You're awesome, Isaiah!

In the CNMI, we are very proud of Isaiah. We congratulate him and wish him great success in his academic pursuits and in swimming! God bless you Isaiah! 

Below is the Saipan Tribune article, as it appeared in the news. Si yus masse to Mark Rabago for his write up.

Aleksensko will take his talents to Keiser University 

By MARK RABAGO mark_rabago@saipantribune.com EDITOR, May 6, 2024 

Isaiah Aleksensko will continue his swimming exploits at Keiser University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Dubbed the Seahawks, Keiser University competes in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics’ Sun Conference (formerly known as the Florida Sun Conference). 

The 17-year-old Marianas High School senior will be taking up engineering at Keiser University. “I chose Keiser University because the coach was really nice and easy to talk to unlike the other coaches. He was very friendly and understanding. I will be majoring in engineering. 

"One of my expectations is to definitely go to the Olympics and in the future get medals,” he told Saipan Tribune. Other schools he considered before narrowing it down to Keiser University were Miami University and Utah University. 

Aleksensko admitted that he won’t be going to Keiser University on a full-ride scholarship. “It unfortunately wasn’t a full-ride scholarship because my grades in high school were bad and honestly, I didn’t even make the GPA to get in that school, but they still took me in with large amounts of scholarships. I know that in my second year, I would definitely get a full scholarship because I compared my time to theirs and my time is the fastest time out of their butterfly times,” said the Saipan Community School alumnus. 

Tsunami Saipan Swimming Center head coach Hiroyuki Kimura said he couldn’t be happier that Aleksensko will continue to pursue swimming in college. “I cried tears of happiness when I heard that Isaiah had gotten a swimming scholarship and was going to university. The reason for my tears is that I have been watching Saipan’s swimming scene for over 20 years and I have never known a swimmer who practiced as much as Isaiah and worked as hard as Isaiah. There is no reason why a young man who has worked hardest cannot have a bright future. He embodied it perfectly,” he said. 

Kimura and his wife, Yuko who is Tsunami Saipan’s manager, said they’ve essentially treated Aleksenko like their own son. “Me and my wife Yuko have raised Isaiah with lots of love. That’s why we scolded him so much that it made him tremble and we loved him so much. For 13 years, we’ve been raising him as his second parents (though I don’t know how he feels about it).” 

Kimura believes his ward will be able to develop his full potential as he will get to train in better facilities—the very least a 50m swimming pool—and access to better coaching in college in the U.S. mainland. “I heard that the Keiser swim team has a great coach. They also have a great practice environment with a 50m long course pool. Florida is also warm throughout the year and I think it’s a very suitable environment for Saipan kids. I believe Isaiah’s goal is to compete in the U.S. Olympic Trials/U.S. National Championships. Dream big! Joining Team USA!” he said. 

Keiser University men’s and women’s swimming and diving head coach Adam Epstein believes they might have unearthed a diamond in the rough in Aleksenko, who won two bronze medals in the recent the 47th Junior Olympic Cup in Japan and a gold medal in the 200m butterfly and was part of the bronze medal-winning 4x100m individual medley and 4x100m relay team in last year’s Pacific Games in Honiara, Solomon Islands. 

“Isaiah is a hidden gem of a talent and he has the skill set to help us compete for a team national title. Isaiah is extremely strong underwater when he swims the butterfly. Due to lack of facilities, we believe that he can improve significantly with his starts and the details of our sport,” he said. Epstein added that other than a 50-meter pool helping him train for his international goals, Isaiah will have other world-class athletes to train with while getting a great education at Keiser University. 

“The sky is the limit for Isaiah as he continues to grow and mature into his body. There is a massive emphasis in strength at the collegiate level that will help Isaiah continue to progress in his career.” 

Aleksenko seems dead set in etching his name in CNMI sports lore as he prepares for the next chapter of his swimming journey in college. “I won’t ever forget about Saipan and I’ll make sure to make Saipan known once I become famous!” he said.