By James Sablan
james@mvariety.com
Variety News Staff
THE NMI Swim Team made significant waves at the 2025–26 New South Wales Senior State Age Championships, as multiple swimmers achieved personal bests and shattered NMI records during the event held at the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre in Sydney, Australia, from Dec. 13 to 19.
The team demonstrated exceptional form, showcasing a blend of experienced swimmers and rising stars.
On Saturday, Team NMI recorded multiple personal bests and an NMI record.
The campaign kicked off with a flurry of impressive performances. Michael Miller and Justin Ma both swam personal bests in the 50-meter freestyle, clocking times of 25.22 and 25.72, respectively, while Piper Raho continued her remarkable season by lowering her own month-old NMI record in the same event. Raho improved on her previous mark of 28.07 by posting a blazing time of 28.00.
In a display of regional camaraderie, Maria Batallones and Raho joined forces with two swimmers from Samoa in the 4×50-meter medley relay, where they registered promising split times ahead of their individual events.
Day two brought the thrill of the finals, yielding both triumph and disappointment.
Kouki Watanabe swam a swift 1:08.94 in the heats to qualify for the 200-meter breaststroke final but was disqualified in the championship race.
Batallones also advanced to the final with a heat time of 1:17.17 and delivered a strong performance, finishing third and setting a new NMI record with a time of 1:16.60.
Team NMI’s momentum continued Monday with two more standout individual performances.
Raho added another milestone by setting a new NMI record in the 100-meter backstroke with a time of 1:09.29, while Matthew Szefler recorded a new personal best in the 100-meter butterfly, finishing in 1:04.24.
The NMI team’s participation in the Oceania training camp and the NSW Senior State Championships is clearly paying dividends, providing valuable experience and pushing the athletes to new heights as they continue to rewrite NMI record books.
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.
