18 year-old Katerson Moya from the Federated States of Micronesia added to the rush of personal bests and National Records for the Pacific islands on Day 1 of the 22nd Long Course World Championships in Singapore.
Lining up in the Men’s 50m Butterfly he posted a time of 26.67 seconds. Not only did Katerson lower his own personal best but also set a new National Record. One hundredth of a second separated his time from that of Tas Limitaco set in 2018 at the Oceania Championships in Papua New Guinea.
He got off the blocks quickly with the second fastest reaction time of 0.63 seconds and held his form to collect the record.
Naturally, he was delighted afterwards,
‘It really feels good when I was diving in the water and got to the wall. After this, when I get home I will keep training harder. ‘
Katerson only made his international swimming debut in Israel at the Junior Swimming World Championships in the 100 Meter Butterfly in 2023. Since then, he has gone from strength to strength. He recently picked up National Records in Palau at the Pacific Mini Games where he competed in 12 events. The time posted in today’s Heat lowered his last time at a Long Course World Championships (Doha) by nearly a second.
We finished by asking Katerson what’s next at these Championships? With a grin he said,
‘More personal bests probably’
Absolutely. Katerson Moya has shown his thirst for record breaking from the off at these Championships.
–Ends–
Written by The Reporters’ Academy