Watanabe taking swimming talents to Arcadia University

Tsunami Saipan Swimming Center standout Kouki Watanabe will take his swimming career to the NCAA Division III level after choosing Arcadia University in Pennsylvania for college.

The recent Marianas High School graduate told Marianas Press that he will continue competing in the sport he has been involved in since childhood when he heads to the U.S. mainland.

“I'll be going to the States for college and yeah, swimming also there,” Watanabe said.

Watanabe said Arcadia emerged as his preferred destination after he considered three other schools. He said the university’s swimming coach initially contacted him by email while he was looking at colleges.

“In the end, Arcadia was my best choice,” he said.

Watanabe said he received a good academic scholarship from Arcadia. He expects breaststroke to remain his primary event in college, although he said his coach has yet to finalize what events he will swim.

Before heading to Pennsylvania, Watanabe is currently in Japan preparing for college while making sure his training does not skip a beat. He said Tsunami Saipan head coach Hiroyuki Kimura helped arrange for him to train at a swimming school there.

“I didn't want to like, slow down in swimming,” Watanabe said.

Moving from tropical Saipan to Pennsylvania will also require a different kind of adjustment. Watanabe said he plans to stock up on thick winter clothes before experiencing his first truly cold climate.

He said what he will miss most about Saipan are the everyday moments with his friends and Tsunami Saipan teammates, particularly enduring difficult workouts together and hanging out after practice.

Watanabe said representing the CNMI internationally stands out as his proudest achievement so far.

“I'm like very proud of myself for training hard to be on the national team,” he said.

He also credited Kimura with teaching him one of the most important lessons of his swimming career: perseverance.

“Maybe the biggest is to never give up. Like that's the biggest I've learned from him,” Watanabe said.

That lesson is reflected in Watanabe's long relationship with Tsunami Saipan.

Kimura said Watanabe began swimming when he was 5 years old, following his two older sisters into the program. With Watanabe spending much of his childhood with the club, Kimura said he eventually became “like a son to the Kimuras.”

The coach said Watanabe's development came despite disruptions caused by super typhoons Soudelor, Yutu, and Sinlaku, along with the COVID-19 pandemic and periods when his swimming pool was unavailable.

“An ordinary athlete might well have given up on the sport. Yet, Kouki never gave up,” Kimura said.

Kimura said that perseverance eventually resulted in Watanabe breaking a CNMI national record previously held by Tsunami Saipan alumnus and breaststroke standout Rezne Wong and becoming a Pacific Games medalist at just 15 years old.

“He put in a tremendous amount of effort. How hard to get to this point!” Kimura said.

Watanabe's international résumé includes representing the NMI at the 2023 Pacific Games in the Solomon Islands; 2024 Micronesian Games in the Marshall Islands and World Championships in Budapest; 2025 World Championships in Singapore, Pacific Mini Games in Palau and Age Group Championships in Sydney; and the 2026 Oceania Championships in Fiji.

His Tsunami Saipan meet experience also includes the Saipan International Meet, Guam Championships, and Tokyo Junior Sprint Championships.

Watanabe plans to major in physical therapy at Arcadia, but his swimming ambitions extend beyond Division III. He said one of his goals is to improve enough to eventually swim for a Division I program.

Before beginning college, however, he is already putting in the work in Japan. Kimura said Watanabe has begun training at Central Sports even before enrolling at Arcadia.

“That is a fantastic spirit!” Kimura said. “I guarantee he will really shine in college swimming. Always look forward to Kouki's results!”