Moshe, Piper break age group swimming records

The winter season Down Under didn’t stop NMI swimmers as they broke age group records and personal bests left and right in the Oceania Swimming Championships 2024 held at the Gold Coast Aquatic Centre, in Southport, Queensland, Australia.

Notably, Moshe Sikkel and Piper Raho broke CNMI 13-14 age group records on Day 1 last Sunday and Day 2 last Monday.

Sikkel restarted the 100m backstroke last Sunday. He first recorded a 1:07.68 personal best in the prelims. He then clocked in at 1:07.40 which was faster than the previous age group swim off record of 1:07.54 held by Juhn Tenorio.

In the 50m backstroke, Sikkel broke the record not just once, but twice. He first broke the previous record of 30.49 seconds also held by Tenorio with a time of 30.31 seconds in the prelims.

Then, in his 50m backstroke race during the 4×50 mixed medley relay, Sikkel reduced his time to a new record of 30.14 seconds. With him in the team were Taiyo Akimaru, Jinie Thompson, and Savita Sikkel and finished at 2:07.79.

For Raho, she broke the barrier for the 50m backstroke record twice as well. On Day 2 last Monday, she first reset the previous record of 35.07 seconds by Aika Watanabe in the prelims with a time of 34.81 seconds. Then, Raho reset it once more in the finals with a new record time of 34.69 seconds.

On Day 2 in the 4x200m women relay, Raho set a new personal best in her 200m freestyle portion with a time of 2:30.52. The team with Raho included Nagi Tenorio, Savita, and Thompson.

Raho also qualified for the finals in the 100m backstroke event with her time of 1:15.24.

The rest of the team including Thomspon, Akimaru, Savita, Tenorio, and Michael Miller, broke personal bests in the first two days of the championships.

On Day 1, Akimaru broke his personal best twice in the 50m butterfly as he swam a 26.99 seconds in the prelims, then 26.62 seconds in the finals.

Thompson reset her PB in the 50m butterfly with a 33.62 seconds during the prelims and qualified for the finals.

Miller set a new PB in the 200m freestyle with a time of 1:13.74 in the prelims and qualified for the finals.

Savita’s time of 36.28 seconds in the 50m butterfly qualified her for the finals and Tenorio qualified for the finals as well with a time of 44.29 seconds in the same event.

In the 4x50m mixed freestyle, the team qualified for the finals with a time of 2:00.85, and clocked in at 4:49.87 in the 4x100m mixed medley.

On Day 2, Savita set a new PB in the 100m freestyle finals with a time of 1:11.21; Nagi set a new PB twice—1:21.94 in the prelims then 1:21.04 in the finals of the 100m freestyle. She also dropped 10 seconds off her PB in the 100m breaststroke with a time of 1:33.42.

Miller first set a new PB in the 100m freestyle prelims with a time of 1:00.14 and qualified for the finals; he then reset his PB to 59.95 seconds in the finals; he also recorded a new PB in the 100m breaststroke at 1:23.82.

For Akimaru, he set a new PB in the 100m breaststroke prelims with a time of 1:11.39, then improved it to a new PB of 1:10.27 in the finals.

Moshe said of his experience, “The experience so far is fun but also tiring.” As for breaking records, he said, “I’m still unsatisfied with my times, not to mention that the competition is tough and way faster than me.”

Piper, for her part said, “When I first broke the record, I felt super happy and accomplished.” She added, “When I was swimming in this event, I just thought of using everything I have to swim fast. My goal was to get the record. The competition was actually fun and everyone was really nice. The experience so far is pretty good.”

Head coach Richard Sikkel said that the swimmers are doing great. “All swimmers have reached finals and managed to break some of the age group records we set our sights on,” he said. “We are looking forward to the next two days to continue the momentum of setting new PBs. Swimmers are in good spirits and performing well.”

With the venue being outdoors, Richard said that the weather conditions weren’t ideal. “It was super cold and rainy on the first two finals nights,” he said.

On Moshe’s performance, he said he was hoping to reach sub-30 seconds in the 50m backstroke, but the conditions weren’t ideal. As for Raho, he said, they expected her to break the 50m backstroke record because she missed it by less than one second during the 2023 Pacific Games in the Solomon Islands.

Yesterday on Day 3, Miller, Akimaru, Thompson, Tenorio, and Savita swam in the 50m breaststroke; Raho and Moshe swam in the 200m backstroke; Miller raced in the 100m butterfly; and the girls competed in the 4x100m freestyle relay.

The last day of events will be held today.