.76) followed up with stunning swims to smash their own personal bests. The finals featured 7 other teams all with a long tradition of excellence on the national scene.

Finals standings for the 4 x 100 Freestyle Relay were;

1^st Itoman (Osaka) 3:20.44

2^nd St. Mary’s Swim Team 3:22.23

3^rd Toyokawa High School (Nagoya) 3:22.56

4^th Nichidai Buzan High School (Tokyo) 3:23.98

5^th Hiryu High School (orig. Numazu Gakuen) (Shizuoka) 3:24.23

6^th Tsuruoka Swim Club (Yamagata) 3:24.91

7^th Tohoku High School (Miyagi) 3:25.66

8^th Swin Saitama (Saitama) 3:27.32

The assault on the record books continues - Buc swimmers have established 21 new records

this season. Four new OPEN + AREA records were set over the 4 day competition; Miguel

Ortiz blasted a 25.24 swim in the preliminaries of the 50 Backstroke and also bettered his

own 50 Butterfly standard to 24.63 to qualify for Senior Nationals by .03 seconds. Ryutaro

Kamiya also qualified for Senior Nationals breaking his own 200 meter Backstroke mark

with a 1:59.69 effort. Kelly Moodie bettered the existing Tokyo-To Junior High School record in the 15 – 18 Boys 200 meter Freestyle with a stellar 1:50.86.

SMST results at Nationals:

Day 1 Ryutaro Kamiya (15–18) 200 meter Back 1:59.69 (11^th place) / 67 entries

Prelim time 2:00.36

Miguel Ortiz (15–18) 50 meter Free 23.33 (15^th place) / 60 entries

Prelim time 23.13

Bruno Ortiz (15–18) 50 meter Free 23.88 (39^th place) / 60 entries

Kelly Moodie (15-18) 400 meter Free 4:00.96 (60^th place) / 115 entries

Day 2 Miguel Ortiz (15–18) 50 meter Fly 24.63 (7^th place) / 129 entries

Prelim time 24.69

Ryutaro Kamiya (15–18) 100 meter Free 50.62 (11^th place) / 130 entries

Prelim time 50.73

Bruno Ortiz (15–18) 100 meter Free 52.32 (59^th place) / 130 entries

Kelly Moodie (15-18) 100 meter Free 52.36 (60^th place) / 130 entries

Bruno Ortiz (15–18) 200 meter IM 2:09.28 (91^st place) / 101 entries

Day 3 Miguel Ortiz (15–18) 50 meter Back 25.36 (6^th place) / 78 entries

Prelim time 25.24

Mokhtar Al-Yamani (11+12) 50 meter Free 28.22 (73^rd place) / 119 entries

(Kamiya/Ortiz/Ortiz/Moodie) 400 meter Free Relay 3:22.23 (2^nd place) / 71 entries

Day 4 Kelly Moodie (15-18) 200 meter Free 1:50.86 (23^rd place) / 117 entries

Ryutaro Kamiya (15–18) 200 meter Free 1:51.83 (38^th place) / 117 entries

The Nationals is always a great meet to cap off the season and to take some time and think about all the hard work that went into the season’s accomplishments. It’s important to give yourself credit for a job well done - Be happy but never satisfied as the next season kicks off soon – See you at the pool !

2009 March Age Group Swimming Champs @ St. Mary’s

The Swim Team played host to 11 teams in the major event of the year on March 7^th + 8^th. 421 athletes competed with 2,091 individual entries and 141 relay entries.

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

The Buccaneers finished the two-day Invitational in 2^nd place overall with 3,158 points just 110 points shy of the 1^st place team, Setagaya-Ku’s Taiyo Kyoiku Sports Center. Shindaita Swimming School finished in 3^rd with a total of 3,136. In Boys scoring only the Buccanners finished 405 points ahead of 2^nd place Taiyo.

It was great to have a number of nationally ranked swimmers from Nittai Ebara in the 15 – 18 age group. Senior Masamichi Ueda impressed all in attendance breaking 2 Open records in the Butterfly events as well as helping the Nittai boys set a new Open mark in the 200 medley relay. Nittai Ebara also balanced their member to have 2 relay teams swim 3:35 in the 400 Free relay. Nittai Ebara will provide strong competition win the Bucs relay at the Nationals later in the month.

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

In the 13 + 14 Boys age group, Josef Budde captured the 1^st place high point trophy and Shawma Chun took 2^nd high point honors. Sacred Heart Freshman Anna Saber tied for the 3^rd high point in the 15 – 18 girls age group. Seisen 7^th grader Kana Moodie took the 3^rd high point for the 13 – 14 girls. 6^th grader Mokhtar Al-Yamani took the 11 – 12 Boys 3^rd high point.

Other Buccaneers finishing in the top 8 in total scoring were; Kelly Moodie (4^th place - 15 – 18), Paige Delany (8^th place - 15 – 18 girls), Ryoya Wakamatsu (4^th place - 11 – 12 Boys), Shunichi Ichimura (5^th place - 11 – 12 Boys), Kazuki Martin (5^thplace – 9 + 10), Yuri Hayashi (8^th place – 9 + 10 girls), and Patrick Self (7^th - 8 + Under Boys).

The Crescendo Relays are always a lot of fun; the Crescendo features swimmers from each age group. The Bucs won both the Medley + Freestyle relays. The team of Kelly Moodie (15/18 -Back), Shunichi Ichimura (11/12 - Breast) Adam Mason (13/14 - Butterfly), and Kazuki Martin (9/10 - Free) easily outswam the competition in the 200 meter Medley Crescendo. Five boys combined to win the 400 meter Freestyle version of the Crescendo with Patrick Self (8 + Under – 50m), Kazuki Martin (9/10 – 50m), Mokhtar Al-Yamani (11/12 – 100m), Josef Budde (13/14 – 100m), and Kelly Moodie (15/18 – 100m) in 4:11.76.

Kelly M. produced an Age Group National time in the 200 meter Free with a 1:54.57 swim along with a US Swimming AAAA standard in the 400 Free (4:05.73). Emiko Mason broke the Bucs team record in the girls 15 – 18 100 Backstroke with a 1:09.78. Josef B., Adam Mason, Mokhtar A., Ryoya W., Shunichi I., Alan Ishikawa, and Kazuki M. provided AAA efforts. Other Buc swimmers producing AA Allstar times were Emiko M., Shawma C., Kana M., Nicolette McGuire, Junu Moon Baik, and Yuri Hayashi.

St. Mary’s will send 5 swimmers to compete at Japan’s Age Group Nationals at the International Swimming Complex in Tatsumi from March 27 – 30.

February 2009

Shigaibu –Tobu Block Swim Meet @ Tatsumi

Wow ! What a meet … this years’ Tobu - Shigaibu meet provided the best swimmers in the Kanto region with

the last opportunity to qualify for Japan’s Age Group National Championships to be held on March 27^th – 30^th.

22 members from the swim team competed along with 2,891 swimmers from 85 clubs at the meet.

Buc Swimmers amassed a remarkable 13 National qualifying times bettering their all-time previous best of 9 Q. T.’s from just 3 weeks ago at the J. O. Yosen meet. The entire team swam well with over 72 % of the swims resulting in personal best times. Even swims that were not PBT’s were just marginally off.

Miguel and Ryutaro qualify for Senior Nationals !

Senior Miguel Ortiz and Junior Ryutaro Kamiya both qualified for Japan’s Senior National Championships. This years’ Senior Nationals will be held in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka from April 16^th – 19^th and will serve as the selection meet for the 2009 World Swimming Championships in Rome. Miguel’s blazed a 22.97 for the 50 meter Freestyle in the challenge race, under the 23.06 standard. Swimmers close to the qualifying times are eligible to compete in the Challenge Races at the end of the regular session of events. Miguel’s 50 Free effort was a new OPEN + AREA record. Ryutaro missed the 100 meter Free standard by a mere .08 seconds leading of the Bucs 4 x 100 Free relay with a 50.37 swim. Kamiya stepped it up on the last event of the day with a sizzling 50.22 effort to better the 50.29 ‘cut’. Ryu’ s swim eclipsed Miguel Molina’s 50.66 from 2002 to establish new OPEN + AREA records.

Free Relay on Fire !

Once again the Bucs 4 x 100 Freestyle relay qualified for Age Group Nationals with a stellar 1^st place finish. The relay of Ryutaro K. (split time 50.37), Miguel O. (50.86), Sophmore Bruno Ortiz (52.59), and Freshman Kelly Moodie (51.62) combined to destroy the OPEN + AREA record by 6.24 seconds. The 3:25.44 swim is well under 3:34.2 qualifying time and shows that the team should be in the mix to contend for a top 8 finish at the JOC meet in late March.

6^th grade Mokhtar Al-Yamani joined the Bucs 4 15 – 18 Age Group Nationals qualifiers by bettering the standard for 11 yr. olds in the 50 meter Free with a 28.74 swim.

Buc Swimmers producing National Cuts Time Overall Place National Qualifying Time

Miguel Ortiz (17-18) 50 meter Free 22.97 * 1^st place 23.9

Kelly Moodie (15-16) 200 meter Free 1:52.07 1^st place 1:54.6

Ryutaro Kamiya (17-18) 100 meter Back 56.47 * 1^st place 57.6

Ryutaro Kamiya (17-18) 200 meter IM 2:05.94 1^st place 2:06.5

Miguel Ortiz (17-18) 50 meter Back 25.87 1^st place 27.0

Ryutaro Kamiya (17-18) 100 meter Free 50.22 * 1^st place (tied) 52.1

Miguel Ortiz (17-18) 50 meter Fly 24.74 * 2^nd place 25.6

Bruno Ortiz (15-16) 50 meter Free 24.17 2^nd place 24.4

Bruno Ortiz (15-16) 200 meter IM 2:07.74 3^rd place 2:08.3

Kelly Moodie (15-16) 100 meter Free 52.42 3^rd place (tied) 53.0

Miguel Ortiz (17-18) 100 meter Free 51.51 5^th place 52.1

Mokhtar Al-Yamani (11) 50 meter Free 28.74 8^th place 28.7

Boys 15 – 18 400 meter Free Relay 3:25.44 * 1^st place 3:34.2

* denotes new OPEN + AREA records

Miguel O., Ryu K., Kelly M., and Bruno O. all had USS AAAA times. Buc swimmers producing US Allstar AAA times were; Josef Budde, Adam Mason, Toshiki Takahashi, Shunichi Ichimura, and Alan Ishikawa. AA swims were turned in by Nicolas McCoy, Kana Moodie, Shawma Chun, Emiko Mason, Ryoya Wakamatsu, Junu Moon Baik, and Yuri Hayashi. A Times came from Arun Janssens, Anna Saber, Sean Kelly, Yuuki Wood, Joshua Brown, Yutaro Sahara, and Coco Yamamoto.

The Bucs will host 11 teams at the Age Group Championships at St. Mary’s on March 7^th + 8^th.

2009 Tokyo-To Winter Kirokukai Meet @ Tatsumi

2,408 swimmers from 125 clubs packed into the International Swimming Complex at Tatsumi for 2 full days of fantastic swimming. The meet featured elite athletes as well as top junior competitors.

The team’s season is cresting and many Bucs are riding the wave to faster swims. 5 new records were broken at the Feb. 14 + 15 championships. Senior Miguel Ortiz bettered his own OPEN and AREA records in the 15 – 18 Boys 50 Backstroke (25.50) and 50 Butterfly (24.93). 9th grader Kelly Moodie broke Miguel Molina’s 2001 mark for the 1500 meter Freestyle covering the distance for a new OPEN and AREA mark in 16:13.61. Kelly’s 800 meter split (8:33.14) was also a new OPEN + AREA Standard. 5^th grader Toshiki Takahashi set a new AREA mark for 9 + 10 Boys in the 100 meter Breaststroke (1:22.82).

Back-to-back weekend with meets is always tough and overall the team swam a bit faster in the J.O. Yosen meet last weekend however, there were plenty of fast times. Miguel’s 50 Backstroke swim qualified for Japan’s Senior Nationals to be held in mid-April. In total, the Bucs had 6 swims that were under the Age Group Nationals standards. Bruno Ortiz added another event for Nationals blazing a 23.98 effort in the 50 meter Free. Ryutaro Kamiya (100 + 200 Back – 57.35 / 2:01.810, Miguel (50 Fly + 50 Back – 24.93 / 25.50), and Kelly (400 Free – 4:00.00) were already qualified but, were under the ‘cuts’ again in their respective events.

Josef Budde and Ryoya Wakamatsu swam AAA times. Nicolas McCoy, Mokhtar Al-Yamani, Kana Moodie, Lisa Torio, Dylan McGuire, and Toshiki Takahashi all turned in US Swimming AA times.

The Feb. 28^th + March 1^st Block meet at Tatsumi will be the last chance to qualify for the March 27 – 30 Age Group National Championships.

2009 J.O. Yosen Swim Meet @ Tatsumi

Buccaneers on fire at Tatsumi !!

The J.O. Yosen meet is always an exciting one – the meet provides the best swimmers in the Kanto region with

an opportunity to compete against each other and to qualify for Japan’s Age Group National Championships.

22 members from the International Buccaneers competed along with 3,021 swimmers from 130 clubs at the annual event held at Tatsumi’s International Swimming Complex.

Buc Swimmers produced more National qualifying times (9) than ever in any one meet.

Buc Swimmers producing National Cuts Time Overall Place National Qualifying Time

Kelly Moodie (15-16) 200 meter Free 1:52.76 1^st place 1:54.6

Ryutaro Kamiya (15-18) 100 meter Back 56.94 1^st place 57.6

Ryutaro Kamiya (17-18) 200 meter Free 1:53.25 1^st place 1:53.4

Ryutaro Kamiya (17-18) 200 meter Back 2:01.70 2^nd place 2:04.8

Kelly Moodie (15-16) 400 meter Free 3:59.40 3^rd place 4:02.9

Miguel Ortiz (17-18) 50 meter Free 23.59 3^rd place 23.5

Miguel Ortiz (15-18) 100 meter Back 57.64 3^rd place 57.6

Miguel Ortiz (17-18) 100 meter Free 51.58 3^rd place 52.1

Kelly Moodie (15-16) 100 meter Free 52.32 4^th place 53.0

10^th grader Bruno Ortiz, junior Ryutaro Kamiya, and 6^th grader Mokhtar Al-Yamani came so close to making National “cuts”. Swimmers close to the JOC Cup qualifying times are eligible to compete in the Challenge Races at the end of the regular session of events. Bruno missed the 200 meter Individual Medley by a scant .03 seconds with

a stellar 2:08.42 swim. Bruno also came .48 seconds off matching the standard in the 100 meter Breaststroke with a time of 1:05.77. Ryu missed the 100 Free ‘cut’ by .03 seconds but, had previously qualified at a sanctioned meet in the fall. Mokhtar covered the 50 meter Free in 29.07 just .28 seconds the Nationals standard.

5^th grader Toshiki Takahashi broke Miguel Molina’s 1995 9+ 10 Boys 50 meter Breaststroke AREA record with a 38.60 effort.

Personal bests were the norm for the weekend. Other Buc swimmers producing US Allstar times were; Nicolas McCoy, Mamoru Kanazawa, Mario Schwaller, Josef Budde, Kana Moodie, Shawma Chun, Arun Janssens, Alex Auvaro, Amelia Abe, Ryoya Wakamatsu, Sunichi Ichimura, Junu Moon Baik, Yuuki Wood, Kazuki Martin, and Joshua Brown.

The Tokyo Championships (Feb. 14 + 15) is always fun as many of Japan’s top university as well as elite athletes will also compete.

January 2009

Tokyo-To Senshuken Championships @ Tatsumi

The Swim Team had 4 swimmers compete at the Tokyo-To Senshuken Championships at Tatsumi on Jan. 31^st + Feb. 1^st. The meet provided an opportunity to race in the long course 50 meter format in the midst of the short course season.

Many elite swimmers were in attendance and 8 members of Japan’s Beijing Olympic squad competed. Preliminaries and finals were held for each event and competitors placing well could advance to either A, B, or C finals. University and elite athletes were prohibited from swimming in the B or C finals.

All 4 Buc swimmers advanced to finals in their respective events;

Final Overall

Prelim. Time Qualified for Finals Time Place

Ryutaro Kamiya

200 meter Backstroke 2:08.30 A 2:09.32 10^th

100 meter Backstroke 1:00.30 B 59.73 12^th

Miguel Ortiz

100 meter Backstroke 1:02.51 B 1:03.05 20^th

100 meter Freestyle 54.95 B 54.95 19^th

Kelly Moodie

200 meter Freestyle 1:57.36 B 1:56.68 14^th

100 meter Freestyle 55.42 C 54.19 22^nd

Bruno Ortiz

200 meter Individual Medley 2:15.27 C 2:17.09 28^th

The team will be at ASIJ for their annual dual meet on Feb. 3^rd.

Winter 2009 Kanto Plains Championships @ St. Mary’s

The International Buccaneers Swim Team captured their 36^th consecutive Kanto Plains Championship on Jan. 25^th. The KP Champs has a long tradition and challenges competitors as swimmers compete in four individual events as well as 2 relays in a one day meet.

The host Bucs had many veteran swimmers win high point honors as well as newcomers breaking into the ranks. The following swimmers were awarded high point trophies in the respective age groups:

15 – 18 Boys

Kelly Moodie                   High Point
Miguel Ortiz                     2^nd High Point
Arun Janssens                 3^rd High Point

15 - 18 Girls

Anna Saber 2^nd High Point

13 + 14 Boys

Josef Budde High Point
Shawma Chun 2^nd High Point

13 + 14 Girls

Kana Moodie High Point 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Keila Mitchell tied 3^rd High Point

11 + 12 Boys

Mokhtar Al-Yamani tied High Point 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Ryoya Wakamatsu tied High Point
Shunichi Ichimura 2^nd High Point

11 + 12 Girls

Nicolette McGuire tied High Point

9 + 10 Boys

Toshiki Takahashi High Point
Kazuki Martin 3^rd High Point

8 + Under Boys

Yutaro Sahara 2^nd High Point

Bucs swimmers with a perfect 4 individual wins were; Kelly Moodie (15 – 18), Josef Budde (13 + 14), Kana Moodie (13 + 14), and Toshiki Takahashi (9 + 10). Other multiple event winners were Miguel Ortiz (15 – 18) - 3, Anna Saber (15 - 18) - 3, Shawma Chun (13 + 14) – 3, Ryoya Wakamatsu (11 + 12) – 3, Mokhtar Al-Yamani (11 + 12) – 3, Nicolette McGuire (11 + 12) – 3, Bruno Ortiz (15 – 18) - 2, Arun Janssens (15 – 18) - 2, Masaya Takeda (13 + 14) – 2, Shunichi Ichimura (11 + 12) – 2, and Yutaro Sahara (8 + Under) – 2.

The Swim Team will send 4 swimmers to the Tokyo Senshuken Championships at the Kokusai Swimming Complex in Tatsumi on Jan. 31^st and Feb. 1^st. The team will be at ASIJ for their annual dual meet on Feb. 3^rd.

Annual Swim-a-thon @ St. Mary’s

The Swim Team held their annual Swim-A-Thon on January 10th. Swimming + racing for 1 hour is not easy – good practice habits + proper technique are paramount to success. The experience is sure to pay dividends as the meet season heats up over the next few weeks.

Swimmers breaking into the All-Time Swim-a-thon record books were;

11^th grader Ryutaro Kamiya (Boys 15 - 18) (tied) 2^nd all time - 200 lengths

9^th grader Kelly Moodie (Boys 15 – 18) 3^rd all time - 198 lengths

9^th grader Josef Budde (Boys 13 + 14) 4^th all time - 184 lengths

10^th grader Anna Saber (Girls 15 – 18) 3^rd all time - 173 lengths

7^th grader Kana Moodie (Girls 13 + 14) 6^th all time - 170 lengths

6^th grader Ryoya Wakamatsu (Boys 11 + 12) 7^th all time - 172 lengths

5^th grader Toshiki Takahashi (Boys 9 + 10) 4^th all time - 161 lengths

Top finishers for the 2009
“How far can you swim in 1 hour? ” challenge were:

15 – 18 Boys

1^st Ryutaro Kamiya	17 yrs	200 lengths	5,000 meters
2^nd Kelly Moodie	15 yrs.	198 lengths	4,950 meters
3^rd Bruno Ortiz	15 yrs.	192 lengths	4,800 meters

15 – 18 Girls

1^st Anna Saber	15 yrs	173 lengths	4,350 meters
2^nd Emiko Mason	16 yrs.	160 lengths	4,000 meters
3^rd Paige Delany	15 yrs.	158 lengths	3,950 meters

13 + 14 Boys

1^st Josef Budde	14 yrs.	184 lengths	4,600 meters
2^nd Adam Mason	14 yrs.	177 lengths	4,425 meters
3^rd Shawma Chun	13 yrs.	170 lengths	4,250 meters

13 + 14 Girls

1^st Kana Moodie	13 yrs.	170 lengths	4,250 meters
2^nd Cassandra Flint	14 yrs.	157 lengths	3,925 meters
3^rd Keila Mitchell	13 yrs.	157 lengths	3,925 meters

11 + 12 Boys

1^st Ryoya Wakamatsu	11 yrs.	172 lengths	4,300 meters
2^nd Mokhtar Al-Yamani	11 yrs.	164 lengths	4,100 meters
3^rd Junu Moon Baik	12 yrs.	155 lengths	3,875 meters

11 + 12 Girls

1^st Nicollette McGuire	12 yrs.	147 lengths	3,675 meters
2^nd Crescent Van der Linden	12 yrs.	134 lengths	3,350 meters

9 + 10 Boys

1^st Toshiki Takahashi	10 yrs.	161 lengths	4,025 meters
2^nd Joshua Brown	9 yrs.	131 lengths	3,275 meters
3^rd Riki Motoyama	10 yrs.	122 lengths	3,050 meters

9 + 10 Girls

1^st Yuri Hayashi	10 yrs.	132 lengths	3,300 meters
2^nd Coco Yamamoto	10 yrs.	130 lengths	3,250 meters

8 + Under Boys

1^st Yutaro Sahara	8 yrs	120 lengths	3,000 meters
2^nd Patrick Self	8 yrs	114 lengths	2,800 meters
1^st Ryan Shimizu + Gen Shinkawa	8 yrs	102 lengths	2,500 meters

8 + Under Girls

1^st Sophie Mitchell	6 yrs	87 lengths	2,175 meters
2^nd Tamako Kiyonaga	8 yrs	76 lengths	1,900 meters

The Bucs will host the Kanto Plains Winter Championships on Sunday Jan. 25^th.

