Take 2 for Maria, Shoko in World Champs

CNMI national swimmers Maria Batallones, left, and Shoko Litulumar pose following a recent training session with national coach Hiro Kimura.(CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)

National swimming coach Hiro Kimura and national swimmers Maria Batallones and Shoko Litulumar will have a reunion of sorts in the 20th FINA World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan this month.

The three already wore the CNMI’s colors in the 2022 FINA World Championships in Melbourne, Australia in December last year.

“This is my second time representing the CNMI on a team with these two girls following Melbourne. Each of us has been to off-island meets so many times. I participated in Micronesian Championships and Guam Championships with Shoko and Tokyo Junior Sprint and Guam Championships with Maria. Shoko has won many championships in the Micronesian Champs. Maria was too young to go to the Micro Champ then, but she was an overall champion at Guam Champs every year,” said Kimura.

The Tsunami Saipan Swimming Center head coach said aside from their swimming coach, he feels like a second father to Batallones and Litulumar as he has trained them from a young age.

“I’ve been coaching Shoko since age 5 and Maria since age 4. In their lives, apart from their family, the person they spend the most time with is me without fail.” 

Kimura said he has high hopes for both his wards to set new CNMI records in the 2023 FINA World Championships.

“Shoko is the frontrunner for Tsunami Saipan’s future captain. Backstroke is her No. 1 style and her target this time is to break the 50m backstroke CNMI record of 33.73 that Nina Mosely marked in 2007. Though it was a short course race in Melbourne in December, Shoko was very close to Nina’s time. Shoko has improved considerably this half a year, we can expect a lot from her.”

He also expects nothing less from Batallones.

“Maria is truly a heaven-sent child of Tsunami Saipan’s breastroke. Tsunami Saipan has produced so many CNMI breastroke record-holders that people think of us as a breastroke team. Rezne Wong, Kai Staal, Kensuke Kimura, Ryosei Toda, Kaito Yanai, Angel Marie Tan, Lukas Kang, Ryuto Yanai, Shigeki Tenorio, Nanaka Watanabe, Maria Batallones, and Juhn Tenorio are just some of the club’s breastroke record-breakers.” 

Kimura said Batallones’ first record was the 8-and-under 50m breastroke, which broke fellow Tsunami Saipan swimmer Nanaka Watanabe’s record.

“We believed Nanaka’s record would not be broken for 10 years at least, but it was super surprising that Maria broke it only two years later. In this World Champs, Maria aims to break the CNMI national record in the 50m breastroke. She already marked 1.5 seconds faster than the CNMI national record in Melbourne though it was the short course time. But it will almost certainly break Nina Mosely’s record of 36.81.”

Kimura said it won’t be far-fetched for Batallones and Litulumar to challenge Mosely’s record at this World Championships. 

“Nina was a swimmer with a very good physique. Huge power was created by her height of nearly 180 cm and her splendid muscles. Compared to Nina, Shoko and Maria are petite swimmers. For shorter swimmers, to compete against bigger swimmers, we have no choice but to brush up their swimming skills because we can never compete with their power. If these two petite girls set a record, it would really be amazing,” he said.

Batallones, for her part, said she’s honored to be again representing the CNMI in the 20th FINA World Championships and that it’s an honor to be teammates once again with Litulumar.

“We’ve been doing this for as long as I can remember. Ever since we were little it has always been us! It’s so exciting continuing to do this with her and coach Hiro. It’s something I’ll remember for a lifetime. Both of their hard work has really brought us to big places together. So, it is always an honor to be able to represent the CNMI with them.” 

Litulumar, meanwhile, is excited to compete with Batallones again on the world stage. She’s also excited to visit the Land of the Rising Sun “because Japan is a country that has so many top swimmers that I look up to and swimming with them makes me excited.”

As for training, both Batallones and Litulumar said Kimura has put them under a very vigorous training regimen to prepare them for the FINA World Championships.

“Training has been going good. It’s hard and challenging, but I know it’s needed for us to be able to display our best abilities. My personal goal for Japan is to set a personal best time for both of my events (50m breaststroke and 50m butterfly) and to hopefully be able to set a new record. Another goal is to do good in our relays and set faster times than previous relay times. My last goal is to make unforgettable memories and to make use of this opportunity,” said Batallones.

“My coach stepped up the training so now it’s more deadly. Because of the deadly workouts, I can feel myself improve. My personal goals are to get 33 off my 50m back and to cut 30 in my 50m free,” said Litulumar.

Batallones, Litulumar, and Kimura will be joined in the FINA World Championships by Isaiah Aleksenko and Jakey Deleon Guerrero. They leave for Japan on June 17.