Swimmers scoop 4 gold medals in Day 2

The CNMI National Swimming Team made immediate waves by bagging four gold medals in Day 2 of the 2024 Micronesian Games yesterday at the Kwajalein Pool in Kwajalein, Marshall Islands.

Beach volleyball, meanwhile, got going last Saturday with the women’s team winning two of their first three games and the men, so far, logging a 1-2 win-loss record at the Majuro Track & field.

National swimmer Kean Pajarillaga struck first by topping the men’s 1,650-yard freestyle with a time of 17:06.74, while teammate Justin Ma also made the podium by coming in third with a swim of 18:25.24. Pohnpei’s Kyler Kihleng took the silver in 17:30.60.

“I feel pretty happy about my race, but I wish I would’ve gotten a faster time though. I wanted to have a time that was closer to my college’s record for my event. I am dedicating this win to my family, my coach and his wife, and my friends,” said Pajarillaga.

Maria Batallones then kept the CNMI rolling with another gold in the women’s 1,650-yard freestyle after touching the tile in 19:32.65. Frances Raho gave Team NMI a 1-2 finish with a swim of 20:05.97, while Sari Barman almost gave the CNMI a sweep but settled for fourth place with a time of 22:12.83. Palau’s Mikel Galyah took the bronze (20:56.07).

“Before the race I felt nervous and excited. For the most part nervous because I didn’t know what to expect, and excited because I believed in myself. Swimming the mile felt amazing to me, I was really feeling that race. I made sure to watch my pace and have nice strong strides.Seeing my coach cheering me on by the poolside really encouraged me to swim faster. The mile is a long swim so there was a lot on my mind, however, I used that as my motivation. I was thinking of my family watching at home and I could hear the crowd and my teammates cheering me on. A lot of people believe in me, so I made sure not to let them down. This was my first win of this competition and I would like to think of this as an inspiration for the days ahead of me,” said Batallones.

The CNMI also mined gold medals in the mixed 200-yard freestyle relay and mixed 400-yard freestyle relay.

Pajarillaga then teamed up with Isaiah Aleksenko, Maria Guerrero, and Shoko Litulumar to blow Palau out of the water in the mixed 200-yard freestyle relay, 1:36.66-1:39.57. Host Marshall Islands was third (1:39.96).

In the mixed 400-yard freestyle relay, Batallones, Aleksenko, Raho, and Kouki Watanabe grabbed the gold with a dominating 3:52.10 swim. Palau (4:05.61) and Pohnpei (4:16.27) were a far second and third.

In beach volleyball, Kathy Winkfield and Aurora Santos won their debut by beating host Marshall Island, while Dylan Mister and Jermaine Salas topped Marshall Islands, but lost to Palau last Saturday. Yesterday, Winkfield and Santos got the better of Nauru, but absorbed a 7-21, 24-22, 15-10 setback against Guam, while Mister and Salas lost a 18-21, 19-21 decision against Nauru.

“Both teams are doing very well considering we’ve only practiced with each other for the first time for two days before competition. Both teams are learning to adjust to each other styles and learning with every game. It’s like a crash course team building session on how to play with your partner,” said playing coach Winkfield.

On the conditions at the sand court inside the Majuro Track & Field, the Northern Marianas College teacher said weather definitely has been a challenge.

“The sand courts are nice but there is only one court and it is very windy which makes the game more challenging but fun at the same time. We have had some heavy downpours which both CNMI teams had to endure but it did not affect our wins. Majuro is nice, you can see the whole island in the lagoon and the people are so friendly. They have all been respectful and curious and it’s been great communicating and making friends with the other islands. Definitely an amazing, unforgettable experience!” she said.

And speaking of challenges, CNMI National Tennis coach Jeff Race said the sport’s two venues couldn’t be more different.

“There are two separate venues here that have courts that are so totally different. We call them the red and blue courts. We practiced the first two days on the red courts which are crazy slick. Probably the slickest I’ve ever seen. Today (Saturday) we went to the blue courts. We were the first to play on them since they just finished them the day before. Apparently, we weren’t supposed to play on them but we just went on anyway. They are quite slow and generally vastly better. It’ll be really difficult to switch back and forth, as I’m sure that’s going to happen a lot,” he said.

Like Winkfield, Race also mentioned the heavy downpour Majuro is currently experience right smack at the start of the Micro Games.

“Lots of rain has chased us off of practice twice and it rained wildly again today (Saturday) although we got our training in this morning. Nobody including the Marshallese tennis president really knows how we’re going to fit a 10-day competition into four days. Lydia (Tan) and I spent some time on Saipan trying to figure it out. We have a plan to do almost all short sets, but if it rains like it has the last three days there’s every chance that the tennis event will be a complete disaster and it won’t be able to be completed.”

Race said under these circumstances, players even in the best scenario may have to play six matches per day which is not only unheard of but extremely unsafe from a health perspective.

“Clearly whoever made the schedule had no idea what they were doing. Oh well. We’ll try our best to roll with the punches. I hope our players can get through it okay. No matter what happens we’ll bring medals back home,” he said.