November 2008

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.