Hiro says Doha was a ‘very good experience’

CNMI national swimming coach Hiroyuki Kimura said despite mixed results in the 2024 World Aquatics Championship, overall, Isaiah Aleksenko and Maria Batallones’ stint in Doha, Qatar was still worthwhile.

“I feel that this World Aquatics Championship was a very good experience. It was a meet that brought a lot of reflection and challenges not only for the swimmers but also for the coach.”

He did admit that mistakes were made, especially in Aleksenko’s disqualification in the 200m individual medley, but reiterated that the shortcomings were his.

“I made a mistake as to whether the race was long course or short course, and I was unable to do enough preparation for the swimmers. If we have an official pool, the practice we do there can be applied to either LC or SC races, but since it is an irregularly sized pool, we can’t practice for either. If you practice in that kind of pool, both will collapse. Anyway, the coach was not thoughtful enough this time. I also regret that I broke our daily routine the day before Isaiah’s race. We should have done it thoroughly every day.”

Kimura said the 2024 World Aquatics Championship, like the nature of all competitions, is always about “meeting the answers.”

“The competition is not an exam. The exam is daily practice. If you do all the wrong subjects in your daily exam, you won’t get many correct answers when you check your answers. As with any sport, practice is everything.”

While Aleksenko’s performances in the aforementioned 200m IM and the 200m butterfly have already been documented, Batallones actually swam one more event, the 200m breaststroke, after her 100m breaststroke CNMI national record mark.

In her final event, the 15-year-old Marianas High School student swam a 2:54.73, which didn’t eclipse her own CNMI national record of 2:53.85.

“Maria was in Heat 1, but normally she would race with swimmers of the same level, but there were two swimmers who entered in Heat 1 with no entry time, and unluckily both of them were very fast swimmers. One is Belarus’ national champion, Alina Zmushka, and the other is Speedo Junior National Championships swimmer, Stephanie Iannaccone. It is very difficult to swim between swimmers with a large difference in level and body size. Maria had to swim against big waves and swells from both sides. Despite being in such a difficult heat, Maria still swam within a second of the record, which is admirable,” said Kimura.

Had Batallones been in a heat that was a little easier to swim in, Kimura is sure she could have set a national record.

“However, no matter what I say, it will only serve as an excuse, so we will continue practicing with the determination to start over from scratch.”

Next up for the CNMI’s national swimming team is the Japan Junior Olympics in March. Only swimmers who made the qualifying time can participate in this meet and for the CNMI only Aleksenko has qualified and he will swim the 50m and 100m butterfly.

“No CNMI swimmer has qualified for this meet in the past. No other 17-18 CNMI record holder has made the qualifying time in this event, so just participating is already an accomplishment. Our target is to advance to the finals and to be on the podium. If we can make it to the podium, it will be a historic achievement.”

After the Japan meet is the Oceania Championships, which will be held in Gold Coast, Australia in April. Although swimmer selection has not yet been completed, Kimura said the Northern Mariana Islands Swimming Federation has decided to send several swimmers.

Then the biggest event of the year will happen in June with the 2024 Micronesian Games in the Marshall Islands. Kimura said NMISF will be sending 12 swimmers in the regional event.

“Almost all of Pacific Games’ swimming medalists and finalists will be participating, so we hope to win medals comparable to the 2010 Palau Games,” he said.