December 2008

Tokyo South Club Championship Meet

Buccaneer swimmers made a big splash at the Tokyo South club championship meet on Dec. 7^th. 791 swimmers from 23 swim clubs competing at the annual meet. Swimmers finishing in the top 8 in the preliminary heats advanced to the afternoon finals.

Buc Swimmers advancing and stepping it up with scoring in the finals were; Miguel Ortiz, Ryutaro Kamiya, Kelly Moodie, Mamoru Kanazawa, Lisa Torio, Josef Budde, Shawma Chun, Kana Moodie, Ryoya Wakamatsu, Nicolas Flint, and Yutaro Sahara.

In the finals, BUC swimmers surfaced with times good enough to win medals. 11^th grader Ryutaro Kamiya won the 100 meter Back (56.59) and set a new OPEN and AREA record with a time of 56.59. Ryu also took 2^nd in the 200 Individual Medley (2:07.21). Senior Miguel Ortiz captured 1^st place in the 100 meter Free with a personal best 51.29. Miguel also took 2^nd in the 50 Free (23.87). 7^th grader Kana Moodie medaled twice taking 2^nd in the 100 Fly (1:11.66) and 3^rd in the 100 Back (1:12.62). 3^rd grader Yutaro Sahara won the 8 + Under Boys 50 meter Back (43.50) and 2^nd in the 50 Free (37.19).

3 Buccaneers turned in 5 swims good enough to qualify for Japan’s Age Group National Championships to be held in March - Ryu Kamiya 100 meter Back (56.59) + 200 Individual Medley (2:07.21); Miguel Ortiz 50 Free (23.87) + 100 Free (51.29); Kelly Moodie 100 meter Free (52.49).

Buc Swimmers finishing out of the medals but scoring in the top 8 were; (15 – 18 Boys) Kelly Moodie 100 Free – 6^th place + 100 Butterfly - 8^th place, Mamoru Kanazawa 100 Free – 6^th place, (15 – 18 Girls) Lisa Torio 50 Fly – 6^th place + 100 Fly – 5^th place, (13 + 14 Boys) Shawma Chun 50 Breast – 6^th place + 100 Breast - 7^th place, Josef Budde 100 Free – 8^th place + 100 Fly – 7^th place, (11 + 12 Boys) Ryoya Wakamatsu 50 Back – 6^th place + 100 Free – 7^th place, and Nicolas Flint 200 IM – 6^th place.

November 2008

Citicorp Taipei American School Invitational Swim Meet @ Taiwan

Once again the Swim Team had a very successful trip to the Citicorp Taipei American School Invitational Swim Meet. In addition to the local teams, participating teams came from as far away as Hong Kong, Philippines, China, and Japan. Swimmers were confronted with a tough schedule competing in 8 individual events in a day and a half of racing. Saturday’s session lasted just over 12 hours with the 1st race starting early in the morning and the final event, the grueling 800 meter Freestyle closing out the day at 8:00 pm. SMST swimmers established 15 new meet records. Swimmers establishing new meet records were Kelly Moodie (7), Bruno Ortiz (4), Kana Moodie (2), Toshiki Takahashi (1), and Yutaro Sahara (1).

Buccaneer swimmers capturing the overall High Point honors for their age group were; Bruno Ortiz (15 – 18), Kelly Moodie (13 + 14), and Kana Moodie (11 + 12). Other Bucs finishing in the top 3 in overall point standings were Nicolas Flint (11 + 12 - 3^rd), Toshiki Takahashi ( 9 + 10 – 2^nd), and Yutaro Sahara (8 + Under – 2^nd).

Kelly Moodie bettered his own OPEN + AREA record as well as the meet record for the 13 + 14 Boys 800 meter Freestyle going 8:45.97. Toshiki Takahashi broke his own AREA mark in the 9 + 10 Boys 100 meter Breaststroke with a 1:23.18 effort.

Total points scored by Buc swimmers were; Kelly M. (157), Bruno O. (152), Kana M. (139), Toshiki T (135), Yutaro S. (141), Lisa Torio (118), Anna Saber (114 ), Emiko Mason (106), Shawma Chun (93), Nicolas Flint (116), Arun Janssens (74), Shinto Mogi (50), Cassandra Flint (50), Amelia Abe (30), Alex Auvaro (14), Senil Hyun (15), Crescent Van der Linden (3), Senin Hyun (8), and Andrew Xia (3).

Kelly Moodie and Toshiki Takahashi posted US Swimming AAAA standards. AAA times were produced by Bruno Ortiz and Kana Moodie. Other swimmers turning in Allstar times were Shawma Chun, Arun Janssens, Nicolas Flint, Emiko Mason, Lisa Torio, Anna Saber, and Yutaro Sahara.

After the events finished on Sunday, there was awards banquet for swimmers and families was held at one of Taipei’s icons - the Grand Hotel. After the awards were presented, the group made a dash for the airport to catch the late flight to Tokyo.

The Swim Team will host a distance meet at St. Mary’s on Saturday afternoon with just 1 event in the competition - the 1,500 meter Freestyle.

Tokyo-To Kirokukai Swim Meet

41 Buccaneer swimmers competed in the Nov. 8 + 9 Tokyo Kirokukai Swim Meet at Tatsumi. 2,185 swimmers from 81 teams participated in the annual event. The coaches were pleased with the weekends’ performances coming off the 2 day Buccaneer Invitational the previous week.

Buc Swimmers set 4 new records at the 2 day invitational. Freshman Kelly Moodie broke his own 13 + 14 OPEN + AREA record on way to winning the 100 meter Freestyle with a 52.31 swim. Kelly also bettered the OPEN + AREA mark winning the 50 meter Free with a 24.41 effort (Kelly + Sang Woo Cheung shared the old record at 24.81). Junior Ryutaro Kamiya set an OPEN + AREA standard for the 15 – 18 in the 100 meter Backstroke taking 2^nd overall with a swift dorsal swim of 56.84. Miguel Ortiz also was under the old mark with a 57.02 swim. The 4^th record set was the 50 meter split time for K. Moodie going out in the 100 meter Butterfly to better the AREA record for the boys 13 + 14 in 27.96.

4 Buccaneer swimmers turned in qualifying times for Japan’s Age Group National Championships. It was good to see people making their “cuts” so early in the season and without tapering. The Age Group Nationals will be held at the Tatsumi complex from March 27 – 30. Age Group National qualifiers so far this season are; Ryutaro Kamiya (100 Free + 100 Back), Miguel Ortiz (100 Back), Kelly Moodie (50, 100, + 200 Free), and Bruno Ortiz (100 Free).

Swimmers finishing in the top 10 in individual events were; Kelly Moodie 13 + 14 (100 Free – 1^st + 50 Free – 1^st + 100 Fly – 5^th), Ryu Kamiya 15 – 18 yrs. (50 Free – 4^th+ 100 Free – 2^nd + Back – 2^nd), Miguel Ortiz (50 Free – 3^rd + 100 Back - 4^th+ 100 Fly – 5^th), Bruno Ortiz (100 IM – 3^rd+ 100 Free – 6^th), Mamoru Kanazawa 15 – 18 yrs. (50 Free – 9^th), Emiko Mason 15 – 18 yrs. (100 IM – 4^th), Kana Moodie 11 + 12 yrs. (100 IM – 3^rd), Toshiki Takahashi 9 + 10 (50 Breast – 4^th + 100 IM - 7^th), and Yutaro Sahara 8 + Under (50 Back – 6^th).

Next week the Buccaneers will venture to Taiwan for the Taipei American School Invitational on Novemeber 21 + 22.

Buccaneer Invitational Meet

The Swim Team played host to 12 teams throughout the Kanto Plains on Saturday and Sunday. There was a lot of activity around the pool with 369 athletes attending with 1,597 individual entries and 85 relays. Once again the coaches would like to thank all the volunteers who helped make the weekend a success.

The Bucs do not count themselves in the team trophy race for the Invitational but, amassed 841.5 points over the 2 days of competition. Taiyo Kyoiku Sports Center of Setagaya-Ku took 1st place with 1,406.5 points, followed by Setagaya-Ku’s Mishuku Sakura Swim Team (685.5) and Nerima-Ku’s Nanko Swimming School (578.5).

There were a lot of best times and 3 OPEN + 1 AREA record set. 5^th grader Toshiki Takahashi broke his own AREA record in the 9 + 10 Boys 100 meter Breaststroke (1:24.24). Buccaneers bettering Age Group National qualifying times were Kelly Moodie (100 + 200 Free) and Toshiki Takahashi (50 Breast).

This years’ Invitational featured 6 elite athletes from Nittaidai (Nihon Sports Science University) in Komazawa. The NSSU swimmers competed as exhibition swimmers and did not score points. In the last race of the competition NSSU’s Yasuhiro Niki wowed the crowd with a blazing 1:59.14 in the 200 meter Individual Medley. Niki’s swim was a clinic for St. Mary’s swimmers to see how international level talent performs. Nittaidai’s Niki and Eri Tabei were available to present trophies at the award ceremony. Many younger swimmers were seen collecting autographs after the awards were presented.

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 - Ryutaro Kamiya finished with 51 points ahead of Nittai Ebara’s Chikara Serizawa (38 points). Bruno Ortiz took the 3^rd High Point award with 36 points.

13 + 14 - Kelly Moodie finished with a perfect score of 54 points with 6 individual wins to take the High Point trophy. Josef Budde finished tied in 2^nd place and Shawma Chun took the 3^rd High point award.

9 + 10 - Toshiki Takahashi finished with 50 points overall to tie for the High Point award with Takeshi Kiuchi from Taiyo Kyoiku Sports Center.

8 + Under - 3^rd grader Yutaro Sahara scored 40 points overall to take the 2nd High Point award.

Swimmers bettering USS AAAA standards were Ryutaro Kamiya, Miguel Ortiz, Kelly Moodie, and Toshiki Takahashi. Swimmers producing AAA standards were Bruno Ortiz and Mamoru Kanazawa. Mario Schwaller, Josef Budde, Kana Moodie, Lisa Torio, and Ryoya Wakamatsu put in AA times. Shawma Chun, Masaya Takeda, Emiko Mason, Keila Mitchell, Nicolas Flint, Megumi Minaki, Kazuki Martin, and Yutaro Sahara all bettered A times.

The Bucs will be at the International Swimming Complex in Tastumi for the Tokyo Kirokukai on Nov. 8 + 9.

October 2008

Seibu – Nanbu Tatsumi Meet

The International Buccaneers had strong early season performances at the International Swimming Complex on Sunday. The swim team had 32 swimmers compete at Tatsumi’s Tokyo West vs. Tokyo South swim meet. 1,559 swimmers from 45 clubs competed in the annual event.

Buccaneer Swimmers set 4 new records; 9th grader Kelly Moodie set 3 new records in the Boys 13 – 14 age group. Kelly’s 1:54.28 effort bettered his own OPEN record and was also under Japan’s Age Group National qualifying standard for 15 – 16 yr. olds. Kelly matched Sang Woo Cheung’s 2004 OPEN mark to the hundredth of a second with a 24.81 performance in the 50 meter Free. Kelly also broke the AREA record in the 100 meter Butterfly with a 1:00.11. 5^th grader Toshiki Takahashi set a new AREA mark for 9 – 10 Boys with a swift 1:25.20 in his specialty the 100 meter Breaststroke.

10^th grader Bruno Ortiz had a great meet producing 3 personal bests swimming a grueling one day schedule competing in the 200 meter Butterfly (2:18.34), 400 Individual Medley (4:42.51), and the 400 Free (4:09.98). Senior Miguel Ortiz qualified for the March Age Group Nationals capturing 1^st place in the 15 – 18 100 meter Free with a 51.49 swim.

Swimmers turning in US Swimming Allstar Standards standards or better were Mamoru Kanazawa, Mario Schwaller, Kana Moodie, Ryoya Wakamatsu, Nicolas Flint, Shascha Hirlinger, Shawma Chun, Shunichi Ichimura, Josef Budde, Amelia Abe, and Yutaro Sahara.

The team is looking forward to training with no meets scheduled before hosting the annual Buccaneer Invitational on Nov. 1 + 2.

Fall Swim Meet @ St. Mary’s

The International Buccaneers Swim Team hosted 8 teams at their annual October Swim Meet on Sunday. Bucs posting the maximum 4 individual wins were Kelly Moodie, Toshiki Takahashi, and Kana Moodie. Ryutaro Kamiya, Ryoya Wakamatsu, Miki Kamei, and Tamako Kiyonaga each won 3 individual events. Other Multiple winners were Miguel Ortiz, Bruno Ortiz, Paige Delany, Nicolas Flint, Kazuki Martin, and Patrick Self.

The Bucs had 96 swimmers compete and it was a good training meet for all before the competitive Buccaneer Invitational on November 1^st + 2^nd. Bucs with individual wins were; Lisa Torio, Josef Budde, Masaya Takeda, Keila Mitchell, Shawma Chun, Shunichi Ichimura, Yutaro Sahara, and Kai Strawn.

The Swim Team will be at the International Swimming Complex at Tatsumi on Oct. 12^th for the annual Tokyo West vs. Tokyo South meet.

September 2008

Seahawk Swim Meet @ Yokosuka’s 50 meter Natatorium

The International Buccaneers Swim Team took 3 buses filled with 76 swimmers + lots of parents for the Seahawks Fall meet at Yokosuka’s 50 meter Natatorium. The meet was the last long course 50 meter meet of the season. 23 new meet records were set making the meet much more competitive than years past. Several Japanese teams from the Kanagawa area were in attendance along with the usual mix of league teams.

Bucs swimmers with 4 individual wins were; Ryutaro Kamiya (15 – 18), Kelly Moodie (13 + 14), Lisa Tori (15 – 18), Anna Saber (13 + 14), and Kana Moodie (11 + 12). Keila Mitchell won 3 events for the girls 13 + 14. Double event wins went to Adam Mason, Ryoya Wakamatsu, Toshiki Takahashi, and Emiko Mason.

Others capturing individual 1^st place wins were Miguel Ortiz, Bruno Ortiz, Shawma Chun, and Nicolette McGuire.

Kelly Moodie and Toshiki Takahashi posted US Swimming AAAA standards. AAA times were produced by Ryutaro Kamiya and Miguel Ortiz. The Swim Team will be in action again this weekend at St. Mary’s on Sunday. The Bucs will play host to 7 teams - the meet starts at 9:00 am.

Tokyo Junior Swim Meet @ Tatsumi

The International Buccaneers Swim Team had 17 swimmers compete at the Tokyo Junior Swim Meet at Tatsumi on September 15^th. The meet was the Bucs first Japan Amateur Swimming Federation competition for this school year. 1,709 swimmers from 57 clubs in the Kanto Plains participated in the event. The Tokyo Junior meet was run in the long course 50 meter format – October will mark the beginning of the short course 25 meter season.

5 Buc Swimmers placed in the top 8 in their age groups. Senior Miguel Ortiz won 2 events taking the the 15–18 100 meter Backstroke + 100 meter Freestyle. 10^th grader Bruno Ortiz placed 4^th twice in the 200 + 400 Individual Medley. 9^th Grader Kelly Moodie took 3^rd place in the 13 + 14 200 Freestyle and 7^th in the 100 meter Butterfly. Senior Mamoru Kanazawa placed 7^th in both the 50 + 100 meter Free and Nicolas McCoy also finished the 100 Butterfly.

Other Bucs producing US Swimming allstar standards were Kana Moodie, Ryoya Wakamatsu, Toshiki Takahashi, Shunichi Ichimura, Josef Budde, Masaya Takeda, and Shawma Chun.

The Bucs will travel to Yokosuka on Sept. 27^th for the annual meet the Seahawks host.

Fall Swim Season Kickoff @ St. Mary’s

The Swim Team held a very casual time trial meet at St. Mary’s on September 13^th. The Bucs had 78 swimmers in attendance and it was good for the coaches to see new team members as well as to have veteran swimmers racing again.

US Swimming AAA standards were swum by Miguel Ortiz, Bruno Ortiz, Kelly Moodie, and Toshiki Takahashi. AA times were produced by Adam Mason, Kana Moodie, and Ryoya Wakamatsu. Other A times were turned in by Mario Schwaller, Emiko Mason, Lisa Torio, Josef Budde, Masaya Takeda, Nicolas Flint, Kacey Ries, Shunichi Ichimura, Kazuki Martin, and Yutaro Sahara.

Annual Setagaya-Ku meet @ Kinuta

St. Mary’s Swim Team is “back in the swing” as practices started the first day of school and the Bucs competed in their first meet this past Sunday. The annual Setagaya-Ku meet at Kinuta is always “low key” and a fun way to start the season.

Senior Miguel Ortiz posted 2 new meet records on his way to winning High School Boys 50 meter Free and 50 meter Backstroke.

The Buccaneers 200 meter Free Relay (Miguel, Bruno Ortiz, Mario Schwaller, and Mamoru Kanazawa) bettered Toritsu Sakuramachi’s 2001 mark for a new meet record (1:43.24). The Bucs also won the boys 200 medley relay (Miguel, Bruno, Nicolas McCoy, and Mamoru).

Mokhtar Al-Yamani won his 2 events for Elementary boys taking the 50 Free and 50 Butterfly events. The Bucs other win came from Mamoru Kanazawa in the 100 Free.

In the Masters division (50 – 59 age division), Coach Moodie won his 2 races, the 50 Back and 50 Butterfly, breaking his own meet record in the Back and finishing just off his own Fly mark.

Also placing in the top 3 to earn individual medals were; Bruno Ortiz (High School -50 Free) 2^nd, Nicolas McCoy (HS -50 Fly) 3^rd, Lisa Torio (HS girls - 50 Fly) 3^rd, and Kana Moodie (Middle School girls - 50 Back) 3^rd.

Others Buccaneers placing in the top 8 individually were; Mario Schwaller (4^th-50 Breast), Kana Moodie (4^th - 50 Back), Josef Budde (4^th-100 Free) Nic McCoy (5^th-50 Free), Sascha Hirlinger (5^th
- 50 Back), Dylan McGuire (5^th-100 Free), Shinto Mogi (6^th-50 Breast), Bruno Ortiz (6^th - 50 Fly), unichi Ichimura (6^th - 50 Free + 6^th - 50 Breast), Hiroyuki Crockett (6^th - 50 Back), Nicolette McGuire (7^th - 50 Free), Kazuki Martin (7^th- 50 Back), Keila Mitchell (7^th - 50 Back ), Junu Moon (7^th - 50 Free), Coach Ichikawa (8^th – 50 Free 20 – 29 yrs.), Toshiki Takahashi (8^th- 50 Breast + 8^th- 50 Fly), and Andrew Xia (8^th-50 Back).

The Bucs next meet will be the Fall Kickoff at St. Mary’s on Sept. 13^th.

J.O.C. Cup (Age Group Nationals) Summer Meet @ Tatsumi

Buccaneer Swimmers Shine at Age Group Nationals –

3 Buccaneer Swimmers qualified for Japan’s Summer Age Group National Championships; Senior Miguel Ortiz, Junior Ryutaro Kamiya, and Freshman Kelly Moodie all qualified to compete in the maximum allowed 3 individual events.

The August Nationals are always held in the Olympic size 50 meter (long course) pool while the March Nationals are in the short course (25 meter) format.

On the 3^rd day of the competition, Freshman Kelly Moodie placed 5^th overall in the finals of the boys 13 – 14 200 meter Freestyle (1:57.25). Kelly’s preliminary swim of 1:56.84 broke the Tokyo-To record however, it was bettered in a later heat by Tagara Swim Club’s Yuki Takahashi.

The 4^th day of the meet, featured Bucs Senior Miguel Ortiz (15 – 18) and Kelly Moodie (13 –14) in the boys 100 meter Free. Miguel swam a 53.13 for 19^th place overall and .95 seconds off reaching the top 8 for finals. Moodie swam a personal best 54.93 for 9^th place overall and jusat missed finals by .08 seconds.

Sprint events were held at the final day of the meet. Miguel swam both the 50 meter Free (24.63) and 50 meter Fly (26.21) placing 21^st and 25^th, respectively. Kelly went a 25.68 for the 50 meter Free to place 10^th overall and missed the afternoon finals by a mere .11 seconds.

Unfortunately, Junior Ryutaro Kamiya was unable to compete due to a shoulder injury. Kamiya, a perennial national qualifier was scheduled to swim the 100, 200 Back and the 50 Free. The swim team competes at the annual Setagaya Kumin meet on Sunday Sept. 7^th and seems poised for a strong fall – winter season.

May 2008

Jolly Roger Invitational Swim Meet @ St. Mary’s

The International Buccaneers Swim Team played host to 9 teams for the Jolly Roger Invitational. The Bucs finished the day with 3,604 points – good enough for 1^st place. R Fuji Swimming from Shizuoka finished in 2^nd place with 1,345.5 points followed by the Yokosuka Seahawks with 1,297 points.

High Point trophies were won by the following Buc swimmers:

Ryutaro Kamiya (15-18), Kelly Moodie (13-14), Shawma Chun (11-12 tied), Toshiki Takahashi (9-10), Alexis McCoy (15-18 Girls), Anna Saber (13-14 Girls - tied).

Kelly Moodie set a New Open and Area Record in the 800 meter Freestyle for 13 – 14 Boys with a time of 9:06.75.

Swimmers turning in USS AA times or better were Ryutaro Kamiya, Miguel Ortiz, Bruno Ortiz, Mamoru Kanazawa, Mario Schwaller, Kelly Moodie, Mokhtar Al-Yamani, Nicolas McCoy, Alexis McCoy, Lisa Torio, Kana Moodie, Shawma Chun, and Toshiki Takahashi.

The Bucs final meet of the year will be the Summer Kanto Plains to be held at Yokosuka’s 50 meter facility on June 7th.

April 2008

Kanto Shunki Finals Swim Meet @ Sagamihara

16 swim team members qualified earlier in April for the finals of the 43^rdannual Kanto Shunki Swim Meet. 1,389 swimmers and 135 teams from Tokyo and the 7 surrounding prefectures of Kanagawa, Chiba, Saitama, Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, and Yamanashi met in the hotly contested meet. The meet was held in a long course 50 meter format in a state-of-the-art complex in Sagamihara.

