November 2009

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^th place – 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^rd annual 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^th place (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 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 149 lengths 149 lengths	3,725 meters 3,725 meters 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 Mit