By James Sablan
james@mvariety.com
Variety News Staff
THE NMI Swim Team continues to push past its limits in the 2025–26 NSW Senior State Age Championship, securing multiple NMI records and achieving its first podium finish on Wednesday at the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Center in Sydney, Australia.
The team consists of Maria Batallones, Piper Raho, Kouki Watanabe, Justin Ma, Matthew Szefler, and Michael Miller.
Momentum picked up on day three of the competition, starting with Piper Raho, who stunned the field in the 100-meter backstroke with a blazing time of 1:09.29. She sliced through her previous best to establish a new NMI record. Raho was not content with just one milestone; she returned to the 50-meter freestyle and finished in 27.73 seconds, adding another NMI record to her growing list of achievements.
Matthew Szefler continued NMI’s success, powering to a personal best in the 100-meter butterfly with a time of 1:04.24.
The record-breaking trend continued on day four as Maria Batallones showcased her technical prowess in the 200-meter breaststroke, clocking 2:52.47 to claim yet another NMI record.
The boys then joined the record-setting performances. Kouki Watanabe finished the 200-meter breaststroke in 2:34.51, while Michael Miller lowered his personal best in the 100-meter butterfly to 1:02.97.
The pinnacle of the meet came on day five, highlighted by Maria Batallones capturing a bronze medal in the 50-meter breaststroke with a time of 34.21 — her third NMI record of the meet. Kouki Watanabe mirrored that success in the men’s 50-meter breaststroke, setting a new NMI record with a time of 31.10.
Additionally, Michael Miller set a new age-group record in the 50-meter butterfly with a time of 28.76, matched by Matthew Szefler’s 28.76 in the same event. Justin Ma also achieved a personal best of 56.34 in the 100-meter freestyle.
In the Boys 4×100 freestyle relay, NMI finished second behind Fukuoka, Japan, rounding out a stellar championship performance.
James Sablan has been a sports reporter for Variety since 2013. He was a liberal arts student of Northern Marianas College and covers all local sports.