Swimmers needed to finish in the top 10 in the morning preliminary rounds to qualify for afternoon finals.

Saturday pm finals

4 Buccaneers made it to the Saturday afternoon finals; Kelly Moodie, Ryutaro Kamiya, Miguel Ortiz, and Mokhtar Al-Yamani. Kelly finished in 2^nd place for the 13 – 14 200 meter Free (2:01.69) just .03 seconds behind the winner, Kouhei Ishikawa of the Yokohama Swim Club. Kelly’s time was under both the Age Group National qualifying and the All Japan Middle school “cut”. Ryutaro Kamiya finished in 4^th place (15 – 18) with a swift 1:57.69 in the 200 meter Free. Ryu’s time was the exact qualifying time for the Age Group Nationals for 15 – 16 year olds. Miguel Ortiz took 2^nd place in the 50 meter Backstroke (28.05) just .03 seconds behind Masaki Kaneko form Saitama’s Higashi Sakado S.S. Swimming in his last meet as a 10 year old, Mokhtar Al-Yamani captured 1^st place with a blazing 29.84 50 meter Freestyle. The computer conversion to short course has his time at 29.10 4 tenths of a second faster than his 20^th place finish at the Nationals last month !

Sunday pm finals

The same 4 Bucs also qualified for Sundays finals. In the 100 meter Backstroke Ryutaro (59.97) and Miguel (1:00.97) finished in 2^nd and 5^th place respectively. Ryutaro was just .01 seconds behind the winner Shunta Shitara of Tama ISC. Mokhtar finished 5^th in the 100 meter Free (1:07.00) for 10 + Unders. Kelly came form behind to nab 3^rd place in the 100 Free with a 56.48 effort. Both Ryutaro’s and Kelly’s swims were under the Age Group National qualifying times.

Preliminaries swims for Buccaneers

Ryutaro Kamiya (16) - 100 Backstroke (1:00.14) US AAAA + 200 Free (1:59.43) US AAA

Miguel Ortiz (17) - 50 Backstroke (28.13) + 100 Backstroke (1:00.89) US AAAA

Kelly Moodie (14) - 200 Free (2:03.85) US AAAA + 100 Free (56.57) US AAAA

Mokhtar Al-Yamani (10) - 50 Free ( 30.87) US AAAA + 100 Free (1:07.27) US AAAA

Mamoru Kanazawa (17) - 200 Free (2:01.57) US AAA + 100 Free (56.09) US AAAA

Bruno Ortiz (15) - 200 Individual Medley (2:20.00) US AAA + 100 Breaststroke (1:13.20) US AAA Time

Nanbu Block Swim Meet @ Tatsumi

The Swim Team had a lot of good performances in a long meet at the annual Tokyo South meet. It was a small meet by Tatsumi standards with 1,255 swimmers from 41 teams. Only 8 lanes were used in competition compared to the usual 16 lanes, 8 for Girls + 8 for Boys running simultaneously.

Ryutaro makes Senior Nationals !

10^th grader Ryutaro Kamiya qualified for Japan’s Senior Nationals by over a full second with a sizzling 2:00.84 in the 200 meter Backstroke. Ryu’s swim bettered his OPEN + AREA record of 2:02.56 from February.

Junior Miguel Ortiz had 2 Age Group national qualifying times. Miguel’s 52.29 in the 100 meter Free matched the national standard for 17 – 18 boys. Miguel set a new OPEN + AREA record in the 50 meter Butterfly with a 25.40 (just .31 off the Senior “Nats” cut).

8^th grader Kelly Moodie swam a 28.93 in the 50 meter Backstroke to set a new OPEN + AREA record – just missing the Age Group national standard by .24. Kelly’s 1:01.56 missed Sang Woo’s 2004 record by a mere .03 seconds with a US AAAA time in the 100 meter Butterfly.

9^th grader Bruno Ortiz had a breakthrough meet blasting a 24.89 swim in the 50 meter Free just .20 seconds off the Age Group national cut. Bruno also had a personal bests in the 200 meter Free (1:58.64) and the 100 meter Butterfly (59.92).

5^th grader Mokhtar Al-Yamani was Age Group national time with his 30.24 swim in the 10 + Under 50 meter Free. Mokhtar also had a US AAAA time in the 200 meter Individual Medley (2:43.27).

Swimmers turning in USS AAA times or better were Ryutaro Kamiya, Miguel Ortiz, Bruno Ortiz, Mamoru Kanazawa, Kelly Moodie, Mokhtar Al-Yamani, Nicolas McCoy, Shawma Chun, and Toshiki Takahashi. US AA standards were swum by Alexis McCoy, Maho Sakuma, and Kana Moodie. Arun Janssens, Josef Budde, Anna Saber, Lisa Torio, Masaya Takeda, and Michael Liu all bettered A time standards.

Buc swimmers were pleased to hear that 2002 graduate Miguel Molina placed 16^th in the 100 meter Individual Medley at the World Short Course Championships in Manchester, Great Britan.

This will be a big week in swimming as Japan will select their 2008 Beijing team at the Olympic Trials. Trials will be held at the International Swimming complex at Tatsumi from April 15 – April 20 and can be seen on NHK – BS 1.

Kanto Shunki + Tokyo-To Kirokukai Swim Meet @ Tatsumi

It was another busy weekend at the International Swimming Complex in Tatsumi. A total of 3,871 swimmers from 157 teams within the Kanto Plains participated in the annual Kanto Shunki/Kirokukai Swim Meet. Two separate meets were run simultaneously; the Kanto Shunki Yosen Meet and the Tokyo-To Kirokukai.

Swimmers competing in the Kanto Shunki needed to finish in the top 6 to qualify for the Kanto Shunki Finals to be held at Sagamihara on April 26 + 27. The Kanto Shunki preliminaries were run in a short course (25 meters) format and the finals meet will be in a long course 50 meter pool.

Buccaneers qualify 6 swimmers for the Shunki Finals meet !

Ryutaro Kamiya (16) - 200 Individual Medley 1^st place (2:06.79) Age Group National Qualifying Time

Miguel Ortiz (17) - 100 Backstroke 1^st place (57.18) Age Group National Qualifying Time

Kelly Moodie (14) - 200 Freestyle 2^nd place (55.12) Age Group National Qualifying Time

Mokhtar Al-Yamani (10) - 50 Freestyle 1^st place (30.01) Age Group National Qualifying Time

Mamoru Kanazawa (17) - 100 Freestyle 1^st place (54.05) US AAA Time

Bruno Ortiz (15) - 100 Breaststroke 4^th place (1:08.11) US AAA Time

Results from other Bucs at the Shunki Yosen meet

Maho Sakuma (14 yrs.) - 100 Breaststroke 11^thplace (1:20.57) US AA Time

Shawma Chun (12 yrs.) - 100 Breaststroke 11^th place (1:19.56) US AAA Time

Mario Schwaller (17 yrs.) - 100 Freestyle 11^th place (56.20) US AA Time

Kana Moodie (16 yrs.) - 100 Backstroke 13^th place (1:15.87) US AA Time

Nicolas McCoy (16 yrs.) - 100 Buttefly 13^th place (1:02.24) US AA Time

Toshiki Takahashi (10 yrs.)- 50 Breaststroke 16^th place (41.41) US AAA Time

Alexis McCoy (18 yrs.) - 100 Freestyle 20^th place (1:04.86) US AA Time

It is clearly evident that student/athlete behavior continues to be an area of concern with several team members. Card playing and general disregard to the spirit of the competition by our student/athletes continues to be an embarrassment to the team with more than a handful of coaches, officials, and athletes from other teams left bewildered as to the level of commitment from St. Mary’s students.

Buccaneer Swimmers posting All star times at the Kirokukai meet were Josef Budde, Emiko Mason, Adam Mason, Arun Janssens, Masaya Takeda, Megumi Minaki, and Michael Liu.

The Swim Team will be back at Tatsumi on April 13^th for the Tokyo South Block meet.

March 2008

Japanese Age Group National Swimming Championships @ Tatsumi

This year marked the 1^st time the Bucs qualified 4 swimmers in individual events for Japan’s Age Group National Championships. 5,265 swimmers from 1,002 clubs packed into the International Swimming Complex at Tatsumi for the March 27^th – 30^th classic.

The assault on the record books continues - Buc swimmers have established 19 new records this season. Three new OPEN + AREA records were set over the 4 day competition; Ryutaro Kamiya improved his 100 meter Backstroke mark with a 57.17 effort. Miguel Ortiz bettered his 50 meter Back twice with preliminary and final swims of 26.01 and 25.85. 10 year old Mokhtar Al-Yamani had a breakthrough swim blazing a 29.55 in the 50 meter Free to better Ryutaro Kamiya’s 30.04 2002 mark.

JOC Cup Results

Day 1 Ryutaro Kamiya (15–18) 200 meter Back 2:02.92 (22^nd place) / 67 entries

Kelly Moodie (13-14) 400 meter Free 4:12.51 (29^th place) / 69 entries

Day 2 Kelly Moodie (13-14) 100 meter Free 55.29 (42^nd place) / 83 entries

Ryutaro Kamiya (15–18) 100 meter Back 57.17 (22^nd place) / 60 entries

Miguel Ortiz (15–18) 100 meter Back 57.66 (32^nd place) / 60 entries

Day 3 Mokhtar Al-Yamani (9 + 10) 50 meter Free 29.55 (20^th place) / 153 entries

Miguel Ortiz (15–18) 50 meter Back 25.85 (6^th place) / 78 entries

Miguel makes finals !

Miguel Ortiz qualified in 8^th place after the morning preliminaries with a

26.01 in the 50 meter Back. Miguel moved up 2 places in the finals with a

personal best 25.85.

Day 4 Kelly Moodie (13-14) 200 meter Free 1:58.89 (40^th place) / 79 entries

Ryutaro Kamiya (15–18) 200 meter Free 1:54.08 (46^th place) / 88 entries

The Boys 4 x 100 meter Freestyle relay is always a highlight of the meet. The Bucs team of Miguel Ortiz (17 yrs.) / Ryutaro Kamiya (16 yrs.) / Bruno Ortiz (15 yrs.) / + Kelly Moodie (14 yrs.) came within .27 seconds of their 2007 OPEN and AREA record (3:31.68) producing a swift 3:31.95 – good enough for a 22^nd place finish out of the 57 teams that qualified. The Bucs finished just 2.78 seconds out of a top 8 finish with a very young team. It will be interesting to see the US High School rankings to see if they can once again finish with a top 50 ranking among high schools stateside.

2008 March Age Group Swimming Champs @ St. Mary’s

The Swim Team played host to 13 teams in their major event of the year on March 8^th + 9^th. It was a huge meet with over 480 athletes competing with 2,321 individual entries and 157 relay entries.

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

The Buccaneers finished the two-day invitational in 2^nd place with 3,072.5 points. Setagaya-Ku’s Taiyo Kyoiku Sports Center captured the 1^st place team trophy with 3,337.5 points and Nanko Swimming School finished in 3^rd with a total of 3,047.

High Point trophies are awarded to the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place finishers in each age group based on six events individual events over two days. The tightest race for the high point was in the 15 - 18 age group with a number of National qualifiers in the mix. Nittai Ebara’s Daichi Osawa of Nittai Ebara took top honors with a total of 112 points while teammate Masamichi Ueda (111) capturing the 2^nd high point. Buccaneer Ryutaro Kamiya (106) grabbed the 3rd High Point at 107 points ahead of teammate Miguel Ortiz (101).

Miguel set a new OPEN + AREA record in the 50 meter Butterfly (25.95). The Bucs 4 x 100 Free relay (3:34.17) of Ryutaro, Miguel, Mamoru Kanazawa, and Bruno Ortiz was presented the Top Performance of the Meet award finishing ahead of Nittai Ebara almost 2 full seconds faster than the National qualifying standard. Nittai Ebara won the 200 medley relay in a record time but, was disqualified after their lead-off backstroker clearly stayed underwater past the 15 meter mark, a violation of competition rules.

In the 13 + 14 Boys age group, Kelly Moodie captured the 1^st place high point trophy (117 points) ahead of 2 swimmers from Nerima-Ku’s Nanko Swimming School.

6^th grader Shawma Chun took the 11 – 12 Boys 3^rd high point in a tie with 96 points. 5^th grader Mokhtar Al-Yamani ended up 2^nd overall for 9 + 10 Boys (112.5 points) and Ryoya Wakamatsu finished in 3^rd with 93 points.

Other Buccaneers finishing in the top 8 in total scoring were; Bruno Ortiz (8^th place - 15 – 18), Alexis McCoy (4^th place - 15 – 18 girls), Kana Moodie (5^th – 11 + 12 girls), Keila Mitchell (8^th place – 11 + 12 girls), Toshiki Takahashi (6^th place – 9 + 10), and Yutaro Sahara (7^th - 8 + Under Boys).

Another exciting race was the Boys 200 meter Crescendo Medley relay. The Crescendo relay featured a 4 swimmers from the following age groups; 9 + 10, 11 + 12, 13 + 14, and 15 – 18. The Bucs team of Kelly Moodie (Back), Shawma Chun (Breast) Miguel Ortiz (Butterfly), and Mohktar Al-Yamani (Free) easily outswam the competition setting a new OPEN mark in with a time of 2:03.06.

US Swimming AAAA times were turned in by Ryutaro, Mokhtar, Kelly, Mamoru, and Toshiki. Miguel, Bruno, and Ryoya provided AAA efforts. Other Buc swimmers producing AA Allstar times were Mario Schwaller, Nicolas McCoy, Alexis McCoy, Emiko Mason, Josef Budde, Maho Sakuma, Kana Moodie, Keila Mitchell, Nicolette McGuire, and Shawma Chun.

Swimmers qualified for the Age Group Nationals will compete at the International Swimming Complex from March 27 – 30.

February 2008

2008 Tokyo-To Winter Kirokukai Meet @ Tatsumi

3,032 swimmers from 145 clubs packed into the International Swimming Complex at Tatsumi for 2 full days of fantastic swimming. The meet featured Beijing Olympic hopefuls as well as scores of elite athletes.

4 new records were broken this week. 10th grader Ryutaro Kamiya bettered his own OPEN and AREA records in the 15 – 18 Boys 100 and 200 meter Backstrokes (57.40) + (2:02.56). 5^th grader Mokhtar Al-Yamani set a new OPEN + AREA mark for 9 + 10 Boys in the 200 meter Freestyle (2:22.86). The 400 Medley Relay of Tomoya Minaki, Bruno Ortiz, Kelly Moodie, and Arun Janssens established a new 13 - 14 standard (4:20.27) in a time trial on Thursday prior to Bruno aging up into the 15 – 18 age group.

The annual Tokyo-To Kirokukai meet is always quick as it’s the last chance for athletes to qualify for the “Nats”. 11^th grader Miguel Ortiz just missed the Japanese Age Group National qualifying times in both his 50 + 100 meter Free races. Miguel went a 24.21 in the 50 missing the standard by .12 and blazed a lifetime best 52.32 in the 100 to come up short by a mere .03 seconds.

Overall the team swam a bit faster in the J.O. Yosen meet last weekend however, there were plenty of fast times. Ryutaro, Miguel, Mokhtar, Kelly Moodie, and Toshiki Takahashi all turned in US Swimming AAAA times. Bruno Ortiz, Mamoru Kanazawa, and Alexis McCoy provided AAA efforts. Other Buc swimmers producing AA Allstar times were Mario Schwaller, Nicolas McCoy, Sascha Hirlinger, Tomoya Minaki, Emiko Mason, Maho Sakuma, Kana Moodie and Shawma Chun.

2008 J.O. Yosen Swim Meet @ Tatsumi

Buccaneers on fire at Tatsumi !!

The J.O. Yosen meet is always an exciting one with the best swimmers from the Kanto region in attendance. 28 members from the International Buccaneers competed along with 2,949 swimmers from 130 clubs at the annual event held at Tatsumi’s International Swimming Complex.

The end of the season is near and it’s time to swim fast. The Yosen meet is special as the top swimmers attempt to qualify for Japan’s Age Group Nationals in late March.

The highlight of the weekend was Junior Miguel Ortiz swim in the Challenge Race on Sunday night. Swimmers close to the JOC Cup qualifying times are eligible to compete in the Challenge Races at the end of the regular session of events. Miguel already held the Nationals ‘cut’ and after a strong performance in the morning heats was a scant .05 seconds away from the Senior Nationals time in the 50 meter Backstroke. In the pressure-packed challenge race Miguel nailed the start and blazed a 26.36 second swim in his dorsal specialty to qualify for Seniors. Ortiz joins Miguel Molina as the only other Buccaneer to qualify for Japan’s Senshuken meet.

It was an amazing meet for all the Bucs with 4 qualifying individually for Nationals. This years’ assault on the records continues with 10 records broken ! 10^th grader Ryutaro Kamiya won 3 events 100 Back (57.41), 200 Back (2:04.56), + 100 Free (52.06) and placed 3^rd in the 200 Free (1:55.20). Kamiya’s 4 swims were all under the JOC Cup qualifying times. Ryu and Miguel have developed a very healthy rivalry each spurring the other on to better performances – Miguel set a new Open + Area record in the 100 Back (57.90) leading off the Buccaneers 4 x 100 Medley Relay only to see Kamiya pop a 57.41 swim 90 minutes later in the individual event to better the mark. Miguel narrowly missed his 3^rd national qualifying time by a mere .10 secs. with a swift 24.19 swim in the 50 meter Free. His 52.87 100 Free effort missed the JOC Cup time by just .58 seconds.

8^th grader Kelly Moodie qualified for Nationals in 3 individual events. Kelly captured two 2^nd place finishes in the 200 Free (1:58.22) and the 400 Free (4:11.48). Both swims were Open + Area records. Kelly also joined Miguel in Sundays’ Challenge Race after missing the 100 Free National time by just .06 in the morning heats. Kelly improved his 100 Free in the evening to qualify with a 55.28 effort. Kelly also placed 5^th overall in the 100 Back (1:01.77) just .88 off “Nats”.

10 year old Mohktar Al-Yamani was on fire with a blistering 30.41 second swim to qualify for Nationals in consecutive years in the 50 meter Free. Mohktar came close to qualifying in the 50 Butterfly with a 34.23 swim in the Saturday evening challenge race.

9th grader Bruno Ortiz set 3 new OPEN records and 1 AREA mark in his last meet in the 13-14 age group. This year marks the 1^st time the Bucs have qualified both the Boys 4 x 100 meter Free Relay as well as the 4 x 100 Medley Relay for the JOC Cup meet. The Bucs Medley Relay of Miguel, Bruno, Ryutaro, and Mamoru Kanzawa obliterated the OPEN and AREA record to finish with a 3:55.51 swim – a full 1.38 seconds under the National qualifying time ! The Free Relay (Miguel, Ryutaro, Bruno, and Kelly) took 1^st place just edging out rivals Nittai Ebara Swim Team.

New OPEN Records established Previous Records

Kelly Moodie (13 + 14) 200 meter Free 1:58.22 Kelly Moodie Bucs 1:59.12

Kelly Moodie (13 + 14) 400 meter Free 4:11.48 Miguel Molina Bucs 4:17.88

Bruno Ortiz (13 + 14) 50 meter Breast 32.15 Bruno Ortiz Bucs 32.45

Bruno Ortiz (13 + 14) 100 meter Breast 1:08.24 Hiroshi Tanaka - Nanko 1:08.66

Bruno Ortiz (13 + 14) 200 meter Breast 2:26.75 Miguel Molina Bucs 2:27.65

Miguel Ortiz (15 - 18) 50 meter Back 26.36 Miguel Ortiz Bucs 26.54

Miguel Ortiz (15 - 18) 100 meter Back 57.90 Miguel Ortiz Bucs 58.25

Ryutaro Kamiya (15 - 18) 100 meter Back 57.49 Miguel Ortiz Bucs 57.90

400 meter Medley Relay (15 - 18) 3:55.51 Bucs 4:03.12

(M Ortiz, B Ortiz, R Kamiya,+ M Kanazawa) (Hawgood, Molina, Douglas, + Matsui)

New AREA Records established Previous Records

Bruno Ortiz (13 + 14) 400 Individual Medley 4:49.06 Bruno Ortiz Bucs 4:56.16

Personal bests were the norm for the weekend. Other Buc swimmers producing AA times or better were; Nicolas McCoy, Mario Schwaller, Alexis McCoy, Sascha Hirlinger, Josef Budde, Maho Sakuma, Kana Moodie, Keila Mitchell, Nicolette McGuire, Shawma Chun, Toshiki Takahashi, and Ryoya Wakamatsu.

The Tokyo Championships on Feb. 16 + 17 will offer the last chance to qualify for the Age Group Nationals at the end of March.

January 2008

Winter 2008 Kanto Plains Championships @ St. Mary’s

The International Buccaneers Swim Team captured their 35th consecutive Kanto Plains Championship. The hosting Buccaneers saw many veteran swimmers win high point honors as well as a new crop earning top spots. The following swimmers won high point trophies based on points gained after four individual events in their respective age groups:

15 – 18 Boys

Miguel Ortiz                                   1st High Point
Ryutaro Kamiya                           2^nd High Point
Mamoru Kanazawa                      tied 3^rd High Point                                                     　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Nicolas McCoy                              tied 3^rd High Point                                                          　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 Mario Schwaller                                          tied 3^rd High Point

15 – 18 Girls

Alexis McCoy 1st High Point 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 Seika Setoguchi 3^rd High Point

13 + 14 Boys

Bruno Ortiz                                   1st High Point
Kelly Moodie                                 2^nd High Point
Tomoya Minaki                             3rd High Point

13 + 14 Girls

Megumi Minaki tied 3^rd High Point 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Maho Sakuma 　 tied 3^rd High Point

11 + 12 Boys

Shawma Chun 1st High Point
Nicolas Flint 2^nd High Point

11 + 12 Girls

Kana Moodie 1st High Point 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Keila Mitchell 3^rd High Point

9 + 10 Boys

Mokhtar Al-Yamani 1st High Point 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Toshiki Takahashi 2^nd High Point
Ryoya Wakamatsu 3^rd High Point

9 + 10 Girls

Amber Devereese 3^rd High Point

8 + Under Boys

Roy Kim 2^nd High Point 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Yutaro Sahara 3^rd High Point

Bucs Swimmers turning in US Swimming AAA time standards were; Ryutaro Kamiya, Miguel Ortiz, Mamoru Kanazawa, Alexis McCoy, Bruno Ortiz, Kelly Moodie, Mokhtar Al-Yamani, Ryoya Wakamatsu, and Toshiki Takahashi. Other Bucs producing AA times were; Nicolas McCoy, Mario Schwaller, Seika Setoguchi, Tomoya Minaki, Kana Moodie, Keila Mitchell, and Shawma Chun.

