Another bronze for Isaiah in Jr. Olympic Cup

Lighting struck twice for Isaiah Aleksenko as he made the CNMI version of the 1993 blockbuster hit “Cool Runnings” when he again won a bronze medal in the in the 47th Junior Olympic Cup at the Tokyo Aquatics Center in Japan.

A day after his third-place finish in the 50m butterfly, the 17-year-old Marianas High School student swam the 100m butterfly in 51:98 last March 30 to again finish second behind 18-year-olds Shouon Mitsunaga (51:22) and Rento Touge (51:44), both of Japan.

While ecstatic with another podium finish in the biggest stage of high school swimming in the Land of the Rising Sun, Aleksenko pondered if he would’ve been faster if the CNMI actually had a full-fledged swimming pool to train on.

“Our pool is small compared to the regular pools and I was just milliseconds behind so with a proper pool I definitely would’ve been faster,” he said.

Nonetheless, the Saipan Community School alumnus again thanked everyone instrumental in his swimming journey.

“I’m very grateful to represent Saipan. People should know more about Saipan and the amazing culture we have. I’m proud to be from Saipan,” he said.

CNMI national swimming coach Hiroyuki Kimura likened his ward’s performance last week in Japan to the movie “Cool Runnings” where a coach, played by the late comedic genius John Candy, mentors a novice four-man bobsleigh team from Jamaica in the Winter Olympics.

“Isaiah unfortunately lost the gold medal. I think he was very disappointed, but he looked very cheerful. I’m really proud of Isaiah. It was a great fight.:

Kimura agreed with Aleksenko’s comment after his bronze in the 50m butterfly that the Tokyo meet served as a redemption tour for him following his disqualification in the 200m individual medley in last February’s 2024 World Aquatics Championships in Doha, Qatar.

“The moment the race in Doha ended, I switched my mind to the Junior Olympic Cup. Isaiah and I vowed to take revenge from that regret in Japan! On the way back from Doha, in the plane and during transit time at the airport in Incheon, my laptop never switched off. This is because I made a detailed practice plan for Isaiah for Junior Olympic Cup.”

For a second, Kimura revealed that they were dreaming of a gold medal in the 100m butterfly after Aleksenko finished first in the preliminary round.

“In the prelims, Isaiah hit the top-ranking time and advanced to the finals. Second was Rento Touge (52.38) and third was Shouon Mitsunaga (52.68). Only Isaiah marked a cut of 52 seconds in the preliminary heats, but Touge and Mitsunaga were clearly saving their energy for the final. We know their potential is to cut 52 seconds.”

Kimura went on to say that Touge and Mitsunaga are top swimmers in Japan, so they swim at a 25m short course meet every week to gain experience in racing. On the other hand, Aleksenko has been practicing for six years on an island without an official swimming pool and only has race experience about twice a year.

“While Japanese top swimmers have experience in countless 25m short course races, the prelims was only Isaiah’s second short course race experience in his life. The difference in racing experience was obvious. Therefore, we never had the luxury of saving strength for the finals, so Isaiah swam as fast as he could in the prelims. Japan’s top junior athletes I guess didn’t go to the beach to lose to an unknown swimmer who came from a small southern island with a population of 50,000,” he said.