No. 5 Swimmers take int’l pools by storm
No pool, no problem for NMI swimmers as they took the international competition by storm as they broke personal and national records left and right.
Aside from the four medals won by the CNMI National Swim Team in the 2023 Pacific Games in Honiara, Solomon Islands, there were seven age group records broken and 11 national records reset.
The updated records were: the men’s 4×100 freestyle relay team’s time of 3:39.66 broke the national record; Maria Batallones’ 50m breaststroke time of 35.09 seconds broke the 15-16 age group and national record; the men’s 4x200m freestyle relay time of 8:16.38 broke the national record; Kean Pajarillaga’s 200m backstroke time of 2:16.40 broke the 17-18 age group and national record; Juhn Tenorio’s 200m backstroke time of 2:14.79 then updated the national record again; Isaiah Aleksenko’s 200m butterfly of 2:05.86 reset the 17-8 age group and national record, his 50m butterfly time of 25.31 seconds updated the 17-18 age group and national record, and he went on to update both again in the finals with a time of 25.13 seconds; Aleksenko, in the 50m freestyle of the 4x50m mixed freestyle relay clocked in at 24.66 seconds to reset the 17-18 age group and national record; Batallones broke the 15-16 age group record in the 100m breaststroke with a time of 1:20.86; and finally, the men’s 4×100 medley relay team updated the national record with their time of 3:59.97.
Before the Pacific Games, Aleksenko and Batallones combined for 10 new CNMI and age group records and 12 if you include the 4×100 freestyle relay and 4×100 mixed relay last July in the 20th FINA World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan.
Then in September, Taiyo Akimaru, Kean Pajarillaga, and Jinie Thompson broke their personal bests in the 9th FINA Junior World Championships in Netanya, Israel.
Isaiah Aleksenko, Team NMI’s flagbearer in the 2023 Pacific Games in Honiara, Solomon Islands, hauled in four medals—one gold and three bronze during competitions that spanned from Nov. 19 to Dec. 2.
-LEIGH GASES
The NMI National Swim Team poses for a group photo with their coaches Hiroki Kimura, far right, and Richard Sikkel, back, left in hat, at the Aquatic Center in Honiara, Solomon Islands last November.