The Swim Team is approaching the peak of their season with two all Tokyo meets to be held in February at the Kokusai Swimming Complex in Tatsumi. The Winter Age Group Championships are to be held at St. Mary’s on March 8th + 9th. 28 Bucs will be in action at the highly competitive Japan Olympic Cup Yosen Meet at Tatsumi on February 9 + 10.

Annual Swim-a-thon @ St. Mary’s

The International Buccaneers held their annual Swim-A-Thon on January 19th. It was a good turn out with 69 team members participating. Swimming + racing for 1 hour not stop is certainly not an easy task. Many surprised themselves with their improvement made this season and more than a few gave less than their best effort. It takes courage, single mindedness of purpose and good workout habits at practices day in and day out to perform to one’s potential. Therein lies the beauty ….. Endurance – the athlete’s edge !

Swimmers breaking into the All-Time Swim-a-thon record books were;

11th grader Mamoru Kanazawa (Boys 15 - 18) 4^th all time - 195 lengths

10^th grader Ryutaro Kamiya (Boys 15 - 18) 7^th all time - 191 lengths

8^th grader Kelly Moodie (Boys 13 – 14) 3^rd all time - 185 lengths

9^th grader Bruno Ortiz (Boys 13 – 14) 5^th all time - 182 lengths

9^th grader Anna Saber (Girls 13 – 14) 3^rd all time - 170 lengths

6^th grader Kana Moodie (Girls 11 – 12) 5^th all time - 158 lengths

5^th grader Mokhtar Al-Yamani (Boys 9 – 10) 2^nd all time - 165 lengths

Top finishers for the 2008
“How far can you swim in 1 hour? ” challenge were:

15 – 18 Boys

1^st Mamoru Kanazawa	16 yrs	195 lengths	4,875 meters
2^nd Ryutaro Kamiya	16 yrs.	191 lengths	4,775 meters
3^rd Miguel Ortiz	16 yrs.	185 lengths	4,625 meters

13 + 14 Boys

1^st Kelly Moodie	14 yrs.	185 lengths	4,625 meters
2^nd Bruno Ortiz	14 yrs.	182 lengths	4,550 meters
3^rd Josef Budde	13 yrs.	180 lengths	4,500 meters

11 + 12 Boys

1^st Nicolas Flint	12 yrs.	166 lengths	4,150 meters
2^nd Shawma Chun	12 yrs.	155 lengths	3,875 meters
3^rd Michael Liu	11 yrs.	135 lengths	3,375 meters

9 + 10 Boys

1^st Mokhtar Al-Yamani	10 yrs.	165 lengths	4,125 meters
2^nd Toshiki Takahashi	10 yrs.	151 lengths	3,775 meters
3^rd Alan Ishikawa	9 yrs.	126 lengths	3,150 meters

8 + Under Boys

1^st Yutaro Sahara	8 yrs	93 lengths	2,325 meters
2^nd Senil Hyun	8 yrs	91 lengths	2,275 meters
3^rdYudai Ichimura	8 yrs	83 lengths	2,075 meters

15 – 18 Girls

1^st Alexis McCoy	17 yrs.	166 lengths	4,150 meters

13 + 14 Girls

1^st Anna Saber

14 yrs.

170 lengths

4,250 meters

2^nd Cassandra Flint

13 yrs.

158 lengths

3,950 meters

3^rd Lisa Torio

3^rd Paige Delaney

14yrs. 14 yrs.

149 lengths

3,550 meters 3,550 meters

11 + 12 Girls

1^st Kana Moodie

12 yrs.

158 lengths

3,950 meters

2^nd Keila Mitchell

2^nd Anna Belk

2^nd Nicolette McGuire

12 yrs. 12 yrs.

11 yrs.

149 lengths

3,725 meters

9 + 10 Girls

1^st Amber Devreese	10 yrs.	129 lengths	3,225 meters
2^nd Mari Sawamura	9 yrs.	97 lengths	2,425 meters

8 + Under Girls

1^st Maybelle Kusumoto	8 yrs.	81 lengths	2,025 meters
2^nd Kaitlin Rossman	8 yrs.	79 lengths	1,975 meters

The Buccaneers will host the Kanto Plains Winter Championships on Jan. 27^th.

St. Mary’s – ASIJ Dual Swim Meets Results

St. Mary’s Swimmers defeated the ASIJ mustangs in their annual dual meet at ASIJ on Friday afternoon. The meet was held at St. Mary’s after school on Jan. 11^th. The Bucs took 1^st place in all boys events. The high school boys went 1 – 2 in 5 out of 6 events as well as the 200 Medley and 200 Free Relay. The Medley Relay (Miguel Ortiz, Mario Schwaller, Ryutaro Kamiya, and Mamoru Kanazawa) just missed the Area record by a mere .44 seconds.

Individual double event winners were Miguel Ortiz, Ryutaro Kamiya, Kelly Moodie, Bruno Ortiz, Mamo Kanazawa, Alexis McCoy, Lisa Torio, Adam Mason, Kana Moodie, Nicolette McGuire, Shawma Chun, and David Blackwell. Kamiya, M. Ortiz, Moodie, B. Ortiz turned in times above US Swimming AAA standards.

Other taking wins were Mario Schwaller, Tomoya Minaki, Nicolas Flint, Megumi Minaki, Anna Saber, Maho Sakuma, Keila Mitchell, Lena Kim, Anna Belk, Nicolas Flint, Jared Mason, and Fabian Cabeza.

The Swim Team will hold their annual “How far can you swim” in an hour Swim-a-thon challenge at St. Mary’s on Jan. 19^th.

December 2007

Guam International Invitational Meet @ Hagatna, Guam

The International Buccaneers took 2^nd place overall in the team scoring race at the Guam International Invitational (Dec. 21 – 23). The Bucs amassed 834 points over the 3 day competition with a rather small team of just 21 swimmers.

Swimmers competing for high point honors could swim a total of eight events in the day and a half pool competition. An open water event was held on the 3rd day for a total of 9 events.

In the boys 13 – 14 age group, 8^th grader Kelly Moodie won 7 events and had two 2^nd place finishes to tie for the High Point division with Guam Tsunami’s Tasi Limtiaco. This year marked the 4^th time that both Kelly and Tasi have gone head–to–head at championship meets and over the years the boys have become good friends and as well as rivals. Tasi outswam Kelly in the 1,500 Free and the 5 km ocean swim and Kelly got the better of Limtiaco in 2 Backstroke events.

5^th grader Mokhtar Al-Yamani had a perfect 9 wins to dominate the boys 9 + 10 division. Moku was also instrumental in leading the Bucs 10 + Under relays to victories.

Other Bucs placing the top 3 in high point scoring were:

Nicolas McCoy 15 - 18 Boys 3rd Place 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Alexis McCoy 15 - 18 Girls 2nd Place 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Lisa Torio 13 + 14 Girls 2nd Place 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Shawma Chun 11 + 12 Boys 2nd Place 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Kana Moodie 11 + 12 Girls 3rd Place 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Toshiki Takahashi 9 + 10 Boys 2nd Place 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Ryoya Wakamatsu 9 + 10 Boys 3rd Place 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Joshua Ries 8 + Under Boys 3rd Place

The final day of the competition featured open water races in the pristine lagoon of Tumon Bay in front of the Pacific Islands Club. The Open Water event had different courses as well as various configurations by age divisions. Medals were awarded to the top 3 in each age division. The Top Buccaneers in Ocean Swim events were as follows;

5 kilometer Ocean Swim Time

Kelly Moodie 13 + 14 Boys 2nd Place 1 hour 4 min. 50.09 sec. 　　Nicolas McCoy 15 - 18 Boys 3rd Place 1 hour 8 min. 10.96 sec.
Lisa Torio 13 + 14 Girls 1^st Place 1 hour 21 min. 05.80 sec. Nicolas Flint 11 + 12 Boys 2nd Place 1 hour 21 min. 39.04 sec. Shawma Chun 11 + 12 Boys 3rd Place 1 hour 25 min. 09.90 sec.

1,600 meter Ocean Swim Time

Cassandra Flint 13 + 14 Girls 3rd Place 25 min. 51.65 sec. 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Kana Moodie 11 + 12 Girls 3rd Place 26 min. 13.18 sec.

400 meter Ocean Swim Time

Mokhtar Al-Yamani    9 + 10   Boys    1^st Place           6 min. 35.64 sec.
Toshiki Takahashi       9 + 10   Boys    2nd Place          6 min. 38.15 sec.
Ryoya Wakamatsu      9 + 10   Boys    3rd Place           6 min. 41.25 sec.

Attending practices together with the Guam Tsunami team after the meet provided Buc swimmers the opportunity to forge new friendships. The Swim Team is looking forward to get back into training this week for the “big push” to the March Championship meets. The Bucs will host the ASIJ Mustangs in their annual dual meet at St. Mary’s pool on Friday. Jan. 11^th. The meet will start from 3:50 pm.

Tokyo South Club Championship Meet

Buccaneer swimmers made a big splash at the Tokyo South club championship meet on Dec. 9^th. 848 swimmers from 22 swim clubs competing at the annual meet. Swimmers finishing in the top 8 in the preliminary heats advanced to the afternoon finals.

In the finals, lots of BUC swimmers surfaced with times good enough to put them on the awards podium. 11^th grader Miguel Ortiz swam a great race to win the 50 meter Back over Nittai Ebara’s Masamichi Ueda by .09 seconds. Miguel’s 26.45 swim set a new OPEN and AREA record and was just a mere .45 seconds off Japan’s Senior National qualifying time. Miguel also set a new OPEN and AREA mark in the 100 meter back finishing in 2^nd place with a sizzling 58.25. 10^th grader Ryutaro Kamiya won the 200 meter Back with a new OPEN and AREA standard in 2:03.60.

The Bucs 13 – 14 yr. old group continued to impress – 8^th grader Kelly Moodie won the 100 + 200 meter Freestyle events. Kelly’s 100 Free (55.41) was just .02 seconds over the Age Group National “cut”. Bruno Ortiz took 2^nd place in the 200 Individual Medley (2:14.78) and the 100 meter Breaststroke. Bruno’s 1:08.78 in the 100 Breast broke Miguel Molina’s 1999 AREA Record and should set up the medley relay well for later in the season. Tomoya Minaki 2^nd place in the 50 Back (30.73) and 3^rd place honors in the 100 Back (1:07.45). Lisa Torio set a new AREA record in the 50 Butterfly taking 4^th place overall with a 31.65 sec. effort.

Other advancing to individual finals and scoring were; Alexis McCoy, Seika Setoguchi, Mario Schwaller, Mamoru Kanazawa, Josef Budde, Megumi Minaki, Maho Sakuma, Keila Mitchell, Kana Moodie, Shawma Chun, Nicolas Flint, Mokhtar Al-Yamani, Toshiki Takahashi, Ryoya Wakamatsu, and Senil Hyun.

The Buccaneers are looking forward to the Guam International meet over the Christmas holidays.

November 2007

Distance Swim Meet

The swim team played host to Taiyo Kyoiku Sports Center in a dual meet that contested just one event – the 1500 meter Freestyle. Younger swimmers swam two to a lane due to the length of the race. Upon completing their races swimmers enjoyed pizza and drinks while cheering on teammates.

Sophmore Ryutaro Kamiya and 8^th grader Kelly Moodie set new OPEN + AREA records in the 800 meter Freestyle with swift split times on their way to impressive wins. Ryutaro won the 15-18 Boys event finishing in 16:46.80 (8:51.56 – 800 split). Kelly took the 13-14 Boys race with 17:22.17 (9:18.05 – 800). Both boys swims placed them 2^nd all-time among Buccaneers after 2002 graduate Miguel Molina.

Other top finishers were; Mamoru Kanazawa - 17:17.62 (2^nd place 15-18 Boys)

Miguel Ortiz - 17:29.94 (3^rd place 15-18 Boys)

Bruno Ortiz - 17:34.97 (2^nd place 13-14 Boys)

Josef Budde - 18:39.24 (7^th place 13-14 Boys)

Nicolas McCoy - 19:21.66 (5^th place 15-18 Boys)

Alexis McCoy - 20:04.55 (3^rd place 15-18 Girls)

Dylan McGuire　　- 20:17.01 (6^th place 15-18 Boys)

Mokhtar Al-Yamani - 20:31.91 (4^th place 9-10 Boys)

Nicolas Flint - 20:34.38 (4^th place 11-12 Boys)

Mario Schwaller - 20:45.40 (7^th place 15-18 Boys)

Shawma Chun - 21:15.12 (6^th place 11-12 Boys)

Lisa Torio - 21:37.06 (4^th place 13-14 Girls)

Cassandra Flint - 21:55.48 (5^th place 13-14 Girls)

Toshiki Takahashi - 21:52.76 (6^th place 9-10 Boys)

Kana Moodie - 22:00.56 (3^rd place 11-12 Girls)

Anna Belk - 22:54.99 (4^th place 11-12 Girls)

The Bucs will have a short intersquad “Hot Times” time trial on Saturday Dec. 1^st.

Tokyo-To Kirokukai Swim Meet

45 Buccaneer swimmers competed in the Nov. 10 + 11 Tokyo Kirokukai Swim Meet at Tatsumi. 2,542 swimmers from 89 teams participated in the annual event. The coaches were pleased with the weekends’ performances coming off 2 long days at the Buccaneer Invitational the previous week.

The Bucs 15 – 18 Boys won the final event on Saturday afternoon just ahead of Nichidai Buzan in the 400 meter Free Relay. The team of Ryutaro Kamiya (52.72), Miguel Ortiz (53.06), Mamoru Kanazawa (52.92), and Mario Schwaller (55.45) qualified for Japan’s Age Group Nationals with a 3:34.15 combined effort. Lead-off legs are official in relays and Ryu’s leg of 52.72 was .37 seconds under the National standard. It was the 2^nd consecutive year that the Bucs qualified early in the season and without tapering to make the “cuts”. The Age Group Nationals will be held at the Tatsumi complex from March 27 – 30.

The 13 + 14 Boys shattered the OPEN + AREA record in the 400 meter Free Relay by 1.94 seconds with a time of 3:53.26 seconds. Bruno Ortiz led off with a 56.24; Kelly Moodie followed with a 55.54 swim; Tomoya Minaki came in with a 59.28 and Josef Budde brought it home with a 1:02.20 effort.

Junior Miguel Ortiz broke the AREA record in the 15 – 18 Boys 50 meter Back in a swift 27.28. Miguel’s swim was also a Nationals “cut” and good enough for 2^nd place overall. Bruno Ortiz and Kelly Moodie each won an event in the boys 13 + 14 age group; Bruno took top honors in the 100 meter Individual Medley (1:03.13) and Kelly’s (56.09) won the 100 meter Free with a US Swimming AAAA standard.

The season is young and the assault on the record board has already started and it looks like more will fall soon. Bruno’s 2^nd place finish in the 100 Breast (1:10.42) was just .29 seconds off Miguel Molina’s 1999 mark. Ryutaro Kamiya missed the AREA record in the 15 – 18 Boys 50 meter Butterfly (26.70) by a mere .15 seconds.

Other top 10 individual finishers; Ryu K. 15 – 18 yrs. (100 IM – 7th + 50 Back – 3^rd), Miguel O. 15 – 18 yrs. (100 Free – 2^nd), Mamoru Kanazawa 15 – 18 yrs. (100 Free – 3rd), Bruno O. 13 + 14 yrs. (50 Fly – 3rd), Kelly M. 13 + 14 yrs. (100 IM – 3^rd + 50 Fly – 10^th), Alexis McCoy 15 – 18 yrs. (100 IM – 5^th), and Mokhtar Al-Yamani 9 + 10 (100 IM – 10^th). Others producing US Swimming Allstar standards were Mario Schwaller, Sascha Hirlinger, Nicolas McCoy, Emiko Mason, Lisa Torio, Tomoya Minaki, Arun Janssens, Megumi Minaki, Kana Moodie, Keila Mitchell, David Blackwell, and Toshiki Takahashi.

Buccaneer Invitational Meet

The Swim Team played host to 16 teams throughout the Kanto Plains on Saturday and Sunday. There was a lot of activity around the pool with 473 athletes attending with 1,784 individual entries and 95 relays. Once again the coaches would like to thank all the volunteers who helped make the weekend a success.

The Bucs do not count themselves in the team trophy race for the Invitational but, amassed 933.5 points over the 2 days of competition. Taiyo Kyoiku Sorts Center of Setagaya-Ku took 1st place with 1,350.5 points, followed by Setagaya-Ku’s Mishuku Sakura Swim Team (767) and Nerima-Ku’s Nanko Swimming School (572.5). There were swift times galore with 6 OPEN + 1 AREA record set. 9^th grader Bruno Ortiz set a new AREA record in the 13 – 14 Boys 400 meter Individual Medley (4:56.16).

This years’ Invitational featured 6 elite athletes from Nittaidai (Nihon Sports Science University) in Komazawa. The NSSU swimmers competed as exhibition swimmers and did not score points. It was a great chance for St. Mary’s swimmers to see international level talent perform. Nittaidai’s Yasuhiro Niki and Aiko Morishita were available to present trophies at the award ceremony. Many younger swimmers were seen collecting autographs after the awards were presented.

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 - Ryutaro Kamiya and Nittai Ebara’s Masamichi Ueda finished in a tie for the overall High Point trophy with 50 points each. Mamoru Kanazawa took 2^nd High Point honors. Alexis McCoy was awarded the 3^rd High Point in the Girls 15 – 18 age group.

13 + 14 - Bruno Ortiz and Kelly Moodie battled it out for the High Point trophy each winning 5 events and taking a 2^nd place against each other to end in a tie with 52 points.

11 + 12 - 6^th grader Kana Moodie took the 3^rd High Point in the Girls 11 – 12 division.

9 + 10 - Mokhtar Al- Yamani finished with 41 points overall, good enough for the 3^rd High Point trophy.

The Coaches were pleased to see an overall team performance of 279 personal best times out of 471 swims.

Swimmers bettering USS AAA standards were Ryutaro Kamiya, Mamoru Kanazawa, Miguel Ortiz, Bruno Ortiz, Kelly Moodie, Mokhtar Al-Yamani, and Toshiki Takahashi. Swimmers producing AA standards were Mario Schwaller, Alexis McCoy, Michael Mlynarchik, Tomoya Minaki, Lisa Torio, Emiko Mason, Maho Sakuma, Keila Mitchell, and Ryoya Wakamatsu.

The Bucs will be at the International Swimming Complex in Tastumi for the Tokyo Kirokukai on Nov. 10 + 11.

October 2007

Yokohama Kokusai Kirokukai Meet

Sunday marked the 2^nd time the Swim Team competed at the Yokohama pool, a pool that rivals Tokyo’s International Complex at Tatsumi.

Ryutaro Kamiya added 2 more Age Group National qualifying standards. Ryu swam the first leg of the boys 200 Medley Relay with a swift 27.46 Backstroke split. Ion Fukazawa split 34.54 in the Breaststroke and Nicolas McCoy followed with a 28.07 Buttefly leg. Mamoru Kanazawa came home in 25.42 on the freestyle for a 1:56.35 combined effort. Ryu’s 2^nd National “cut” was leading off the 200 Free Relay with a lifetime best of 24.10. Other splits were Mamoru (25.16), Sascha Hirlinger (26.51), and Michael Mlynarchik (26.20) for a final of 1:41.97.

3 Buccaneer swimmers turned in US Swimming AAA standards or better; Ryu Kamiya (200 Free – 1:58.51), Kelly Moodie (200 Butterfly – 2:20.81), and Toshiki Takahashi (100 Breast – 1:31.07).

AA swims came from - Tomoya Minaki (200 Back - 2:32.00), Nicolas McCoy (100 Butterfly – 1:02.51), Mamoru Kanazawa (200 Butterfly - 2:20.88), Josef Budde (200 Free – 2:13.44), Mokhtar Al-Yamani (100 Free – 1:13.34), Maho Sakuma (200 Breast – 2:57.35), and Keila Mitchell (200 Back – 2:48.70). Others turning in good swims were Michael Mlynarchik, Dylan McGuire, and Arun Janssens.

The meet also gave the BUCS a rare chance to compete in the 100 Individual Medley – an event generally contested for swimmers 12 years + Under. Top performances for Boys in the 100 IM were;

Ryu Kamiya (1:00.57) / Mamoru Kanazawa (1:06.19) / Kelly Moodie (1:06.21) / Tomoya Minaki (1:09.43) / Ion Fukazawa (1:10.68) / Sascha Hirlinger (1:10.70) / Dylan McGuire (1:13.04) /

Top performances for Girls in the 100 IM were;

Megumi Minaki (1:18.05) / Maho Sakuma (1:20.35) / Kana Moodie (1:20.99) / Nicolette McGuire (1:22.35) / Keila Mitchell (1:24.30) /

The Swim Team is looking fowrad to the Buccaneer Invitational to be held at St. Mary’s on November 3rd + 4^th.

Seibu – Nanbu Tatsumi Meet

The International Buccaneers struck hard and finished strong in what was arguably the best early season performance the team has accomplished to date. The swim team had 35 swimmers compete at the Tokyo West vs. Tokyo South Swim Meet at the Tatsumi International Swimming Complex on October 14^th. 1,356 swimmers from 40 clubs competed in the annual event.

3 make Nationals !

Perennial qualifier Ryutaro Kamiya made his national cut early in the 200 Individual Medley winning the event with a time of 2:08.22. 8^th grader Kelly Moodie became the 1^st 13 – 14 yr. old Buc Swimmer to break 2 minutes in the 200 meter Freetyle. Kelly’s 1:59.12 effort was .57 seconds under the Age Group National qualifying standard for 14 year olds and set a new OPEN and AREA record. 11^th grader Miguel Ortiz also qualified for the Nationals with a 27.25 swim in the 50 meter Backstroke.

