The Sports Leigh-Out May 9-15, 2026

Hafa Adai and Tirow sports fans, this is Leigh Gases with this week’s Sports Leigh-Out brought to you by Joeten Motors!

The road to recovery continues, here’s the latest in sports.

2 gold, 2 silver for Isaiah, records for girls, boys relay

From Florida to Fiji, Isaiah Aleksenko’s belated birthday gifts were two gold and two silver medals, while the NMI boys and girls relay teams also rewrote longstanding national records at the 2026 Oceania Swimming Championships.

Competing at one of Oceania’s top swimming meets, the boys and girls in blue brought the heat in the pool against powerhouses from the host country Fiji, Australia, New Zealand, Tahiti, New Caledonia, and Samoa—to name a few.

Aleksenko won gold in the 50m backstroke on Sunday, May 10, after swimming a personal record time of 26.40 seconds. He followed it up with another gold medal in the 100m butterfly just today, Monday, May 11, with a time of 23.64 seconds while also adding two silver medals during the meet, which continues through May 13.

Despite the strong performances against the powerhouses, Aleksenko said he is still recovering after recently being involved in a crash that kept him out of the water for an extended period of time. “After the crash, I wasn’t able to swim for a really long time or do anything for a long time, so just last week I started practicing again,” he said. “I’m still swimming as I recover from the crash and thinking of this as more of a practice and recovery.”

When asked how the competition was, he said, “Honestly not bad. I’m happy I’m at least back in the water.” As for swimming with his teammates and representing the CNMI again, Aleksenko said it meant a lot to him. “I missed them so much and I’m happy to be back,” he said.

Aleksenko also dedicated his wins to “God, my mom, my family, my coach Hiro, his wife Mrs. Yuko, my teammates, my friends, the NMI, and anyone who supported me.”

Meanwhile, teammate Juhn Tenorio also reached the finals of the 50m event and swam head-to-head against Aleksenko. Tenorio narrowly missed the podium after finishing fourth, just 0.03 seconds behind third place.

Four men, one ocean, 3,100 miles

Saipan native Wilton Ngotel is currently somewhere in the Pacific Ocean, rowing more than 3,100 miles from the coast of Washington State to Maui, Hawaii with three other men using no sails, no engines, and no support boats—only manpower and endurance.

The expedition, called “Row West Pacific,” departed La Push, Washington on Saturday, May 2, and is expected to take between 50 to 70 days on the open ocean. As of Tuesday, May 11, the crew had already rowed more than 200 miles and is expected to reach Kahului, Maui sometime in mid-July.

The four men—Ngotel, Joshua Dukes, Greg Anderson, and Johnny Martinez—come from different backgrounds, including military service, emergency rescue work, coaching, podcasting, and entrepreneurship. Despite that, they all share the same mindset: pushing themselves through difficult challenges and proving ordinary people can do extraordinary things.

“We like to do hard things—not for anything but to really test ourselves,” Ngotel said. “A common thing we share is we don’t like to outsource our manhood or happiness to other men such as watching football or sitting on the couch and watching sports. We’d rather go out and do extraordinary things or try and show people that it is possible.”

He added that the journey has already tested the crew in unexpected ways. “From this journey, we’ve already had encounters where we have to use our life skills to kind of mitigate situations and navigate everything,” he said. But now, they’re in higher spirits. “It’s all coming along….We’re kind of just enjoying it—the talks are getting deeper. All the talks are about getting better and how to shape young minds.”

“Everything is getting sharper out here. There’s really no quit. Everything that we’re learning, especially about ourselves, is acceptance. It’s not like we can jump off and walk away because we’re tired,” said Ngotel.

For Anderson, he said, “We’re doing amazing. In fact, we were just discussing how this was supposed to be hard and difficult, while it is, we’re actually having a really good time and enjoying the trip so far.” To their supporters, he said, “one of the things we’ve been saying is that ordinary men can do extraordinary things, and if you make a choice to do something and pursue something, just believe that you can, and that’s why we’re out here doing it.”

