How many can say they have stood on the world stage in sport at the tender age of just sixteen? Michael Miller from the Northern Mariana islands can. Michael had the honour of being the first male swimmer to kick off the Pacific islands competitive start at the 22nd World Aquatics Championships in Singapore.
It was a first 50m World championships for Michael having previously represented the Northern Marianas in the Pacific Games and Micronesian Games.
Nervous? Perhaps, but those nerves were converted into a wonderful performance. A personal best time of 27.64 seconds in the Men’s 50m Butterfly.
There was an early indication of a possible strong performance as Michael was 3rd fastest off the blocks in his Heat in a reaction time of 0.66 seconds.
In his interview afterwards, Michael was modest and understated in his response to his time. Which belied his great achievement. He smashed his previous best by 3.08 seconds in a race lasting around 25 to 30 seconds. A momentous difference.
‘It felt good, smoother than usual but obviously there’s a lot of work to be done so I can look forward to that. You can tell it feels good by the second you touch the water. You can feel all your training is getting used and you’re really grabbing the water and moving.’
A powerful description from the member of Saipan Swim Club.
Michael went on to describe the atmosphere on this first morning.
‘It was nerve-wracking. It’s not the finals, but the crowd is still there and it’s my first World Champs so it’s definitely a big upgrade from something like the Pacific Games or the Mini-Games.’
He’s been honing his preparation for this major event in the last couple of months. Firstly, at the Onyx Stingray Last Splash in Hong Kong and then at the Pacific Mini Games in Palau. In Hong Kong Michael placed in the top 10 overall, in all but one of his events.
Next up is the 100m Freestyle on Day 6 so he’s, ‘hoping to bring out a similar performance or maybe even a little bit better. I’m just trying to be as smooth and as clean as possible into the water.’
The other unique element of the World Aquatics Championships is how all thirteen Pacific island teams come together to compete almost as one team. They support each other in many ways throughout the week. So, what is it like to experience that special environment?
‘It’s cool, I mean it’s nice to build connections with other countries and it definitely livens up the air and I don’t get as nervous anymore because I’m around people that I know and I’m comfortable with.’
With that; Michael was away to focus on his next race in the same calm, measured way that he had approached this interview. A 16 year old making an early mark on the world stage.
The Northern Mariana Islands’ representative in the Men’s 100m Breaststroke was 17 yr old Kouki Watanabe. He produced a second personal best of this opening day for the island team.
Kouki got off to a great start and was fastest off the blocks in the first Heat. His reaction time was 0.63 seconds. The first 50m was completed in 32.42 seconds and Kouki followed this down the final 50m in 36.48. This resulted in his personal best of 1-08.90. Despite taking nearly 2.5 seconds off his previous best, Kouki told us he’d set his sights even higher,
‘Yeah, it is a personal best but my coach and I wanted to try faster for the National Record which was 1-07 low.’
Kouki went on to give an insight into just how hard it is to shave fractions of seconds off times at the highest level.
‘Honestly, my first 50 was very good. I felt like I was gliding through the water very nicely. But after I turned there at the wall, all my energy was just depleted I don’t know why but I kind of died the last 25.’
It was a tremendous performance from the Saipan born swimmer appearing in his first 50m World Championships. Kouki has a clear passion for the Breaststroke, as he humorously explained,
‘At a young age my coach told me that I had a talent for breaststroke so I just listened to him and I just kept doing breaststroke and I came to like it. I just saw the pool and oh my, I thought, it’s so long. How am I going to swim all this way.’
Kouki rightly, describes himself as a hard working individual and it’s back to work again tomorrow ahead of his next appearance on Day 3 in the 50m Breaststroke. The moment in the Call Room before heading out on to the pool deck is important in Kouki’s preparation for more personal bests.
‘I really like remembering what my coach says or like remembering all the hard workouts we’ve been through. That gives me a little bit of confidence that I went through a tough thing so I can survive now. I’ll be trying my best for a National Record – again.
–Ends–
Written by The Reporters’ Academy