9^th grader Bruno Ortiz won the 13 – 14 boys 200 Individual Medley smashing his previous best with a 2:16.50 - bettering US Swimming AAAA standard.

No relay events were contested at the meet but, prospects look good for the BUCS relays this season based on strong performances by all. The competition for who will swim the free relay is wide open and should keep all on their toes. The medley relay is taking shape and this could be the 1^st year ever that the swim team qualifies the medley relay for the March nationals.

Swimmers turning in US Swimming Allstar Standards AAA standards or better were Alexis McCoy, Mamoru Kanazawa, Mario Schwaller, Mokhtar Al-Yamani and Toshiki Takahashi. Others producing Allstar standards were Lisa Torio, Tomoya Minaki, Dylan McGuire, Nicolas McCoy, Sascha Hirlinger, Michael Mlynarchik, Ion Fukazawa, Maho Sakuma, Kana Moodie, Keila Mitchell, and Shawma Chun.

The team looks to “step it up” in training sessions with the Buccaneer Invitational Swim Meet just a few weeks away (Nov. 3 + 4). The Coaches know that those committed to putting in the work early in the season will reap rewards down the road.

Fall Swim Meet @ St. Mary’s

The International Buccaneers Swim Team hosted 9 teams at their annual October Swim Meet on Sunday. Bucs posting the maximum 4 individual wins were Ryutaro Kamiya, Kana Moodie, and Mokhtar Al-Yamani. Both Kelly Moodie and Shawma Chun were triple event winners in the age groups. Other Multiple winners were Bruno Ortiz, Tomoya Minaki, David Blackwell, Toshiki Takahashi, Phil Joo Sang and Maybelle Kusumoto. Other Event Winners included Mamoru Kanazawa, Nicolas McCoy, Shinto Mogi, Lisa Torio, Maho Sakuma, Paige Delany, Keila Mitchell, Senil Hyun, and Kaitlin Rossman.

The Buccaneer Boys relays were dominant winning the freestyle relay events for the 8 + Under, 9 + 10, 11 + 12, 13 + 14, and 15 – 18 age groups. The Bucs 11 + 12 girls relay also came out on top.

Ryutaro K, Miguel Ortiz, Kelly M, Bruno O, and Mokhtar A. produced United States AAA times in several events each. The Swim Team will be at the International Swimming Complex at Tatsumi on Oct. 14^th for the annual Tokyo West vs. Tokyo South meet.

September 2007

Annual Setagaya-Ku meet @ Kinuta

The International Buccaneers Swim Team is “back in the swing” as practices started the first day of school and the Bucs competed in their first meet this past Sunday. The annual Setagaya-Ku meet at Kinuta was a good way to start the season.

Ryutaro Kamiya posted a new meet record (50 Fly) on his way to winning two events (50 meter Free + 50 meter Butterfly). 8^th grader Maho Sakuma also won 2 events (50 m + 100 m Breast). Other event winners were Mario Schwaller (50 Breast), Alexis McCoy (50 Free), and Seika Setoguchi (50 Fly).

Kelly Moodie captured two 2^nd place medals (100 m Free + 50 m Fly). Other 2^nd place finishers were Alexis McCoy (50 Fly), Kana Moodie (50 Fly), and Keila Mitchell (50 Back).

3^rd place finishes came from Nicolas McCoy (50 Fly), Mario Schwaller (50 Free), Seika Setoguchi (50 Free), Lisa Torio (50 Fly), Mokhtar Al-Yamani (50 Free), and Shawma Chun (50 Fly).

The Buccaneer Masters’ group also swam well setting 4 new meet records. Dave Moodie broke 2 meet records winning the 50 m Back and the 50 m Fly (50 – 59 yr. olds). Hiroaki Konno took top honors setting a new meet mark with a swift swim in the 100 meter Free for 20 – 29 yr. olds. Buc Masters Dave Hollerbach (Nissan) set a meet record with his win in the 50 m Back (30 – 39 yr. olds). The Bucs next meet will be the Fall Kickoff at St. Mary’s on Sept. 15^th.

J.O.C. Cup (Age Group Nationals) Summer Meet @ Tatsumi

3 Bucs qualifying for Japan’s Summer Age Group National Championships; 10th grader Ryutaro Kamiya swam the 100, 200 Back + the 100 Free at the JOC Cup meet. Ryu also set a new OPEN and AREA records in the 200 meter Back. 8th grader Kelly Moodie qualified for the 13 yr. old boys in the 100, 200, + 400 Freestyle events. 4th grader Toshiki Takahashi made the Nationals in 9yr. boys 50 meter Breaststroke. None of the boys advanced to the top 8 finals but, all performed admirably and seem poised for a strong fall – winter season.

May 2007

Jolly Roger Invitational Swim Meet @ St. Mary’s

The International Buccaneers Swim Team hosted 9 teams at the 1^st Jolly Roger Invitational. The Bucs finished the day with 1,119 points – good enough for 1^st place. Always tough, Nanko Swimming School took 2^nd with 552 points despite only bringing their younger swimmers. Nanko’s older group was previously committed to another meet. It was nice to see R Fuji Swimming from Shizuoka (1^st time at St. Mary’s) finish in 3^rd place with 519 points. It was the 1^st time a meet was run in a trials/finals format at St. Mary’s. Swimmers qualifying in the top 5 in the am heats were eligible to compete in the finals.

New Open and Area Records were set in the 800 meter Freestyle by Mamoru Kanazawa (15 – 18 Boys - 9:03.08) and Kelly Moodie (13 – 14 Boys – 9:28.49). Sang Woo Cheung had a great swim in the finals of the 100 meter Butterfly finishing just .48 seconds off Miguel Molina’s 2002 Open + Area mark.

High Point trophies were won by the following Buc swimmers:

15 – 18 Boys

Sang Woo Cheung High Point 27 points

Ryutaro Kamiya 2nd High Point tied 25 points

Mamoru Kanazawa 2nd High Point tied 25 points

13 + 14 Boys

Kelly Moodie High Point tied 27 points

Tomoya Minaki 3rd High Point 21 points

11 + 12 Boys

Nicolas Flint 3rd High Point 20 points

9 + 10 Boys

Mokhtar Al-Yamani High Point tied 27 points

Shane Brett High Point tied 27 points

Toshiki Takahashi 2nd High Point 24 points

Michael Liu 3rd High Point tied 21 points

8 + Under Boys

Kazuki Martin 2nd High Point 25 points

Alan Ishikawa 3rd High Point tied 23 points

15 – 18 Girls

Alexis McCoy High Point 27 points

13 + 14 Girls

Emiko Mason 2nd High Point tied 25 points

Maho Sakuma 3rd High Point 22 points

The Bucs final meet of the year will be the Summer Kanto Plains to be held at Yokosuka’s 50 meter facility on June 2^nd.

April 2007

Manoa Invitational Swim Meet @ Honolulu

The International Buccaneers Swim Team finished in 3^rd place with just 19 swimmers out of 22 teams at Manoa Invitational. Buc swimmers rose to the occasion as the meet provided many challenges – it was the 1^st time in eight months competing in a long course 50 meter format. Periodic rain showers came with the meet being held in the Manoa Valley. Hawaii’s powerhouse Kamehameha Swim Team won the team title and Hawaii Swim Club took 2^nd place.

Swimmers of all ages swam in just 3 events in a short Friday evening session. Events for 13 + over swimmers were held in a morning session on Saturday + Sunday while the 12 + Under Buccaneers competed in the afternoon. Some swimmers raced in up to 14 events over the weekend with little time to recover. Jet lag was certainly a factor but, the team’s performance improved as the meet progressed.

Senior Sang Woo Cheung took the Open Boys High Point honors defeating Brandon Ching of Kamehameha Swim Team 66 to 63 points. Key individual wins for Sang came in the 50, 100, 200 meter Freestyle events and the 100 meter Butterfly.

Seisen Junior Alexis McCoy completed the Bucs sweep of the Open High Point awards taking the girls title. Alexis scored 71 points winning just one event (200 meter Back) but, consistently placing high in all events helped her secure the title.

10^th grader Mamoru Kanazawa finished in 2^nd place in the 15 – 16 age group with 45 points just 3 points behind Kent Yamada Hawaii Swim Club. Mamoru won the 200 meter Free and placed 2^nd in the 100 Butterfly – he clearly should have won high point honors however, failure to finish strong in a number of events cost him – practice habits really show up when you get into the Olympic size pool ! Classmates Mario Schwaller (17 points) and Nicolas McCoy (14 points) provided strength in Breaststroke and Butterfly, respectively.

Level wise, the 13 – 14 Boys was most competitive age group at the meet. 7^th grader Kelly Moodie scored in all events except the Breaststrokes adding 32 points with top finishes in the 100 Back (2^nd) and 200 Free (3^rd).

The Bucs 10 + Under boys won both Medley and Freestyle Relays. Mokhtar Al-Yamani was 2^nd overall with 48 points followed by Oliver Brache (32), Toshiki Takahashi (27), and Michael Liu (6). Mokhtar was 2^nd in 50 Free, 100 Butterfly, and 200 Individual Medley and 3^rd in the 100 Free, 200 Free, and the 50 Fly. Toshiki won both the 50 + 100 meter Breaststrokes. Oliver placed 3^rd in the 200 IM.

The Bucs won the final event of the meet – the Open 4 x 100 meter Free Relay (Sang Woo, Mamoru Kanazawa, Nicolas McCoy and Mario Schwaller). Saturday afternoon the Bucs gave away 34 points in the Open 4 x 100 Medley Relay (Kelly Moodie, Mario, Mamoru, and Sang) finished in 2^nd place however, were disqualified on Mario’s Breaststroke leg for a stroke infraction on the underwater pullout after the start. Don’t feel bad Mario ! – Sang Woo’s early takeoff on the final Freestyle leg would have been called a DQ on the 2^nd infraction as well.

The Buccaneers are now preparing for the Jolly Roger Invitational (with a Trials and Finals format) to be held at St. Mary’s on May 19^th.

Nanbu Block Swim Meet @ Tatsumi

The Swim Team was back in action at Tatsumi for the Tokyo South meet. It was a relatively small meet by Tatsumi standards with 1,363 swimmers from 45 teams. Only 8 lanes were used in competition compared to the usual 16 lanes (8 for Girls + 8 for Boys running simultaneously) so, it was a long day for many swimmers.

For the 2^nd consecutive weekend Buccaneer Swimmers were knocking on the door of National qualifying standards. Ryutaro Kamiya’s 2:10.18 in the 200 Individual Medley was just .99 secs. off the National cut. Ryu also was also .26 off in the 50 Butterfly (26.65). Senior Sang Woo Cheung’s 57.09 in the 100 Butterfly missed Nationals by .50 seconds. 7^th grader Kelly Moodie’s 57.98 effort in the 100 meter Freestyle was .98 seconds of “Nats”. 3^rd grader Toshiki Takahashi smoked a 42.12 in the 50 meter Breaststroke to miss by a mere .13 seconds.

Bucs finished the meet with a bang with solid performances in the 400 meter Free by Mamoru Kanazawa (4:13.16), Ryu Kamiya (4:17.60), and Kelly Moodie (4:27.10)

Swimmers turning in USS AAA or better were Ryutaro Kamiya, Sang Woo Cheung, Mamoru Kanazawa, Gyo Suzuki, Kelly Moodie, Alexis McCoy, Joseph Budde, Mokhtar Al-Yamani, and Toshiki Takahashi.

Others putting in A + AA standards were Nicolas McCoy, Maho Sakuma, Yuki Yoshida, Michael Mlynarchik, Sascha Hirlinger, Dylan McGuire, Tomoya Minaki, Lisa Torio, Megumi Minaki, Pia Budde, Michael Liu, Shane Brett, Sean Kelly, Oliver Brache, Kazuki Martin, and Alan Ishikawa.

Japanese Age Group National Swimming Championships @ Tatsumi

The old adage “Hard Work pays off” proved to be true. The International Buccaneers Swim Team qualified 5 swimmers for this years’ Japanese Age Group National Championships. 5,506 swimmers from 1,021 clubs throughout the nation competed at the International Swimming Complex at Tatsumi from March 27 - 30. 9th grader Ryutaro Kamiya competed in the 100 and 200 meter Backstroke events. 4^th grader Mokhtar Al-Yamani swam the 50 meter Freestyle for boys 9 yrs. old + Under.

The last day of the competition is always a lot of fun with the Boys 4 x 100 meter Freestyle relay being the final event of the meet. The Bucs team was made up of Sang Woo Cheung (gr. 12), Gyo Suzuki (gr. 12), Mamoru Kanazawa (10th gr.), and Ryutaro Kamiya (gr. 9). The boys obliterated the OPEN and AREA record (3:34.23) producing a swift 3:31.68 on their way to a 14^th place finish out of the 83 teams that qualified. The Bucs finished just 1.59 seconds out of a top 8 finish. Sang Woo led off with a 53.10 after a poor start, Ryutaro ripped a 52.34 leg, Gyo followed with a 53.01 and Mamoru anchored with a 53.23 swim.

This year’s relay members are high achievers in the classroom as well with a combined grade point average of 3.65. The Bucs are anxiously awaiting the US High School rankings to see if they can finish in the top 40 stateside.

2007 March Age Group Swimming Champs @ St. Mary’s

The Swim Team played host to 12 teams in a hotly contested 2 day Championships on Saturday and Sunday. It was a huge meet with over 438 athletes competing. There were 1,905 individual entries and 144 relay entries. The coaches would like to thank all the volunteers that helped make the weekend a success – your hard work is greatly appreciated !

The Buccaneers finished the two-day invitational in 1^st place with 3,636 points. Setagaya-Ku’s Taiyo Kyoiku Sports Center took 2nd place with 3,399 points and the Mishuku Sakura Swim finished in 3^rd place with a total of 3,055.

High Point trophies are awarded to the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place finishers in each age group based on six events over two days. The tightest race for the high point was in the 15 - 18 age group. In the end, it was Sang Woo Cheung taking top honors with a total of 110 points. Mamoru captured the 2^nd High Point at 107 points. In the 13 + 14 Boys age group Kelly Moodie captured the 1^st place high point trophy (113 points). 4^th grader Mokhtar Al-Yamani won the 3^rd high point for 9 + 10 Boys (96 points).

Other Buccaneers finishing in the top 8 in total scoring were; Dylan McGuire (6^th place - 13 – 14), Josef Budde (4^th – 11 + 12), Kazuki Martin and Matteo Alessandri (6^th + 7^th - 8 + Under Boys).

Alexis McCoy took the 3^rd high point trophy for the 15 – 18 girls division (107 points). Megumi Minaki (8^th – 11 + 12 Girls).

One special event of the weekend featured the 2002 graduate Miguel Molina and Hiroshi Tanaka, Jumonji’s coach in the 50 meter butterfly. Throughout the 90’s Miguel and Hiroshi then with Nanko Swimming School would compete for high point honors. In a tight race Miguel came from behind the out touch Tanaka by .11 seconds to complete the distance in 26.15 seconds.

Another exciting race was the Boys 400 meter Crescendo relay. The Crescendo relay features an 8 + Under and a 9 + 10 each swimming 50 meters, while an 11 + 12, 13 + 14, and 15 – 18 complete 100 meters each. The Bucs team of Kazuki Martin, Mohktar Al-Yamani, Josef Budde, Kelly Moodie, and Sang Woo Cheung came from behind overtake Mishuku Sakura’s team to win 4:13.69 to 4:15.84.

The Buccaneers will now start to prepare for the Manoa Invitational meet in Honolulu in late April.

February 2007

2007 Tokyo-To Winter Kirokukai Meet @ Tatsumi

Mokhtar joins Kamiya for March Nationals ! Gyo and Sang so close ….

3,265 swimmers from 148 clubs packed into the International Swimming Complex at Tatsumi for 2 full days of fantastic swimming. The meet featured Athens Olympians and medallist – Kosuke Kitajima and Reiko Nakamura as well as scores of elite athletes.

4^th grader Mokhtar Al-Yamani became the Buccaneers 2^nd individual qualifier for Japan’s Age Group Nationals to be held in late March. The annual Tokyo-To Kirokukai meet is always quick as it’s the last chance for athletes to qualify for the “Nats”. Mokhtar popped a 32.47 second 50 meter Freestyle bettering the standard by .12 seconds for boys 9 years + Under. He placed 5^th overall in his age group.

The Boys 4 x 100 meter Free Relay is really taking shape ! On the final event of the meet, the team of Sang Woo Cheung, Ryutaro Kamiya, Gyo Suzuki, and Mamoru Kanzawa took 2.06 seconds off their OPEN and AREA record to finish with a 3:34.23 swim – a full .46 seconds under the National qualifying time ! The boys now know they are legitimate contenders for a spot in the finals at the JOC Cup on March 30^th.

9th grader Ryutaro Kamiya set a new OPEN and AREA record in the 15 – 18 Boys 100 meter Backstroke (58.52). Ryu also produced his personal best in the 200 meter back with a 2:05.26. Ryutaro will swim both dorsal events at Nationals. Congrats to 10^th grader Miguel Ortiz representing Central Setagaya for qualifying for Nationals in the 50 meter back with a 27.43 swim.

Gyo Suzuki had a great 50 Free going a lifetime best 24.29 - a mere .10 seconds off the National mark and just .65 seconds off 2002 graduate Miguel Molina’s Open + Area record. Fellow senior rival Sang Woo Cheung countered with a 52.89 swim (just .20 secs. over the National cut) in the 100 Free. Gyo’s 53.49 was .8 secs. off the cut.

3^rd grader Toshiki Takahashi was on fire in the Breaststroke events. His 42.86 swim in the 50 meters was just .67 off Nationals. On Sunday Toshiki went a blazing 1:31.52 in the 100 meter distance for a US Swimming AAAA standard. Mamoru Kanazawa and Kelly Moodie both had US Swimming AAA standards in the 200 meter Freestyle going 1:59.55 and 2:08.18, respectively. Seika Setoguchi and Alexis McCoy also clocked AAA times with respective 1:01.25 and 1:01.63 swims in the 100 meter Freestyle. Seika bettered her own AREA record in the 50 Butterfly with a 30.13 effort. 4^th grader Shane Brett swam a AAA time in the 100 meter Butterfly with 1:23.67 personal best.

Other Buc swimmers producing Allstar times were Yuki Yoshida, Brad Yajima, Mario Schwaller, Sascha Hirlinger, Dylan McGuire, Michael Mlynarchik, Maho Sakuma, Lisa Torio, and Keila Mitchell.

The Bucs are looking forward to hosting their annual Winter championships at St. Mary’s on March 10^th + 11^th.

2007 J.O. Yosen Swim Meet @ Tatsumi - Hot Times at Tatsumi !!

The J O Yosen meet is always an exciting one with the best swimmers from the Kanto region in attendance. 24 members from the International Buccaneers competed along with 2,950 swimmers from 126 clubs at Tatsumi’s International Swimming Complex.

The end of the season is near and it’s time to swim fast. The J.O. Yosen meet is special as the top swimmers vie to qualify for the JOC Cup or Japan’s Age Group Nationals in late March.

9^th grader Ryutaro Kamiya continues to make his mark with 2 Age Group National qualifying times in the backstroke events. Ryu covered the 100 meter dorsal event in 58.72 good enough for a new OPEN + AREA record. Kamiya also made the National “cuts” in the 200 meter Back with a swift 2:05.40 finishing 2^nd overall.

Swimmers close to the JOC Cup qualifying times are eligible to compete in the Challenge Races at the end of regular session of events for each day. 5 Buccaneers made the evening’s pressure-packed Challenge Races. 4^th grader Mohktar Al-Yamani was on fire for the 50 meter freestyle blazing to a 32.83 sec. finish. Mokhtar’s time just missed National “cut” for 9 year olds + Under by a scant .24 secs. 3^rd grader Toshiki Takahashi followed Mokhtar’s lead and bettered his own OPEN + AREA record in the 50 meter Breast with a 42.70 in the morning heats. Toshiki went a 43.69 in the evening challenge to end just .50 off the National entry requirement.

Senior Gyo Suzuki and Ryutaro also swam the 100 meter Freestyle challenge after individual swims of 53.80 and 53.52 seconds, respectively. Mamoru Kanazawa also qualified for the challenge in the 50 meter Freestyle (15 – 16 boys) with a 25.02 effort – just .33 off Nationals.

The Tokyo Championships on Feb. 17 + 18 will offer the last chance to qualify for the Age Group Nationals at the end of March.

As usual there were a few disappointments – on Saturday a couple of older swimmers still can’t seem to get to the pool on time resulting in the coaches having to scratch the 4 x 100 meter Medley Relay (Ryutaro Kamiya (back), Mario Schwaller (breast), Sang Woo Cheung (Fly), Gyo Suzuki (Free). Their laid-back attitude certainly cost them as they looked less than sharp in the 50 meter Freestyle later in the am. Poor decisions lead to less than peak performance ! Unfortunately, too often it’s the more experienced ones that fail to realize the consequences.

It was good to see the boys have 30 personal best times out of 45 individual swims. Buc swimmers continue to shine in the swimming’s glamour event - the 100 meter Freestyle. Swimmers in the 100 went; Ryu Kamiya (53.52), Gyo Suzuki (53.80), Sang Woo Cheung (54.22), Mamoru Kanazawa (54.42), Mario Schwaller (57.94), Nicolas McCoy (58.37), Kelly Moodie (59.04), Yuki Yoshida (59.06), Brad Yajima (59.89), Michael Mlynarchik (1:01.11), Dylan McGuire (1:01.33), and Josef Budde (1:07.03).

The Bucs will host the ASIJ Mustangs on Thursday nite (Feb. 8) – the meet starts at 3:45 pm.

