Coach Hiro ‘amazed’ by record-breakers Isaiah, Maria

CNMI national swimming coach Hiroyuki Kimura can’t help but feel amazed by the record-breaking performances of Isaiah Aleksenko and Maria Batallones in the recent 20th FINA World Championships.

In the Fukuoka, Japan meet, the two combined for 10 new CNMI and age group records and 12 if you include the 4×100 freestyle relay and 4×100 mixed relay.

Aleksenko reset both age group and national records in the  50m and 100m backstroke and  50m and 100m butterfly, while Batallones is now the 15-16 and national record-holder in the 50m breaststroke.

“So amazing. But I had expected it. However, we don’t know what will happen if swimmers don’t try the race. I felt so amazing once again when the official results came out,” Kimura said of Aleksenko’s swims in the short course Aquatics Championships.

The Tsunami Saipan Swimming Center head coach said the biggest factor in Aleksenko’s development is how much he practices. 

“Isaiah practices six times a week. Three of them he doubles with weight training and swim training. We also have practice on Saturday early morning. Of course he has great potential, but what made it bloom was the amount of practice he does. Another big factor is his mental strength as he never cuts corners in practice.”

Kimura said other coaches also took notice of Alekensko’s feats in the pool during the World Championships.

“After his 100m butterfly, many national coaches talked to me. A Russian coach who is coaching Thailand asked me ‘Where is the Northern Mariana Islands?’ and then followed up by asking ‘How do you train and do you have a pool?’ He kept asking me too many questions. He was so surprised when I answered that we didn’t have a swimming pool and Isaiah practices at a 19m pool. I also received official recruiting from one of the strongest Japanese college teams. The head coach emailed me that Isaiah was a talent who could go to the finals of the Olympics if he trained in college. He said Isaiah could make 50 seconds in 100m butterfly! (Isaiah’s time in this World Championships was 54 seconds) and I totally agree with him.”

As for Batallones, Kimura said the future is bright for the young mermaid, but they need to be patient. 

“Just turned 15 in June and breaking a national record is amazing. But we have to keep calm now. This national record time is only 15-16 AA on the U.S. Time Standard. FINA point is also 540. Her goal is to set her own national record time with AAAA and over 600.” 

Compared to Batallones, Kimura said Aleksenko’s 100m butterfly national record is far above AAAA 17-18 and he accumulated 748 FINA points to boot.

Kimura, however, admits that like Aleksenko, Batallones is also a special talent.

“When I decide on a child’s style-1 stroke, I look at ankle flexibility and leg pit flexibility in breastroke. No matter how much the child likes breastroke, style-1 will not be a breastroke for a child who is not good at kicking. Kicking is a natural talent with the leg’s flexibility and is difficult to change with practice. There are two types of breastroke kicks, the wedge kick and the whip kick, and the whip kick is said to be faster. Maria has been doing this whip kick since she did breastroke kick for the first time. I believe her national record was born from polishing this kick,” he said.

Northern Mariana Islands Swimming Federation vice president John Hirsh, meanwhile, said he had fruitful meetings during the course of the 20th FINA World Championships.

“On the regional front, Oceania swimming is excited about the Pacific Games in the Solomons and preparation for the Olympics in Paris. At the international level,  Husain Al Musallam from Kuwait was elected at the World Aquatics Congress as president for the next eight years. Also announced was that the World Aquatics headquarters is moving from Switzerland to Hungary.” 

Hirsh added that he also had the opportunity to meet with representatives from Mrytha, a major international swimming pool company. 

“They are a major sponsor of World Aquatics and hope to assist with the pool project on Saipan that is being funded through the [U.S. Economic Development Administration] grant to redevelop the Oleai Sports Complex.”

The NMISF official also congratulated swimmers Aleksenko, Batallones, Jakey Deleon Guerrero, and Shoko Litulumar as well as coaches Kimura and Christian Villacruis for representing the CNMI well in the World Championships.

“Overall a great trip and so proud of our local swimmers and all their accomplishments!” he said.