Ngotel said the expedition reflects a lifestyle he has built around discipline and personal growth.

Athletics team heads Down Under for Oceania Athletics Championships

The Saipan-based athletics team representing the CNMI at the 2026 Oceania Athletics Championships in Darwin from May 18-23 departed yesterday morning, Thursday, May 14. The team included Maria Quitugua, siblings Landen and Addalee Taflinger, and team manager Lia Rangamar.

The rest of the team—Tania Tan, Simon Tang, and Theodore Rodgers—will fly in separately.

Tan will compete in the 5,000m, while fellow medalist and national record holder Quitugua will compete in the javelin throw. Collegiate athlete Rodgers will compete in the 200m, while Tang will run the 400m hurdles. The Taflingers, who are making their debut for the CNMI, will compete in the U18 and U20 events.

Stay tuned for results and updates as the team prepares to compete in the Pacific’s premier track and field meet, bringing together countries under Oceania Athletics, including Australia, New Zealand, and smaller island teams like the CNMI.

Play Smart, Live Strong Football Tournament kicks off

Children aged 6 to 12 are active and on their feet at the TSL Sports Complex with a weeklong Play Smart, Live Strong Football Tournament that started on Monday, May 11.

The tournament is in celebration of AFC Grassroots Football Day and National Prevention Week hosted by the NMI Football Association in collaboration with the TSL Foundation, Saipan Soccer School, and the Commonwealth Healthcare Corporation Community Guidance Center.

NMI swimmers to compete in Ed Ching Swimming Invitational in Guam

Despite being a late addition to the schedule while many NMI swimmers competed in Fiji, a smaller group of junior athletes will still get the chance to represent the Marianas at the 2nd Annual Ed Ching Swimming Invitational in Guam on Saturday, May 16.

A total of nine NMI swimmers will make the trip to Guam—three from Tsunami Saipan: Sera Guerrero, Gwen Retardo, and Kevin Guerrero; and six from Saipan Swim Club: Hope Tenorio, P.J. Seman, Jr. Seman, Lukasz Szefler, Olivia Walsh, and Gabe Walsh. David Roberto will serve as coach and Susanti Szefler will serve as the manager, while Sera and Kevin's mom are going with the team as official chaperones.

A Guam swim coach reached out to Saipan coaches about hosting swimmers to train and compete while recovery efforts continue back home. But, Richard Sikkel, head coach of Saipan Swim Club, said they initially declined because of the timing with many swimmers already in Fiji for the Oceania Championships, however, some parents were interested in having their kids join the trip.

“It is a nice R&R for the kids to get off-island for a bit and gain experience swimming in meets,” Sikkel said. “The goal is for them to swim PBs and have a good time.”

As for Tsunami head coach Hiroyuki Kimura, who is enroute home after coaching the national team at the Oceania Championships in Fiji, he said, “This is the first time we have sent swimmers to Guam since 2000, and until COVID, we had been sending a large number of swimmers twice a year.”

“With this meet, I’m so happy to be able to send swimmers to Guam again,” Kimura added. “I would like to take this opportunity to send swimmers again frequently from now on.” He noted, however, that airfare remains expensive, almost the same cost as traveling to Japan.

“But I would like to use this mini swim camp for seniors and Guam meet for juniors as an opportunity to take swimmers to Japan,” he said.

Kimura also said Sera and Retardo, who will be competing in their first off island meet, are swimmers he believes “will definitely be on the NMI National Team in the future.” As for Kevin,

Kimura said his expectations for him is to reach a 50m butterfly AA time, 50m breaststroke A time, and cut 27 seconds in his 50m freestyle.

The NMI team are on the way back from Fiji after bagging four medals and breaking multiple records.

The meet honors legendary Guam swim coach Edwin Ching, who has spent nearly five decades developing swimmers in Guam and throughout the region. Ching has coached for 48 years and has trained athletes connected to 10 Olympic Games.