January 2007

Winter 2007 Kanto Plains Championships @ St. Mary’s

The International Buccaneers Swim Team captured their 34th consecutive Kanto Plains Championship. The host Bucs saw many veteran swimmers win high point honors as well as a new crop of Buccaneers earning top spots. The following swimmers won high point trophies based on four individual events in their respective age groups:

15 – 18 Boys

Ryutaro Kamiya                            1st High Point
Mamoru Kanazawa                        2^nd High Point
Gyo Suzuki                                     3rd High Point

15 – 18 Girls

Seika Setoguchi 1st High Point Alexis McCoy 3rd High Point

13 + 14 Boys

Kelly Moodie                                     1st High Point
Dylan McGuire                     2^nd High Point
Arun Janssens                  3rd High Point

13 + 14 Girls

Lisa Torio 1st High Point Maho Sakuma 3rd High Point

11 + 12 Boys

Josef Budde 1st High Point
Masaya Takeda 3^rd High Point

11 + 12 Girls

Megumi Minaki 2nd High Point

9 + 10 Boys

Mokhtar Al-Yamani 1st High Point Shane Brett 2nd High Point
Oliver Brache 3rd High Point

9 + 10 Girls

Nicolette McGuire 3rd High Point

8 + Under Boys

Toshiki Takahashi 1st High Point Leo Inayama 2nd High Point
Kazuki Martin 3rd High Point

Bucs Swimmers turning in US Swimming allstar time standards were Sang Woo Cheung, Gyo Suzuki, Ryutaro Kamiya, Mamoru Kanazawa, Seika Setoguchi, Alexis Mccoy, Nicolas McCoy, Mario Schwaller, Kelly Moodie, Dylan McGuire, Lisa Torio, Maho Sakuma, Josef Budde, Keila Mitchell, Nicolette McGuire, Sean Kelly, Michael Liu, Oliver Brache, Mokhtar Al-Yamani, Shane Brett, Ryoya Wakamatsu, Toshiki Takahashi, and Leo Inayama.

The Swim Team is approaching the peak of their season with two all Tokyo meets to be held in February at the Kokusai Swimming Complex in Tatsumi. The Winter Junior Olympics Championships are to be held at St. Mary’s on March 10th + 11th. 21 Bucs will be in action at the highly competitive Japan Olympic Cup Yosen Meet at Tatsumi on February 3 + 4.

Annual Swim-a-thon @ St. Mary’s

The International Buccaneers held their annual Swim-A-Thon on January 13th. It was a good turn out with 72 team members participating. Many surprised themselves with their improvement made this season. Once again new marks were established. 9th grader Ryutaro Kamiya (Boys 15 - 18) tied for 5th best performance ever with 193 lengths (4,285 meters). Mamoru Kanazawa (Boys 15 - 18) was not far behind with a 189 length (4,725 meters) swim placing tied for 7th all time. 7^th grader Kelly Moodie swam 176 lengths (4,400 meters) good to place 8^th all time for the Boys 13 – 14 division.

10th grader Alexis McCoy turned in the 5^th best performance (Girls 15 - 18) ever with 166 lengths (4,150 meters).

Top finishers for the 2007 “How far can you swim in 1 hour? ” challenge were:

15 – 18 Boys

1^st Ryutaro Kamiya	15 yrs	193 lengths	4,825 meters
2^nd Mamoru Kanazawa	15 yrs.	189 lengths	4,725 meters
3^rd Mario Schwaller	15 yrs.	167 lengths	4,175 meters

13 + 14 Boys

1^st Kelly Moodie	13 yrs.	176 lengths	4,400 meters
2^nd Shinto Mogi	14 yrs.	155 lengths	3,875 meters
3^rd Arun Janssens	13 yrs.	146 lengths	3,650 meters

11 + 12 Boys

1^st Josef Budde	12 yrs.	164 lengths	4,100 meters
2^nd Nicolas Flint	11 yrs.	153 lengths	3,825 meters
3^rd Masaya Takeda	12 yrs.	140 lengths	3,500 meters

9 + 10 Boys

1^st Mokhtar Al-Yamani	9 yrs.	148 lengths	3,700 meters
2^nd Ryoya Wakamatsu	10 yrs.	138 lengths	3,450 meters
3^rd Sean Kelly	10 yrs.	134 lengths	3,350 meters

8 + Under Boys

1^st Toshiki Takahashi	8 yrs	142 lengths	3,550 meters
2^nd Leo Inayama	8 yrs	134 lengths	3,350 meters
3^rdRiki Motoyama	7 yrs	114 lengths	2,850 meters

15 – 18 Girls

1^st Alexis McCoy	16 yrs.	166 lengths	4,150 meters
2^nd Pia Budde	15 yrs.	146 lengths	3,650 meters

13 + 14 Girls

1^st Emiko Mason	14 yrs.	146 lengths	3,650 meters
2^nd Maho Sakuma	13 yrs.	143 lengths	3,575 meters
3^rd Paige Delany	13 yrs.	142 lengths	3,550 meters

11 + 12 Girls

1^st Cassandra Flint	12 yrs.	145 lengths	3,625 meters
2^nd Megumi Minaki	12 yrs.	142 lengths	3,550 meters
3^rdKana Moodie	11 yrs.	136 lengths	3,400 meters

9 + 10 Girls

1^st Amber Devreese	9 yrs.	116 lengths	2,900 meters
2^nd Julia Cross	10 yrs.	106 lengths	2,650 meters

8 + Under Girls

1^st Maybelle Kusumoto	7 yrs.	61 lengths	1,525 meters
2^nd Kaitlin Rossman	7 yrs.	54 lengths	1,350 meters

The Buccaneers will host the Kanto Plains Winter Championships on Jan. 28^th.

December 2006

Hokubu Nanbu Taiko-sen Swim Meet @ Tatsumi

Buccaneer swimmers made a big splash at the Tokyo North vs. South meet on Dec. 10^th. 1,333 swimmers from 375 swim clubs competing at the annual meet. Swimmers finishing in the top 16 in the preliminary heats advanced to the afternoon finals.

In the finals 3 Buc swimmers surfaced with times good enough to put them on the awards podium. 9^th grader Ryutaro Kamiya had a great finish to place 3^rdby .01 seconds in the 15 – 18 Boys 100 meter Back (59.15). His dorsal swim was also a new AREA record. 3^rd grader Toshiki Takahashi took 2^nd place in the 8 + Under Boys 50 meter Breast (44.09). Toshiki’s preliminary time of 43.94 was a new OPEN + AREA mark. 7^th grader Maho Sakuma took 3^rd place honors in the 11-12 Girls 50 meter Breast with a new AREA standard of 36.61 seconds.

Once again the 15 – 18 Boys relay was a force - the team of Sang Woo Cheung, Ryutaro Kamiya, Gyo Suzuki, and Mamoru Kanazawa obliterated the OPEN + AREA record in the 200 meter Freestyle relay. Their time of 1:38.03 was well balanced with respective split times of 24.76, 24.46, 24.46, and 24.37. The 200 medley relay group of Ryutaro, Mario Schwaller, Sang Woo, and Gyo Suzuki narrowly missed the AREA record – the boys have vowed to “take it down” soon !

Other advancing to individual finals and scoring in the top 16 were; Alexis McCoy (15 – 18 Girls 100 meter Free - 12^th), Kelly Moodie (13 – 14 Boys 100 Back - 10^th), Sang Woo (15 – 18 Boys 100 meter Free - 11^th) + (15 – 18 Boys 100 meter Butterfly - 14^th), Toshiki (8 + Under Boys 50 meter Free – 9th), and Ryutaro (15 – 18 Boys 100 meter Butterfly - 16^th).

Toshiki, Mokhtar Al-Yamani, Shane Brett, Ryoya Wakamatsu + Oliver Brache combined to scored well and provided points in both the Free + Medley relays. 5^th grader Sean Kelly and 2^nd grader Kazuki Martin both produced US swimming allstar times for the 1^st time.

The Buccaneers next event will the annual swim-a-thon at St. Mary’s on Jan. 13^th.

Citicorp Taipei American School Invitational Swim Meet @ Taiwan

The International Buccaneers Swim Team had a very successful trip to the Citicorp Taipei American School Invitational Swim Meet on Nov. 2 + 3. The Bucs team of just 10 swimmers placed 4^th overall in the team standings and 3^rd place in boys scoring. Teams from Taiwan, Philippines, and Japan competed at the event. International’s swimmers established 18 new meet records.

7^th grader Kelly Moodie (11 + 12) and 3^rd grader Toshiki Takahashi (8 + Under) each walked away with an overall High Point award for their age group. Toshiki won all 8 of his individual events scoring a perfect 160 points. Kelly scored 154 points in a real battle with William Cheung of Taipei American School – the 2 boys finished tied for the High Point each with 6 individual wins and two 2^nd place finishes.

Takahashi set new meet records in the 100 m Breast (1:36.78), 100 IM (1:31.96), 50 m Free (36.83), 100 m Free (1:22.93), 50 m Breast (45.70), 50 m Back (45.84), 50 Fly (43.35), and the 200 IM (3:17.76). Moodie established new marks in the 100 m Free (1:01.17), 100 m Back (1:10.92), 200 m Free (2:13.49), 400 m Free (4:49.27), and the 800 m Free (9:49.40).

Other Buccaneers finishing in the top 3 for the High Point were Mokhtar Al-Yamani (9 + 10 Boys – 2^nd place), Megumi Minaki (11 + 12 Girls – 2^nd place), Kana Moodie (9 + 10 Girls – 3rd place), and Maho Sakuma (11 + 12 Girls – 3rd place). Others setting new meet records were Maho Sakuma; 100 m Breast (1:21.72) and 200 m Breast (2:58.95), Kana Moodie; 50m Back (39.57), 50 m Fly (37.67), and 100 m IM (1:27.74), and Megumi Minaki 400 IM (6:11.89). After the events finished on Sunday, an awards banquet for swimmers and families was held at one of Taipei’s icons - the Grand Hotel.

The Swim Team is looking forward to the always competitive Trials and Finals Tokyo North vs. Tokyo South meet at Tatsumi on December 10^th.

Distance Meet

The swim team held their annual team distance meet on Saturday. There were only 5 events offered in the short meet format held after a morning practice session. New team and 8 + Unders swam the 200 meter Freestyle. 9 – 12 yr. olds competed in the 400 meter Free or the 400 Individual Medley. Swimmers over 13 yrs. Swam either the 800 M Free (girls), 1500 m Free (Boys), or 400 m IM.

7^th grader Kelly Moodie shattered the OPEN + AREA record in the 11 + 12 Boys 400 meter Freestyle by over 4 seconds with a 4:38.09 effort. Joseph Budde also swam a USS A time in the same event with a 5:14.38 swim. 10^th Grader Mamoru Kanazawa obliterated his previous best with a 17:33.63 (AA) swim in the 1500 Free. Gyo Suzuki won the Boys 400 IM inching out fellow senior Joseph Campbell. Toshiki Takahashi won the 200 Free for 8 + Unders with a quick 2:54.24.

Seika Setoguchi and Alexis McCoy battled it out in the 800 meter Freestyle with Seika coming out on top with an AA time of 9:51.79.

The Swim Team looks forward to the always competitive Hokubu-Nanbu meet at Tatsumi on Dec. 10^th. The Bucs will also take a group to the Taipei American School Invitational on Dec. 2 + 3 in Taiwan.

Buccaneer Invitational Meet

The swim team played host to 12 teams throughout the Kanto Plains on Saturday and Sunday. There was a lot of activity around the pool with 365 athletes attending with 1,508 individual entries and 81 relay entries. Once again the coaches would like to thank all the volunteers who helped make the weekend a success. A special thanks to those who hosted the Palau Swim Association swimmers.

Although the Bucs do not count themselves in the team trophy race, they finished with 870.5 points. Taiyo Kyoiku Sorts Center of Setagaya-Ku took 1st place with 1,342 points, followed by Nerima-Ku’s Nanko Swimming School (1,055) and, Setagaya-Ku’s Mishuku Sakura Swim Team (642).

1984 Olympian Taihei Saka (100 + 200 Butterfly) was in attendance during the award ceremony and passed out awards to the high point finishers. High Point trophies are awarded to the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place finishers in each age group based on six events over 2 days. In the 15 - 18 age group Ryutaro Kamiya captured the overall High Point. Mamoru Kanazawa took 2^nd High Point honors. Seika Setoguchi was awarded the 3^rd High Point in the Girls 15 – 18 age group. 7th grader Kelly Moodie took the 2^nd High Point trophy in the 11 – 12 Boys division. 3^rd graders Toshiki Takahashi and Leo Inayama placed 1^st and 3^rd in the 8 + Under Boys division, respectively.

Alexis McCoy, Maho Sakuma, Lisa Torio, and Seika Setoguchi teamed up to set a new girls AREA record in the 400 meter Medley Relay (4:51.78).

The Coaches were pleased to see an overall team performance of 226 personal best times out of 491 swims. Swimmers bettering USS AAA standards were Ryutaro Kamiya, Kelly Moodie, Maho Sakuma, Seika Setoguchi, and Gyo Suzuki. Swimmers producing AA standards were Sang Woo Cheung, Mamoru Kanazawa, Alexis McCoy, Dylan McGuire, Mario Schwaller, Kana Moodie, Shane Brett, Mokhtar Al- Yamani, and Toshiki Takahashi.

The Bucs will be at the International Swimming Complex in Tastumi for the Tokyo Kirokukai on Nov. 11 + 12.

October 2006

Seibu – Nanbu Tatsumi Meet

The International Buccaneers Swim Team had 40 swimmers compete at the Tokyo West vs. Tokyo South Swim Meet on October 15^th. 1,441 swimmers from 44 clubs competed in the event.

7^th grader Maho Sakuma became the 1^st Buc Swimmer to better a record this season. Maho’s 37.27 sec. 50 meter Breaststroke effort was a new AREA Record for 11 – 12 girls.

15 yr. old Ryutaro Kamiya and 12 yr. old Kelly Moodie are the 1^st Buccaneers to swim USS AAAA times this year. The 2 boys had personal best in all their races on Sunday. Ryu had 3 individual wins and his 2:11.65 200 meter Individual Medley missed the National Championships qualifying standard by a mere 1.54 seconds. Ryu’s 58.29 effort in the 100 Butterfly also just missed the National “cuts” by 1.00 secs. Kelly swam a 30.68 sec. 50 meter Butterfly as well as a 1:01.15 in the 100 Free and 2:11.74 in the 200 meter Freestyle. All 3 swims were very close to the National standard – missing by .70 , .96 , and 1.53 seconds, respectively.

Other Swimmers turning in US Swimming Allstar Standards AA standards or better were Gyo Suzuki, Alexis McCoy, Seika Setoguchi, Mamoru Kanazawa, Mario Schwaller, Dylan McGuire, Kana Moodie, and Toshiki Takahashi.

The team looks to “step it up” in training sessions with the Buccaneer Invitational Swim Meet just a few weeks away (Nov. 4 + 5). The Coaches know that those committed to putting in the aerobic work early in the season will reap rewards down the road.

INTL Swim Meet @ St. Mary’s

The International Buccaneers Swim Team hosted 6 teams at their annual October Swim Meet on Saturday. Bucs posting the maximum 4 individual wins were Kelly Moodie, Nicolette McGuire, Mohktar Al-Yamani, and Toshiki Takahashi. Other Multiple winners were Sang Woo Cheung (3), Dylan McGuire (3), Alexis McCoy (3), Kana Moodie (3), Ryoya Wakamatsu (3), Megumi Minaki (2),Tomoya Minaki (2), Paige Delany (2), and Leo Inayama (2).

Sang Woo Cheung, Kelly Moodie, Alexis McCoy, and Maho Sakuma produced United States AAA times in several events each. AA times were turned in by Ryutaro Kamiya, Gyo Suzuki, and Mamoru Kanazawa.

The swim team will be at the International Swimming Complex at Tatsumi on Oct. 15^th for the Tokyo West vs. Tokyo South meet.

September 2006

Yokosuka Jr. Seahawk Swim Meet @ Yokosuka’s 50 meter Natatorium

The International Buccaneers Swim Team took 2 buses filled with swimmers + parents for a well run meet at Yokosuka’s new 50 meter Natatorium. The competition was the Bucs last one in a long course format for 2006.

Swimmers taking 1^st place honors in 4 events were Kelly Moodie, Kana Moodie, and Toshiki Takahashi. Ryutaro Kamiya, Shinto Mogi, Maho Sakuma, and Nicolette McGuire each had 3 individual wins. Double event wins went to Alexis McCoy, Seika Setoguchi, Adam Mason, Keila Mitchell, Rhiannon Gribbell, and Mohktar Al-Yamani.

Others capturing individual 1^st place wins were Sang Woo Cheung, Mamoru Kanazawa, Mario Schwaller, Oliver Brache, Anton Wideroth, Kumar Shikhar, Michael Liu, Shawn Suzuki, Jared Mason, Shawma Chun, Ryota Hiramitsu, and Kazuki Martin.

INTL swimmers posting US Swimming AAA standards were Ryutaro Kamiya, Kelly Moodie, and Alexis McCoy. Gyo Suzuki, Brad Yajima, Yuki Yoshida, Michael Mlynarchik, Sascha Hirlinger all turned in good early season times with US A standard times or better.

Tokyo Junior Swim Meet @ Tatsumi

The International Buccaneers Swim Team had 23 swimmers compete at the Tokyo Junior Swim Meet at Tatsumi on September 18^th. The meet was the Bucs first Japan Amateur Swimming Federation competition for this school year. 1,675 swimmers from 60 clubs in the Kanto Plains participated in the long course event.

3 Buc Swimmers placed in the top 8 in their age groups. 9^th grader Ryutaro Kamiya won the Boys 15 – 18 200 meter Freestyle + placed 2^nd in the 100 meter Butterfly. Senior Sang Woo Cheung took 2^nd in the 100 Free and 6^th in the 200 Free. 7^th Grader Kelly Moodie finished in 8^th place in the Boys 11 – 12 100 Back + 100 Freestyle.

Other Buccaneers swimmers posting US Swimming AAA standards were Gyo Suzuki, Maho Sakuma + Toshiki Takahashi. Mamoru Kanazawa, Yuki Yoshida, Joseph Campbell, Michael Mlynarchik, Nicolas McCoy, Mario Schwaller, Dylan McGuire, Megumi Minaki, Kana Moodie, Nicolette McGuire, Shane Brett, Mokhtar Al-Yamani and Ryoya Wakamatsu all turned in good early season times.

Fall Swim Season Kickoff @ St. Mary’s

The Swim Team held a very casual time trial/swim meet at St. Mary’s on September 16th. It was a good chance for the coaches to see a lot of new swimmers and for veteran swimmers to start racing again. Ryu Kamiya, Kelly Moodie, and Toshiki Takahashi each won 3 individual events. Double event winners were Shinto Mogi, Joseph Budde, Shawma Chun, Mokhtar Al-Yamani, Shane Brett, and Leo Inayama.

Annual Setagaya-Ku meet @ Kinuta

" The Beach is gone, School is on ! "

The International Buccaneers Swim Team is “back at it”. Practices started the first day of school and the Bucs competed in their first meet this past Sunday. The annual Setagaya-Ku meet at Kinuta was a low-key affair - perfect for the beginning of the season.

Ryutaro Kamiya posted two meet records on his way to winning two events ( 100 meter Free + 50 meter Back). Other Event winners were Sng Woo Cheung (100 Free), Alexis McCoy (50 Back), Seika Setoguchi (100 Free), Maho Sakuma (50 Breast), and Mario Schwaller (50 Breast). Others placing in the top 3 were Gyo Suzuki ( 50 Back + 100 Free), Mamoru Kanazawa (50 Free), Nicolas McCoy (50 Fly), Megumi Minaki (50 Free + 50 Fly), Kana Moodie (50 Fly), Joseph Campbell (50 Back), Ion Fukazawa (50 Breast), and Yuki Yoshida (50 Breast).

The Buccaneer Masters’ group also swam well with Yuko Tamura setting a new meet record taking top honors in the 50 meter Backstroke. Yuko also took 2^nd in the 50 meter Free for 20 – 29 yr. olds. Dave Moodie won both the 50 meter Back and the 50 meter Butterfly. The Bucs next meet will be the Fall Kickoff at St. Mary’s on Sept. 16^th.

May 2006

ASCJ Swim Meet @ St. Mary’s

The Buccaneers Swim Team held a relatively small meet at home on May 20^th. Sang Woo Cheung, Ryutaro Kamiya, Seika Setoguchi, Lisa Torio, and Shane Brett each finished win 4 individual wins. Triple event winners were Kelly Moodie, Maho Sakuma, Kana Moodie, and Mokhtar Al-Yamani. Alexis McCoy, Dylan McGuire, Arun Janssens, Shinnosuke Takeuchi, Penny Davis, Nicolette McGuire, and Toshiki Takahashi each had 2 wins. Other swimmers taking wins were Gyo Suzuki, Brad Yajima, Mario Schwaller, Jonah Belk, Joseph Budde, Emiko Mason, Megumi Minaki, Masaya Takeda, Sean Kelly, Enzo Takagi, Shawma Chun, Michael Liu, Ryoya Wakamatsu, Kimi Davis, Kazuki Martin, Tommaso Castaldi, and Alan Ishikawa.

The Buccaneers next meet will be June 3^rd at Yokosuka’s new 50 meter facility.

Buccaneers Aqua-thon @ St. Mary’s

The Swim Team held an Aqua-thon event for the 1^st time in 3 years on Monday May 15^th. Various distances were swum and ran based on the Swimmers age group. 13 years + Over were required to swim 2 kilometers followed by a 5 kilometer run – 11 + 12 yrs. swam 1,500 meters and ran 4 km. – 9 + 10 yr. olds swam 1 km. with a 3 km. run – the 8 + Under age group had a short 500 meter swim followed by a 1 km. jaunt.

It was no surprise that a number of records were produced as this year marked the 1^st time the event was held with nice weather. Freshman Ion Fukuzawa set a new course record with a time of 46:40 with a strong finishing kick. Mokhtar Al-Yamani (29:29) and Toshiki Takahashi (14:41) both set new records for the 9 + 10 and 8 + Under age groups, respectively.

Aqua-thon top 3

15 – 18 Boys 15 – 18 Girls

Ion Fukazawa                                        Alexis McCoy
Michael Mlynarchik
Haroldo Kawakami

13 + 14 Boys 13 – 14 Girls

Remy Mock                                            Lisa Torio
Dylan McGuire                                       Maleen Hirlinger
Nicolas McCoy                                       Paige Delany

11 + 12 Boys 11 + 12 Girls

Arun Janssens Maho Sakuma Kelly Moodie Rhiannon Gribbell
Joseph Budde Anna Belk

9 + 10 Boys 9 + 10 Girls

Mokhtar Al-Yamani Kana Moodie Sean Kelly Nicollette McGuire
Michael Liu Vicky Mock

8 + Under Boys

Toshiki Takahashi Shane Brett
Alan Ishikawa

Seibu-Shigaibu Long Course Swim Meet @ Tatsumi

It has been a while since the Buccaneers competed in a long course 50 meters meet.

