Lincoln College's Furgeson and Kinono to Compete in 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games

 

[July 13, 2021]   In spite of the continued global Covid-19 pandemic and associated travel restrictions, which have already denied several Oceania countries the opportunity to participate in the Olympics, Marshall Islands will have a team at the rescheduled 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo next month.

Participating will be two Lincoln College athletes, recent graduate Colleen Furgeson and current Lynx swimmer, Phillip Kinono.

Rio Olympian and 2021 Lincoln College graduate, Colleen Furgeson, will again represent the Marshall Islands in the swimming pool. She is joined by teammate Phillip Kinono, who joined the Lynx Swimming program in 2020 under the direction of head coach, Johnathan Jordan.

Coach Jordan and Marshall Islands Swim Federation (MISF) Head Coach and Executive Board member, Amy LaCost, will travel to Tokyo as coaches. Amy will also serve Team Marshall Islands as Chef de Mission.

Phillip, son of Kwajalein’s Mack and Rakai Kinono, arrived on campus in March 2020 for an intensive pre-games swim camp, but instead encountered a nationwide lockdown and travel ban just days after his arrival. During the months of shelter-in-place Covid-19 mandates, Coach Jordan challenged Colleen and Phillip to stay in shape with at-home work-outs and dry-land gym training. Fortunately, pools reopened and aquatic training was resumed a few months ago. Phillip represented his home country in the world championships where he took bronze in the 5k open water at the Micronesian Games.

Colleen, daughter of Kelly and Cathy Furgeson, also from Kwajalein, represented RMI at the Rio Olympic Games five years ago. The former Australia/Oceania Foundation scholarship recipient graduated Magna Cum Laude from Lincoln College with a bachelor’s degree in Sports Management in May.

She has accepted a full scholarship to attend Western Illinois University in the fall 2021 semester to pursue a master’s degree. Immediately following graduation, Colleen relocated to Fort Lauderdale, Florida to train at the FINA Training Center, Azura Florida Aquatics, through a FINA Training Scholarship. Colleen is the first swimmer from Oceania to attend this training center.

Colleen said this about the upcoming Olympic Games, “I am beyond honored and blessed to be given the opportunity to represent my home country for the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. I am proud of my teammate, Phillip Kinono, for his hard work and I cannot wait to keep alongside him in the upcoming weeks. Kommol tata to Coach JJ for coaching me for four years at uni and kommol tata to my coaches and teammates here at Azura for everything they have done for me.”

Coach Jordan of Lincoln College’s swimming program also coached previous Olympian and Lincoln College athlete, Giordan Harris, and has been Colleen’s coach throughout her time at Lincoln, where she holds several school swim records. He continues to coach Phillip in the final days leading up to the competition in Tokyo and will travel with the team to share coaching duties with Coach LaCost.

Coach Jordan finished with this, “It has been a long hard road for both of these athletes. As a coach I could not be more proud of the way they both handled things when they were asked to put their lives on hold this past year when the games were postponed. It has been one of the greatest privileges of my life to train Colleen and Phillip and I cannot wait to see them get their Olympic moment later this month.”

Coach Jordan will share a daily blog covering the training and events for both Colleen and Phillip once he arrives at the Tokyo Games. A link to that blog, times for Lynx athlete’s competitions, and more will be released closer to the day they arrive.

[Ty D. Unger]