The NMI National Swimming Team members pose with the Team of the Year Award alongside the NMSA board members during the Northern Marianas Sports Association annual awards banquet and 40th anniversary celebration in the Taga Hall of Crowne Plaza Resort Saipan on Thursday.
Photo by James F. Sablan Jr.
AMONG the honorees who took the spotlight during last week’s Northern Marianas Sports Association annual awards banquet and 40th anniversary celebration at Crowne Plaza Resort Saipan was the NMI National Swimming Team. For its multiple achievements in 2024, the team was named Team of the Year.
The members of the team are Frances Raho, Justin Ma, Kean Pajarillaga, Kouki Watanabe, Richard Zhao, Shoko Litulumar, Sari Barman, Maria Guerrero, Nagi Tenorio, Michael Miller and Student Athletes of the Year Isaiah Aleksenko and Maria Batallones.
Batallones and Aleksenko led the medal count with a total of 21 (18 gold, three silver) and 19 gold medals, respectively. Raho won 13 gold, two silver, and two bronze; Ma earned one gold and five bronze; Pajarillaga claimed 17 gold and one silver; Watanabe collected nine gold, three silver, and one bronze; Litulumar hauled eight gold and one silver; and Miller garnered four gold.
The NMI National Swimming Team’s biggest highlight occurred in the 2024 Micronesian Games, where they garnered 78 medals — 49 gold, 15 silver, and 14 bronze.
The team’s coaches are Hiroyuki Kimura and David Roberto.
“I feel that we were able to win this award because of everyone’s best performance,” Kimura said in an interview with Variety. “It is an honor to win this award. With this award as an encouragement, we will work harder towards the Pacific Mini Games this summer.”
Kimura also noted the NMI swimmers’ performance at the Junior Olympics in Tokyo, Japan in April 2024.
“It had a very high-level qualifying time, and there was no wild card system, so only swimmers who had officially qualified times could enter this meet,” Kimura said.
“The level was so high that even CNMI record time could not be entered. But Isaiah was truly amazing as he qualified for the meet, made it to the finals, and stood on the podium. His time was good enough to qualify for the U.S. national championship,” Kimura said.
This year, Kimura and the team are looking forward to the upcoming Pacific Mini Games in Koror, Palau.
“As Micronesia’s champion team, we will be competing against strong teams such as New Caledonia and Tahiti. The goal is to win against them,” Kimura said.
Their next event will be the world championships, which will be held in Singapore, with the goal of setting multiple CNMI records.