There were 1,311 swimmers from 46 clubs in attendance. Sang Woo Cheung and Ryutaro Kamiya both swam USS AAAA standard times. Ryu’s 2:16.76 in the 200 meter backstroke was .7 seconds of the National qualifying standard. Kelly Moodie (gr. 6), Maho Sakuma (gr. 6), Kana Moodie (gr.4), and Brett Shane (gr. 3) both turned in AAA performances. The Buccaneers will hold a 2 km Swim – 5 Run Aqua-thon next week.

Intramural Swim Meet @ St. Mary’s

The Buccaneers held their 1^st intramural swim meet last Thursday after school. More than 100 swimmers participated in the event and enjoyed pizzas and drinks after their races. Double event winners were Kunimitsu Matsuo (gr. 9), Jun Abe (gr. 8), Edward Wu (gr. 5), Hiroyasu-Ken Gallego (gr. 3), and Tomoki Nomura (gr. 2).

April 2006

Nanbu Block Swim Meet @ Tatsumi

The Swim Team was back in action at Tatsumi for the Tokyo South meet. It was a relatively small meet by Tatsumi standards with 1,228 swimmers from 38 teams.

14 year old Ryutaro Kamiya just missed the Age Group National qualifying standard in his signature 200 meter Backstroke. Ryu’s 2:12.00 effort was an AAAA United States Swimming time standard. 200 meter Free (2:03.11), and the 100 Free (56.47). Ryu’s 200 IM performance was a new ASCJ AREA record.

Juniors Sang Woo Cheung and Gyo Suzuki along with Mamoru Kanazawa, Kelly Moodie, and Maho Sakuma also led the way swimming AAA times. Other Buc swimmers bettering USS A times were Brad Yajima, Yuki Yoshida, Michael Mlynarchik, Nicolas McCoy, Mario Schwaller, Sascha Hirlinger, Ryohei Takatsuchi, Remy Mock, Dylan McGuire, Arun Janssens, Lisa Torio, Megumi Minaki, Shinnosuke Takeuchi, Kana Moodie, Michael Liu, Ryoya Wakamatsu, and Shane Brett, Mokhtar Al-Yamani, and Toshiki Takahashi.

The Bucs will host an Intramural Swim Meet at St. Mary’s after school on May 4^th.

Tokyo-To Kirokukai Swim Meet @ Tatsumi

3,645 swimmers from 119 teams within the Kanto Plains participated in this year’s Kanto Shunki/Kirokukai swim meet. After just starting their Spring- Summer season - International Buccaneer swimmers turned in some impressive swims.

8^th grader Ryutaro Kamiya bettered his own ASCJ Open + Area Record in the 100 meter Backstroke. Ryu eclipsed his old 13 – 14 boys mark by .83 seconds taking the standard to 1:00.70 for the dorsal event. The swim was also good enough to qualify Kamiya for Japan’s Summer Age Group Nationals.

Buc swimmers producing USS AA times or better included Gyo Suzuki , Mamoru Kanazawa, Nicolas McCoy, Kelly Moodie, Kana Moodie, Shinnosuke Takeuchi, and Brett Shane. Other swimmers turning in A times Yuki Yoshida, Brad Yajima, Sascha Hirlinger, Mario Schwaller, Ryohei Takatsuchi, Jonah Belk, and Toshiki Takahashi.

The Swim Team will be back at Tatsumi on April 16^th for the Tokyo South Block meet.

March 2006

J.O.C. Cup (Age Group Nationals) Meet @ Tatsumi

The Buccaneers qualified 4 swimmers for the Japanese Age Group National Championships. The meet took place at the International Swimming Complex at Tatsumi from March 27 - 30. 11th grader Sang Woo Cheung swam the 50 meter Free (24.71) and 8th grader Ryutaro Kamiya competed in the 100 meter Freestyle for 13 -14 Boys. Ryu’s 54.68 was a new ASCJ Open + Area Record breaking Miguel Molina’s 1999 mark of 55.06. Sang Woo and Ryutaro also teamed up with Gyo Suzuki (11th gr.) and Mamoru Kanazawa (9th gr.) to swim the 400 meter Freestyle Relay on the last day of the competition. The boys performed admirably posting season best 3:37.52 with 3 out of 4 posting best times. The Buccaneers will be back at Tatsumi on Saturady for the April Tokyo Kirokukai Meet.

Saipan International Invitational Meet @ Northern Marianas

The International Buccaneers took top honors in the overall boys team trophy race at the Saipan International Invitational Swim Meet. The Bucs outscored Guam’s Tarakito Swim Team 697.5 points to 661. Saipan Swim Club finished in 3^rd. The Bucs took a much smaller team, just 18 swimmers compared to past years - with only one girl competing for International – the team finished 3^rd overall in the combined scoring behind Tarakito and the host club Saipan.

Swimmers competing for high point honors were required to swim a total of six events in the day and a half competition. An open water ocean swim event was held on the 3rd day of the competition. The following swim team members took home high point trophies:

8 + Under Boys Takahashi, Toshiki High Point Winner
Al-Yamani, Mokhtar 2nd High Point

11 & 12 Boys Moodie, Kelly 2nd High Point

13 & 14 Boys Kamiya, Ryutaro High Point Winner
Nicolas McCoy 2nd High Point

15 - 18 Girls                   Seika Setoguchi                             High Point Winner

15 - 18 Boys                  Cheung, Sang Woo                        High Point Winner (tied)
                                        Kanazawa, Mamoru                      High Point Winner (tied)

Multiple Event Winners were Sacred Heart 10^th grader Seika Setoguchi in the girls 15 – 18 category (50/100/200/800 Free, 200 Back, + 100 Fly) and 8^th grader Ryutaro Kamiya in 13 – 14 age group with a perfect 6 wins (50/100 Free, 100/200 Back, 200 + 400 IM). Other taking wins were Kelly Moodie 11-12 (1500 Free, 50 Back, 50 + 100 Fly), Mokhtar Al-Yamani 8 + Under (50/100 Free, 50 Back + 200IM), Nicolas McCoy 13 – 14 (200/1500 Free + 200 Fly), Sang Woo Cheung 15 – 18 (100 Free + 200 Breast),Mamoru Kanazawa 15 – 18 (200 + 1500 Free), and Toshiki Takahashi 8 + Under (50 Breast + 50 Fly). Gyo Suzuki took a win in the 200 Individual Medley and Dave Moodie won the Masters 50 Butterfly.

Buccaneer swimmers endured long swims in the pristine lagoon of the Philippine Sea. Medals were awarded to the top six in each age division. The Open Water event had different courses as well as various configurations by age divisions. 8+ Under swam a 600-meter course around a World War II tank remaining in the lagoon. 9 + 10 swimmers swam a straight line 500 meter out and 500 meter in after rounding another tank to complete 1 km. Things got a little more complicated for the 11 + 12 age division with swimmers required to race in a triangular 1.3 km course. The course was the same for 15-18 swimmers; however, the 2.5 km. course meant swimmers had to swim two laps.

Ocean Swim Medal Winners

(600 meters)     8 + Under Boys               Time

1st place           Mokhtar Al-Yamani         13:54
2nd place           Toshiki Takahashi           14:01
4th place            Kotaro Hosaka                17:29

(1.3 km)              11 + 12   Boys

2nd place          Kelly Moodie                  18:25
5th place          Kyung Hwan Shin             24:55

(2.5 km) 13 + 14 Boys

1st place        Ryutaro Kamiya                34:08
4th place          Nicolas McCoy                36:02
5th place          Ryohei Takatsuchi           36:42
  4th place          Mario Schwaller               38:01

(2.5 km)     15 – 18 Boys

2nd place        Mamoru Kanazawa            34:18
4th place        Ion Fukazawa                     36:17

(2.5 km) 15 - 18 Girls

1st place Seika Setoguchi 34:00

ASCJ Winter Junior Olympics Swim Meet @ St. Mary’s

The Swim Team played host to 15 teams in a hotly contested Junior Olympics on Saturday and Sunday. It was a huge meet with over 500 athletes competing. There were 2,099 individual entries and 149 relay entries. The coaches would like to thank all the volunteers that helped make the weekend a success – your hard work is greatly appreciated! A special thanks to Hans Janssens, Sherry Thornburg, and Bob Stratton for all their work coordinating the event.

The Buccaneers finished the two-day invitational in 2nd place with 3,627.5 points. Setagaya-Ku’s Taiyo Kyoiku Center took 1^st place with 4,067.5 points. Nerima-Ku’s Nanko Swimming School finished in 3^rd place with a total of 3,126.5.

High Point trophies are awarded to the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place finishers in each age group based on six events over two days. The tightest race for the high point was in the 15 - 18 age group. Gyo Suzuki finished strong winning the last 2 events – on the last event Gyo took 1^st place in the 50 Butterfly by .01 seconds (27.74). Sang Woo tied Nanko’s Ryo Arakawa for 2^nd with at 27.75 effort. There was a little controversy as Gyo was initially disqualified for going past the 15 meter mark while still underwater, a violation of the rules. The head referee overturned the stroke + turn judge and Gyo was awarded the 1^st place finish. In the end, it was Sang Woo Cheung taking top honors by a mere .5 points (110.5). Gyo Suzuki captured the 2^nd High Point with a total of 110 points. Arakawa finished in 3^rd with 95.5 points. Arakawa is always tough but, confessed to missing a lot of training this season for entrance examinations – he vowed to be back next season.

In the 13 + 14 Boys age group Nicolas McCoy grabbed the 2^nd high point and Mario Scwaller finished with the 3^rd high point.

6^th grader Kelly Moodie won the 3^rd high point for 11 - 12 Boys and 3^rd grader Shane Brett finished with the 8 + Under 3^rd high point award.

In one of the most exciting events of the weekend, the Buccaneers Boys 400 meter Crescendo relay obliterated the existing ASCJ Open and Area Record. The Crescendo relay features an 8 + Under and a 9 + 10 each swimming 50 meters, while an 11 + 12, 13 + 14, and 15 – 18 complete 100 meters each. The Bucs team of Mohktar Al-Yamani, David Blackwell, Kelly Moodie, Ryutaro Kamiya, and Sang Woo Cheung combined to take the existing mark down by over 8 seconds to 4:04.85.

The Buccaneers 200 Crescendo Medley Relay (10 + Under/11 + 12/13 + 14/15 – 18) of Kelly Moodie, Shunjiro Endo, Nicolas McCoy, and David Blackwell set a new Area Record (2:11.63).

The Buccaneers 8 + Under boys combined twice to set new records in both the Freestyle and Medley Relay. Ryoya Wakamatsu, Toshiki Takahashi, Shane Brett, and Mohktar Al-Yamani bettered their own 100 meter Medley Relay Area Records set earlier in the season to 1:18.02. On the final series of the meet, the same 4 broke their own Free Relay record with a time of 1:09.31.

February 2006

2006 Tokyo-To Winter Kirokukai Meet @ Tatsumi

Japanese Swimming has really picked up the past few years. A record 4,150 swimmers from 160 clubs packed into the International Swimming Complex at Tatsumi for 2 full days of action over the weekend. The Tokyo-To competition is always a great meet with many university and senior elite athletes competing. Swimmers were limited to just 2 individual events for the meet but, countered with quality swims.

8th grader Ryutaro Kamiya set a new ASCJ OPEN and ASCJ AREA record in the 13 – 14 Boys 100 meter Backstroke (1:01.53) AAAA time. Ryu also had another AAAA swim with swift 2:11.18 second 200 meter Backstroke.

3^rd grader Shane Brett had an outstanding 50 meter Butterfly (38.44) narrowly missing the 8 + Under Boys ASCJ AREA mark with a US Swimming AAA effort.

Shane Brett had an outstanding 50 meter Butterfly (38.44) narrowly missing the 8 + Under Boys ASCJ AREA mark with a US Swimming AAA effort.

6^th grader Kelly Moodie swam a USS AAA standard in the 400 meter Freestyle (4:49.20).

Maho Sakuma and Rhiannon Gribbell continue to impress with sharp AAA Breaststroke swims. Maho swam a 3:05.91 in the 200 meter Breast and a 38.09 for the 50. Rhiannon had a great swim with a personal best 42.08 effort. Kana Moodie had a PB with a 1:27.42 swim in the 100 meter Backstroke. Nicolette McGuire had a best with an A time in the 50 meter Free.

Other Buc swimmers producing Allstar times were Gyo Suzuki, Mamoru Kanazawa, Michael Mlynarchik, Haroldo Kawakami, Mario Schwaller, Sascha Hirlinger. Ryohei Takatsuchi, Dylan McGuire, Lisa Torio, Kyung Hwan Shin, Maki Amamoto, Megumi Minaki, David Blackwell, Michael Liu, and Toshiki Takahashi.

35 Buccaneers not attending the Tatsumi meet were in Yokota for an ASCJ long course meet. The American Swim Council in Japan will hold their championship Winter Junior Olympics at St. Mary’s on March 11^th + 12^th.

The Elite 2006 Japan Short Swim Meet will be held at Tatsumi on Feb. 25th + 26^th. The event will be covered by TV Asahi (channel 10).

2006 St. Mary’s – ASIJ Dual Swim Meets Results

High School swimmers defeated the ASIJ mustangs in their annual dual meet at ASIJ on

Friday afternoon. The Bucs outscored ASIJ 102 – 18 points.

The 1^st event of the meet was the 200 Medley Relay – the Bucs swept 1^st,2^nd, and 3^rd place.

After the Medley Relay, Sang Woo Cheung, Mamoru Kanazawa, and Nicolas McCoy

followed with a 1-2-3 sweep of the 200 meter Freestyle. Gyo Suzuki won the 200

Individual Medley and Joseph Campbell finished in 3^rd place closing fast on freestyle

just .84 seconds behind ASIJ’s Ryo Takahashi.

National Qualifier Sang Woo Cheung captured the 50 meter Freestyle with Gyo Suzuki

and Mamoru Kanazawa finishing in a rare tie to the 1/100^th of a second for 2^ndplace. Shun

Endo was next in another sweep for St. Mary’s. Nic McCoy, Joseph Campbell, and Brad

Yajima followed with a 1-2-3 finish in the 100 meter Butterfly. St. Mary’s swept the 100

meter Freestyle with Sang Woo, Mamoru, and Shun. The last 2 individual events were

the 100 meter Backstroke and the 100 meter Breaststroke – Gyo, Joseph C, and

Haroldo Kawakami took the 1^st 3 places of the 100 Back and Shun Endo and Yuki Yoshida

went 1^st and 3^rd in the 100 Breast. The St. Mary’s team of Cheung, Suzuki, Kanazawa, and

Endo capped the meet off with a victory in the 200 meter Freestyle Relay.

Middle School swimmers also won win by large margin outscoring the Mustangs 100 – 21.

200 meter Medley Relay - 1^st place - (Bk -Kamiya, Br- Belk, Fly- Moodie, and Fr - McGuire)

200 meter Freestyle – 1^st Kelly Moodie, 3^rd Ryohei Takatsuchi

100 meter Individaul Medley – 1^st Ryutaro Kamiya, 2^nd Remy Mock, 3^rd Arun Janssens

50 meter Freestyle - 1^st Ryutaro Kamiya, 2^nd Dylan McGuire, 3^rd Jonah Belk

50 meter Butterfly - 2^nd Kelly Moodie, 3^rd Tomoya Minaki

100 meter Freestyle - 1^st Ryohei Takatsuchi, 2^nd Jonah Belk, 3^rd Dylan McGuire

100 meter Backstroke - 1^st Ryutaro Kamiya, 2^nd Kelly Moodie, 3^rd Remy Mock

100 meter Breaststroke - 1^st Jonah Belk, 2^nd Remy Mock, 3^rd Shinto Mogi

200 meter Free Relay - 1^st place - (Moodie, McGuire, Tatkatsuchi, and Kamiya)

The Swim Team will split their team between 2 meets next weekend. 35 will go to the Tokyo Champs at Tatsumi on February 18+ 19 and the rest of the team will head to Yokota for the final league meet prior to The Junior Olympics on March 11 + 12.

2006 J.O. Yosen Swim Meet @ Tatsumi

Buc Relay 3 peats !

The Buccaneers 4 x 100 Relay qualified for Japan’s Age Group National Championships for the 3^rd consecutive year. Sang Woo Cheung, Ryutaro Kamiya, Gyo Suzuki and Mamoru Kanazawa teamed up to make the standard with just one chance left. Many thought the odds were stacked against them this year – just 2 weeks ago at the Tobu-Hokubu-Shigaibu swim meet the boys were a 2.82 seconds away from the national “cuts”. The relay is made up of 2 11^th graders, a 9^th grader, and an 8^th grader but, had to produce a 17 – 18 year old qualifying time to go to “Nats”.

On Sunday morning Sang Woo swam a (53.77) lead-off leg (just .38 seconds off the National cut for the individual 100 meter Free). 8^th grader Ryutaro Kamiya followed with a solid 54.91 leg while junior Gyo Suzuki turned in a 54.38 split. 9th grader Mamoru Kanazawa anchored the relay with a 55.67 effort. Unfortunately, the boys came up short – just .24 seconds off the

Standard. The Bucs relay had one more chance in the evening’s pressure-packed Challenge Race – swimmers close to the JOC Cup qualifying times can swim in the challenge race after he completion of the meet’s regular session. The boys scratched the 100 Free (the last individual event of the meet) to prepare for the challenge swim. The strategy worked as they came through with a big effort in the evening – Sang Woo (53.80), Ryu (54.51), Gyo (54.33), and Mamo (55.38) for 3:38.02. The 4 Bucs will swim the 4 x 100 relay at the Japan Olympic Cup on March 31^st.

The J O Yosen meet is always an exciting one with the best swimmers from the Kanto region in attendance. 21 members from the International Buccaneers competed along with 2,844 swimmers from 130 clubs at Tatsumi’s International Swimming Complex.

Ryutaro Kamiya, Sang Woo Cheung and Kelly Moodie produced US Swimming AAA times in individual events. Swimmers performing AA times were Gyo Suzuki, Mamoru Kanazawa, and Mario Schwaller. The Bucs will be in action on Friday nite (Feb. 10) at ASIJ .

January 2006

ASCJ Winter 2006 Swimming Championships @ St. Mary’s

In a very well run Kanto Plains Championship Meet, the International Buccaneers Swim Team captured their 33rd consecutive American Swim Council in Japan league championship. The host Bucs saw many veteran swimmers win high point honors as well as a new crop of Buccaneers earning top spots. The following swimmers won high point trophies based on four individual events in their respective age groups:

15 – 18 Boys

Sang Woo Cheung tied   1st High Point                                                                                                                                                                           Joseph Campbell   tied   1st High Point
Yuki Yoshida                2^nd High Point
Ying Dong               3rd High Point

15 – 18 Girls

Alexis McCoy 1st High Point

13 + 14 Boys

Ryutaro Kamiya          1st High Point
Mamoru Kanazawa        2^nd High Point
Jonah Belk               3rd High Point

13 + 14 Girls

Lisa Torio 2^nd High Point
Emiko Mason tied 3rd High Point Penny Davis tied 3rd High Point

11 + 12 Boys

Kelly Moodie 1st High Point
Arun Janssens 2nd High Point Shinnosuke Takeuchi 3^rd High Point

11 + 12 Girls

Megumi Minaki 1st High Point
Maho Sakuma 2nd High Point Maki Amamoto 3^rd High Point

9 + 10 Boys

David Blackwell 1st High Point
Michael Liu 3rd High Point

9 + 10 Girls

Rhiannon Gribbell 1st High Point
Kana Moodie 3rd High Point

8 + Under Boys

Shane Brett               tied 1st High Point
Ryoya Wakamatsu     tied 1^st High Point
Mokhtar Al-Yamani    tied 2nd High Point
Toshiki Takahashi      tied 2nd High Point                                                                                                                                                                             Leo Takagi                  3^rd High Point

8 + Under Girls

Vicky Mock tied 1st High Point
Amber Devreese tied 1^st High Point

The Swim Team is approaching the peak of their season with two all Tokyo meets to be held in February at the Kokusai Swimming Complex in Tatsumi. The ASCJ Winter Junior Olympics Championships are to be held at St. Mary’s on March 11th + 12th. March will also provide a lot of excitement, as a contingent of Buccaneers will travel to the Northern Marianas for the 2006 Saipan Invitational Swim Meet. 21 Bucs will be in action at the highly competitive Japan Olympic Cup Yosen Meet at Tatsumi on February 4 + 5.

Tobu – Hokubu - Shigaibu Swim Meet @ Tatsumi

85 clubs and 3,126 swimmers filed into the International Swimming Complex at Tatsumi for 2 full days competition. The Swim Team was powered by impressive performances from Buccaneer mainstays Sang Woo Cheung and Ryutaro Kamiya.

Congratulations Sang Woo !

After missing Japan’s Age Group National qualifying standard by .08 seconds (24.77), 11^th grader Sang Woo Cheung ripped a 24.58 50 meter Freestyle in the challenge race to qualify for the Nationals Championships in late March. Swimmers producing times within 0.5 seconds of the national “cuts” in 50 meter races are eligible to swim the challenge race after the meet. Sang Woo was also 1^st place overall in event.

Ryutaro Kamiya broke Timmy Hawgood’s 6 year old 13 – 14 Boys ASCJ Open + Area 200 meter Freestyle mark with a 2:01.15 effort. Ryu also bettered his own ASCJ Area 200 meter Individual Medley record (2:15.86). Both swim were just off the Age Group National cuts.

The Boys 400 Freestyle Relay (Sang Woo, Ryutaro, Gyo Suzuki, and Mamoru Kanazawa) edged closer to the National Champs standard. The Boys will have one more chance to qualify at Tatsumi again at the Feb. 4^th + 5^th J. O. Yosen meet.

Other Bucs Turnning in US Swimming AA standards or better were Mamoru Kanazawa, Gyo Suzuki, Shunjiro Endo, Nicolas McCoy, Mario Schwaller, and Kelly Moodie.

2006 Annual Swim-a-thon @ St. Mary’s

The International Buccaneers held their annual Swim-A-Thon on January 14th. It was a good turn out with 86 team members participating. Many surprised themselves with the improvement they’ve made this season. Once again new marks were established. 8th grader Ryutaro Kamiya (Boys 13 - 14) turned in the 2nd best performance ever with 190 lengths (4,750 meters). Mamoru Kanazawa (Boys 13 - 14) was not far behind with a 185 length (4,625 meters) swim placing 3^rd all time. 6^th grader Kelly Moodie swam 176 lengths (4,400 meters) good enough for 4^th all time for the Boys 11 – 12 division.

