Isaiah to transfer to Division 1 in ’26

07/23/2025 – Six-time gold medalist in the 2025 Palau Pacific Mini Games Isaiah Aleksenko is going to the big league in 2026. This, after the 18-year-old told Marianas Press he will be making the move to Division 1 of the NCAA next year. 

“I will be transferring next year to an NCAA D1 college to continue my academics and swimming career.”

As to what Division 1 school in the NCAA, the Marianas High School, currently enrolled at Keiser University of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, said it’s under wraps for now.

Aleksenko dominated the swimming competition in Koror, striking gold in the men's 50m backstroke, 50m butterfly, 100m individual medley, 100m butterfly, 200m butterfly, and the 100m backstroke. He also came home with a silver (4x200m freestyle) and bronze (4x100m medley) in relays to help the CNMI to a sixth-place finish in the Games.

When asked what event he was most nervous about because he might lose, he said it was definitely the 50m butterfly. 

“I’m not a 50 sprinter, but I ended up winning, thanks to all the positivity that was spread around me.” 

As for his best swims, Aleksenko pointed to his performances in the 200m butterfly or 100m backstroke.

“My best race I would say is either my 200 fly or 100 back, because I got a personal best for both events, but only because I haven’t done 100 back yet and my 200 fly I haven’t done in a long time, but next time I will practice harder and make sure to beat my times even more.”

He said his success in the Palau Games came even as he battled sickness in the runup to the swimming competition.  

“I did a lot of sprint training and trained hard every day, but unfortunately, I got sick before the competition, so I couldn’t really practice the last week of the Games.”

Aleksenko then dedicated his medals in the Games to God, his mom and family, CNMI national swimming coach Hiroyuki Kimura and team manager Yuko Kimura, and the rest of his teammates. 

As for his immediate plans after the Mini Games, Aleksenko said he has set his sights on breaking his personal bests—and perhaps CNMI national records—in his next competitions. 

And speaking of coach Kimura, he agreed with Aleksenko that his ward’s most impressive swims were the 50m backstroke and 100m backstroke. 

“That’s because the ‘King of Backstroke,’ the winner of Pacific Games in the Solomon Games, participated. But at the end, Isaiah won each race. The 50m butterfly was also pretty exciting. The sprinters from Fiji were big, much bigger than Isaiah, and their muscles were cyborg-like. Isaiah was swimming between those two in the final, so it looked like he was fired up and concentrated,” he said.

Kimura added that while Aleksenko’s swimming style hasn’t changed much since going off to college, his physique did, and coupled with the new techniques he learned from Keiser University swimming coaches, Aleksenko became unbeatable in Palau. 

“Even more than his swimming, the area in which I've seen his greatest growth is his mental growth,” he added.

As well as individual glory, Kimura said what he admires the most about Aleksenko is his adherence to team spirit. 

“This was a scene before the relay. While the other relay teams were sitting side by side, Isaiah had his relay members sit in a circle, and he was talking to them. 

He encouraged the young swimmers by saying, ‘Never give up until the very end!’ This is a scene I haven't seen before. It was a scene that made us understand Isaiah's growth as a person.”

Report by Mark Rabago