10th grader Alexis McCoy turned in the 6^th best performance (Girls 15 - 18) ever with 164 lengths (4,100 meters). In the 9 + 10 girls division, 5^th grader Rhiannon Gribbell set an all time best with 144 lengths (3,600 meters). 4^th grader Kana Moodie swam 133 lengths (3,325 meters) for 7^th place alltime.

Top finishers for the 2006
“How far can you swim in 1 hour? ” challenge were:

15 – 18 Boys

1^st Cheung, Sang Woo	16 yrs	173 lengths	4,325 meters
2nd Endo, Shunjiro	18 yrs.	170 lengths	4,250 meters
3rd Suzuki, Gyo	16 yrs.	168 lengths	4,200 meters

13 + 14 Boys

1^st Ryutaro Kamiya	14 yrs.	190 lengths	4,750 meters
2nd Mamoru Kanazawa	14 yrs.	185 lengths	4,625 meters
3rd Nicolas McCoy	14 yrs.	174 lengths	4,350 meters
4^th Dylan McGuire	13 yrs.	168 lengths	4,200 meters

11 + 12 Boys

1^st Kelly Moodie	12 yrs.	176 lengths	4,400 meters
2nd Shinnosuke Takeuchi	12 yrs.	155 lengths	3,875 meters
3rd Arun Janssens	12 yrs.	154 lengths	3,850 meters

9 + 10 Boys

Tied 1^st David Blackwell	10 yrs.	120 lengths	3,000 meters
Tied 1^st Enzo Takagi	9 yrs.	120 lengths	3,000 meters
2nd Shawn Suzuki	9 yrs.	114 lengths	2,850 meters
3rd Mario Cogliati	9 yrs.	113 lengths	2,825 meters

8 + Under Boys

1^st Ryoya Wakamatsu	8 yrs	136 lengths	3,400 meters
Tied 2^nd Brett Shane	8 yrs	134 lengths	3,350 meters
Tied 2^nd Mohktar Al-Yamani	8 yrs	134 lengths	3,350 meters
3^rdToshiki Takahashi	7 yrs	114 lengths	2,850 meters

15 – 18 Girls

1^st Alexis McCoy

15 yrs.

164 lengths

4,100 meters

13 + 14 Girls

1^st Maleen Hirlinger	13 yrs.	143 lengths	3,575 meters
1^st Rebecca Stratton	14 yrs.	143 lengths	3,575 meters
2^nd Penny Davis	13 yrs.	141 lengths	3,525 meters
2^nd Emiko Mason	13 yrs.	141 lengths	3,525 meters

11 + 12 Girls

1^st Lisa Torio

12 yrs.

147 lengths

3,675 meters

2nd Paige Delany

12 yrs.

141 lengths

3,525 meters

2nd Megumi Minaki +

Maho Sakuma

11 yrs.

12 yrs.

140 lengths

3,500 meters

9 + 10 Girls

1^st Rhiannon Gribbell	10 yrs.	144 lengths	3,600 meters
2nd Kana Moodie	10 yrs.	133 lengths	3,325 meters
3rd Anna Belk	10 yrs.	120 lengths	3,000 meters

8 + Under Girls

1^st Miki Kamei	7 yrs.	106 lengths	2,650 meters
2nd Vicky Mock	8 yrs.	96 lengths	2,400 meters
2nd Amber Devreese	8 yrs.	96 lengths	2,400 meters

The Buccaneers will be in action again next weekend at the International Swimming Complex at Tatsumi.

December 2005

Hokubu – Nanbu Swim Meet @ Tatsumi

The Buccaneers had their last meet of 2005 at the Tatsumi’s International Swimming Complex on Dec.11^th. It was a bigger meet than years’ past with 2,105 swimmers from 35 swim clubs competing at the annual Tokyo North - Tokyo South Swim Meet. Swimmers scoring finishing in the top 20 for individual events were; (15 – 18 Boys) Sang Woo Cheung 100 Free (15^th), (13 – 14 Boys) Mamoru Kanazawa 100 Free (2^nd) + 100 Butterfly (4^th), Ryutaro Kamiya 200 IM (6^th) + 100 Back (8^th), Nicolas McCoy 100 Butterfly (12^th), Dylan McGuire 100 Back (15^th), (11 – 12 Boys) Tomoya Minaki 50 Back (7^th) + 50 Free (19^th), Kelly Moodie 50 Back (8^th) + 50 Butterfly (14^th), Shinnosuke Takeuchi 50 Breast (12^th), Kyung Hwan Shin 50 Breast (17^th), (11-12 Girls) Maho Sakuma 50 Breast (8^th), (9 – 10 Boys) David Blackwell 50 Back (19^th), (8 + Under Boys) Ryoya Wakamatsu 50 Back (5^th), and Shane Brett 50 Butterfly (20^th).

The 11 – 12 Boys Relay (Tomoya Minaki, Kelly Moodie, Remy Mock, and Shinnosuke Takeuchi) took 4^th place in the 200 Medley Relay and 6^th place in the 200 Free Relay.

Swimmers producing US Swimming AAA times were Sang Woo Cheung, Ryutaro Kamiya, Mamoru Kanazawa, Tomoya Minaki, and Kelly Moodie.

November 2005

Tokyo Kirokukai Swim Meet @ Tatsumi

The International Buccaneers Swim Team were at the International Swimming Complex at Tatsumi again this past weekend for the Tokyo Kirokukai Swim meet. 1,809 swimmers from 65 clubs competed in the Nov. 12^th + 13^th event. It's hard to believe the team has already conducted 77 practice sessions this school year - better results from training are on the horizon.

14 yr. old Ryutaro Kamiya swam a US Swimmming AAAA time in the Boys 100 meter Freestyle (55.84) and is approaching Miguel Molina’s ASCJ Open + Area record from 1999. Mamoru Kanazawa also swam a AAAA time in the 100 Free (56.07) leading off the 13-14 relay 4 x 100 Relay.

Bucs posting US Swimming AAA standards were Sang Woo Cheung ( 50 + 100 Free) and Kelly Moodie (50 Backstroke).

AA swims were produced by Gyo Suzuki, Shunjiro Endo, Nicolas McCoy, Remy Mock, Lisa Torio, and Maho Sakuma.

Younger Bucs turning in A standard times were Maki Amamoto, Kana Moodie, Brett Shane, and Toshiki Takahashi.

Others having good swims were Haroldo Kawakami, Yuki Yoshida, Brad Yajima, George Rowe, Michael Mlynarchik, Tomer Lapidot, Ying Dong, Mario Schwaller, Ryohei Takatsuchi, Dylan McGuire, Arun Janssens, Daniel Blackwell, Kyung Hwan Shin, Masaya Takeda, David Blackwell, Nicollette McGuire, Mario Cogliati, Enzo Takagi, Leo Takagi, Luca and Tommaso Castaldi, Riki Motoyama, Vicky Mock, and Kotaro Hosaka.

Buccaneer Invitational @ St. Mary's

The swim team played host to 10 teams throughout the Kanto Plains on Saturday and Sunday. There was a lot of activity around the pool with 320 athletes attending with almost 1,500 individual entries. Once again the coaches would like to thank all the volunteers who helped make the weekend a success.

Although the Bucs do not count themselves in the team trophy race, they finished with 1,123 points. Taiyo Kyoiku Sports Center took 1st place with 1,625.5 points, followed by Setagaya-Ku’s T-Fam Swim Team (767), and Nerima-Ku’s Nanko Swimming School (667).

High Point trophies are awarded to the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place finishers in each age group based on six events over 2 days. In the 15 - 18 age group, Sang Woo Cheung took the 2^nd place high point trophy missing top honors by just 1 point. Sang Woo won an exciting 100 meter butterfly race with Taiyo’s Rei Kawai by .08 seconds.

Ryutaro Kamiya finished 1^st in the 13 + 14 age group with a perfect score of 54 points. 9th grader Mamoru Kanazwa placed 3^rd overall in the same age group.

Elementary Bucs taking high point honors were 6th grader Kelly Moodie - capturing 3^rd overall in the 11 – 12 Boys division. Moodie’s won the 50 meter Backstroke (33.56) just missing the Age Group National qualifying time by .07 seconds.

3^rd grader Ryoya Wakamatsu took the 3^rd place High Point trophy for 8 + Under boys.

A new crop of Buccaneers are coming up - the 8 + Under Boys Relay (Mohktar Al-Yamani, Ryoya Wakamatsu, Shane Brett, and Toshiki Takahashi) set a new ASCJ Area mark in the 100 meter Free Relay (1:10.54).

Swimmers bettering USS AAA standards were Ryutaro Kamiya, Sang Woo Cheung, Mamoru Kanazawa, and Kelly Moodie. Swimmers producing AA standards were Gyo Suzuki, Shunjiro Endo, Nicolas McCoy, Mario Schwaller, Sean Mulroy, Lisa Torio, Remy Mock, Maho Sakuma and Ryoya Wakamatsu.

A times were turned in by Bryan Stenson, Haroldo Kawakami, Michael Mlynarchik, Kazuki Yajima, Ryohei Takatsuchi, Jonah Belk, Arun Janssens, Yuji Develle, Kana Moodie, Rhiannon Gribbell, Shane Brett, Mokhtar Al-Yamani, and Toshiki Takahashi.

The Bucs will take a big group to the Tokyo Kirokukai at Tatsumi on Nov. 12 + 13.

October 2005

Yokohama Kokusai Kirokukai Meet @ Yokohama

The Swim Team was in two locations for meets this past weekend. The Buccaneers sent their more experienced group to the Yokohama Kokusai Kirokukai meet on Sunday. It was the 1^st time the Bucs competed at the Yokohama pool, a pool that rivals Tokyo’s International Complex at Tatsumi.

Bucs posting US Swimming AA standards or better were Sang Woo Cheung ( 50 + 100 Free), Nicolas McCoy ( 100 + 200 Butterfly), Tomoya Minaki ( 100 Back + 100 IM), Gyo Suzuki ( 100 Free), Bryan Stenson (50 Free), Remy Mock (200 Breast), and Kelly Moodie (100 Butterfly). Others turning in good swims were Joseph Campbell, Yuki Yoshida, Brad Yajima, Michael Mlynarchik, Mario Schwaller, Dylan McGuire, and Arun Janssens.

ASCJ Swim Meet @ Yokota

The Buccaneers sent 53 swimmers to the American Swim Council in Japan’s 2^nd meet of this season at Yokota’s 50 meter facility.

Many Bucs posted US Swimming Allstar Standards. Swimmers producing A standards were Sascha Hirlinger, Lisa Torio, Rhianno Gribbell, Ryoya Wakamatsu, and Toshiki Takahashi.

The coaches were happy to see continued improvement from younger team members. The team will use the next 2 weeks to set up for the annual Buccaneer Invitational at St. Mary’s on Nov. 5^th + 6^th.

Seibu - Nanbu Swim Meet @ Tatsumi

The International Buccaneers Swim Team had 54 swimmers compete at the Tokyo West vs. Tokyo South Swim Meet on October 17^th. 1,769 swimmers from 57 clubs competed in the event.

Many Bucs posted US Swimming Allstar Standards. Swimmers producing AA standards or better were Sang Woo Cheung, Gyo Suzuki, Shunjiro Endo, Ryutaro Kamiya, Nicolas McCoy, Mamoru Kanazawa, Mario Schwaller, Sean Mulroy, Dylan McGuire, Tomoya Minaki, Remy Mock, Kelly Moodie and Alistair Kershaw.

Other swimmers bettering US Swimming A times were Yuki Yoshida, Michael Mlynarchik, Ryoya Wakamatsu, Shane Brett, and Toshiki Takahashi.

The team looks to “step it up” in training sessions with the Buccaneer Invitational Swim Meet just a few weeks away (Nov. 5 + 6). The Coaches know that those committed to putting in the aerobic work early in the season will reap rewards down the road.

The team will compete at 2 meets next weekend with most of the younger swimmers heading to Yokota for the American Swim Council in Japan meet. The more experienced older group will go to Yokohama’s Kokusai pool for their Kirokukai meet on Sunday Oct. 23^rd.

ASCJ Swim Meet @ St. Mary’s

The International Buccaneers Swim Team hosted their 1st American Swim Council in Japan league meet at St. Mary's on Oct. 1st. 6 teams came to the event with 198 Swimmers participating. Bucs posting multiple individual event wins were Sang Woo Cheung (4), Tomoya Minaki (4), Ryoya Wakamatsu (4), Ryutaro Kamiya (3), Remy Mock (3), Gyo Suzuki (2), Mario Schwaller (2), David Blackwell (2), and Shane Brett (2). Other event winners were Yuki Yoshida, Ryohei Takatsuchi, Yuji Deville, Jared Mason, Enzo Takagi, Toshiki Takahashi, Luca Castaldi, Leo Inayama, and Ryan Vasconcellos.

Other swimmers turning in US Swimming A times were Shunjiro Endo, Haroldo Kawakami, Bryan Stenson, Michael Mlynarchik and Mokhtar Al-Yamani. The Bucs will take a large contingent to the Tokyo South - Tokyo West meet on Oct 16^th at the International Swimming Complex at Tatsumi.

September 2005

B - C Kyu Swim Meet @ Shindaita

The Swim Team had a small group of 24 swimmers compete at the Shindaita 12 + Under Swim Meet on Sunday. The Bucs 11 + 12 Boys Relay Team of Tomoya Minaki, Remy Mock, Dylan McGuire, and Shinnosuke Takeuchi won both the 200 Freestyle and Medley Relays.

Tomoya, Remy, Dylan, and Shane Brett produced US Swimming “ A” Time standards. Other fine swims were turned in by Kwung Hwan Shin, Toshiki Takahashi, Michael Liu, Enzo Takagi, Luca Castaldi, Leo Takagi, and Tommaso Castaldi.

Tokyo Junior Swim Meet @ Tatsumi

The International Buccaneers Swim Team had 22 swimmers compete at the Tokyo Junior Swim Meet on September 19^th. The meet was the Buccaneers first at the International Swim Complex at Tatsumi for this school year. 1,896 swimmers from 60 clubs in the Kanto Plains participated in the long course event.

Sang Woo Cheung and Ryutaro Kamiya both swam USS AAAA Times and were close to the Age Group National “cuts” early in the season. Other Buccaneers swimmers posting US Swimming Allstar Standards were Shun Endo, Gyo Suzuki, Haroldo Kawakami, Yuki Yoshida, Mamoru Kanazawa, Nicolas McCoy, Mario Schwaller, Remy Mock, Tomoya Minaki, Dylan McGuire, Kelly Moodie, Alistair Kershaw, and Ryoya Wakamatsu.

Setagaya-Ku Meet at Kinuta

The International Buccaneers Swim Team sent a large contingent to the annual Setagaya-Ku Swim Meet held at Kinuta’s 50 meter Sogo Pool. The Kinuta meet provided the Bucs an opportunity to have a few races in a low-key meet, perfect for the 1^st meet of the season. Elementary and Middle School students swam in the morning session and High School and Masters events were held in the afternoon. Students were entered by their school year under the Japanese system.

Buccaneeer placing in the top 3 were: 8^th Grader Ryutaro Kamiya set 2 meet records winning the 50 meter Back and the 50 meter Butterfly. Kamiya teamed up with Mamoru Kanazawa, Nicolas McCoy, + Michael Mlynarchik to take the 200 meter Free Relay in a meet record.Kelly Moodie led the Elementary group winning the 50 meter Back and placing 2^nd in the 50 meter Butterfly. 5^th Grader Alistair Kershaw took 3^rd place in the 50 Back. The Elementary team of Moodie, Kershaw, Arun Janssens, and Shinnosuke Takeuchi placed 2^nd in the 200 meter Free Relay. 11^th grader Sang Woo Cheung placed 1^st in the 50 m Free narrowly missing the meet mark. Bryan Stenson took 2^nd place in the 50 meter Back. Gyo Suzuki finished in 3^rd in the 100 meter Free. Joseph Campbell and George Rowe both finished in 3^rd place respectively, in the 50 m Butterfly and the 50 meter Back. Sang Woo, Gyo, Shunjiro Endo, and Bryan Stenson combined to take top honors winning a close race by . 18 seconds in the 200 meter Free Relay.

The “Old Boys” were out in force as the Buccaneer Masters also competed. Dave Moodie won the 50 meter Back and the 50 meter Fly in the 40 – 49 age group. Patrick Ryan took 2^nd Place in the 50 m Free for 50 – 59 yr. olds. Lynn Shimasaki finished in 1^st Place in the 50 meter Breast. The Buc Masters won the 200 meter Free Relay in the 160 yrs. – 199 yrs. Division . ’94 graduate Ryan Heagle (29) led off followed by Dave Moodie (48), Lynn Shimasaki (52), and Patrick Ryan (50)).

August 2005

The International Buccaneer Swim Team started their 2005 – 2006 campaign with practices commencing on August 24^th. Plenty of new swimmers are out and the team will hold a small meet at St. Mary’s on Sept. 17^th to ease the new members into the program. Buccaneers Kick-Off another season !

Age Group Nationals @ Tatsumi August 26th – 29th

Ryutaro Kamiya places 10^th in the 200 meter Backstroke at Age Group Nationals !

The All Japan Summer Age Group National Swimming Championships were held at the International Swimming Complex at Tatsumi (August 26^th – 29^th) The 4 day JOC Cup Championship is run in a trials and finals format; swimmers vie for a spot in the finals with only the top 8 making it. 3,844 Swimmers from 845 clubs took part in the meet.

Kamiya (8^th grade) looks in good position for a strons season, he just missed the 13 – 14 Boys finals in the 200 meter Back (2:18.50) in his down year – Ryu is 13 yrs. old so he’ll be in the same age group next year. Ryutaro also placed 23rd in the 13 – 14 Boys 200 meter freestyle. Kamiya also finished in 12th place in the 100 meter Back.

July 2005

June 2005

May 2005

ASCJ Swim Meet @ St. Mary’s

The International Buccaneers Swim Team hosted an American Swim Council in Japan league meet at St. Mary's on May 21^st. 6 teams came to the event with 193 Swimmers participating. Bucs posting US Swimming AA times or better were Marino Nakajo, Nobukiyo Uchiyama, Sang Woo Cheung, Gyo Suzuki, Ryutaro Kamiya, Mamoru Kanazawa, Kelly Moodie, Gyo Suzuki, Nicolas McCoy, and Alistair Kershaw.

3 new team records were set at Saturday’s meet. 12 year old Izumi Kershaw’s (1:12.76) in the 100 meter Individual Medley was a new ASCJ AREA mark. Isabelle Vandenbroucke set new team marks in the 100 + 200 meter backstroke events going 1:09.96 and 2:28.56, respectively.

After the meet, an awards presentation was held for Buccaneer Swimmers excelling for the 2004 – 2005 season. The following swim team members were recognized for their efforts this year:

St. Mary’s Swimmer of the Year Marino Nakajo

High School Boys MVP: Gyo Suzuki

Middle School Boys MVP: Ryutaro Kamiya

Elementary Boys MVP: Kelly Moodie

High School Boys Most Improved: Yuki Yoshida + Haroldo Kawakami Middle School Boys Most Improved: Mamoru Kanazawa Elementary Boys Most Improved: Arun Janssens

Individual National Qualifiers Ryutaro Kamiya + Alistair Kershaw

Academic Award Sang Woo Cheung

Coach’s Awards Nicolas McCoy + Dylan McGuire

Rookie of the Year: Ying Dong

Tobu – Shigaibu Swim Meet @ Tatsumi

The Swim Team was at Tatsumi for the Tobu – Shigaibu swim meet on May 7 + 8. 1,005 swimmers from 43 teams competed in the first long course 50 meter format at Tatsumi this year.

Ryutaro Kamiya continues to shines producing 3 USS AAAA times – Ryutaro’s 3 swims were also under Japan’s Age Group National standards. He negative split all races going (2:20.60) in 200 Back, (57.64) in the 100 Freestyle and (1:03.51) in the 100 Butterfly. Sang Woo Cheung also swam a 4 “A” time in the 100 meter Freestyle just .97 over the National “cut”.

Others having USS allstar time swims were Marino Nakajo, Nobukiyo Uchiyama, Gyo Suzuki, Mamoru Kanzawa, Nicolas McCoy, Mario Schwaller, Remy Mock, Kelly Moodie, Dylan McGuire, and Alistair Kershaw.

The Bucs will host an American Swim Council in Japan swim meet at St. Mary’s on May 21^st.

April 2005

Manoa Invitational Swim Meet @ Honolulu

The International Buccaneers Swim Team finished in 3^rd place out of 18 teams at Manoa Invitational (April 22 – 24). Buc swimmers rose to the occasion as the meet provided many challenges – it was the 1^st time in eight months since competing in a long course 50 meter format. Swimmers of all ages swam in just 3 events in a short Friday evening session. Events for 13 + over swimmers were held in a morning session on Saturday + Sunday while the 12 + Under Buccaneers competed in the afternoon. Some swimmers raced in up to 15 events over the weekend with little time to recover. Jet lag was certainly a factor the 1^st day and the team’s performance improved as the meet progressed.

10^th grader Sang Woo Cheung took the 15 – 16 Boys High Point honors with a strong finish on the last day overtaking Brandon Ching of Rainbow Aquatics and Mitchell Chong of Kamehameha Swim Team.

Seisen 9^th grader Isabelle Vandenbroucke completed the Bucs sweep of the 15 – 16 high point awards taking the girls title.

The team took only a few elementary swimmers with the bulk being Middle School and High School swimmers. On the elementary side, Kelly Moodie and Remy Mock contributed by scoring points as well as making allstar times. Mamoru Kanazawa and Nicolas McCoy provided points from the Middle Schoolers group. Mario Schwaller and Ryohei Takatsuchi also raced under allstar times standards.

Seniors Marino Nakajo and Nobukiyo Uchiyama joined Sang Woo Cheung as swimmers bettering the USS Western Zone time standards. Marino finished 3^rd overall in the high point race for 17 years + over while Nobu was 4^th. Other High Schoolers finishing with allstar times were Gyo Suzuki, Joseph Campbell, Yuki Yoshida, and Rishad Irani.