Palau’s Rising Team Spirit Shines Through at Oceania Championships

15th May 2026

Team Palau left the Oceania Swimming Championships in Fiji with more than personal bests and finals appearances. Across the week, the squad showcased determination, resilience and a close-knit team culture that shined bright in and out of the pool, with swimmers supporting one another through every race, relay and challenge.

Charlie Gibbons 

Charlie Gibbons was one of Palau’s standout performers, recording personal bests in all five of his individual events while reaching multiple finals. His strongest finish came in the Men’s 200m Freestyle final, where he placed eighth with a personal best time of 2:03.45. He also progressed to the finals in both the 50m Butterfly and 50m Freestyle, after strong heat swims in which he obtained two more personal bests of 26.25 seconds and 24.53 seconds respectively. His other two personal bests were from the 100m Freestyle final at 54.63 and the 100m Butterfly heats at 1.01.17.

Following his 50m Butterfly performance, Gibbons reflected proudly on how far he had come since his previous Oceania Championships appearance.

“I’m very proud. I was able to get to B finals, and two years ago I didn’t even come close. Now I made B finals for Team Palau, I’m really happy.”

He also thanked his supporters back home, especially his mother, while encouraging younger swimmers in Palau who continue training and pursuing the sport.

Jion Hosei 

Jion Hosei also contributed strongly for Palau, competing across sprint freestyle, butterfly and breaststroke events. New personal bests were recorded for Hosei, with him achieving a time of 27.25 in the Men’s 50m Butterfly and 25.35 in the 50m Freestyle, while also reaching the finals for both the 50m and 100m Breastroke.

Hosei later played a key role in Palau’s relay teams throughout the championships, helping lead the team’s push for national record performances in the freestyle relays.

Yuri Hosei

On the women’s side, Yuri Hosei competed in the Women’s 50m, 100m and 200m Freestyle events while enjoying her first experience in Fiji. Hosei secured a personal best in the 100m Freestyle heats finishing at 1.08.35. 

Yuri described the championships as a special opportunity to connect with swimmers from around Oceania.

“It feels really great, it’s my first time in Fiji. It’s really great being surrounded by people from our region, so I’m loving it.”

Galyah Mikel 

Galyah Mikel also embraced her first visit to Suva, speaking warmly about the friendliness and hospitality she experienced throughout the championships. 

“I really like how the people here are really friendly and nice.” 

Galyah Mikel competed in the Women’s 50m Butterfly completing the heats at 36.01. She also participated in both the 50m and 100m Freestyle, finishing at 33.17 in the 50m and 1.14.64 in the 100m.

Kazuumi Nestor 

Kazuumi Nestor delivered one of Palau’s most determined performances of the championships. After missing a personal best in the heats of the Men’s 100m Backstroke, Nestor used the disappointment as motivation heading into the B final, where he produced a personal best of 1:01.58 to finish second in the B final and 10th overall. 

Nestor also reached the final of the 50m Backstroke after a personal best swim in the heats (28.24) and later qualified for the 50m Freestyle final as well due to another personal best of 24.72 in the 50m Freestyle Heats. His response after the 100m Backstroke reflected both perseverance and maturity, using setbacks as motivation to improve under pressure.

“This morning, I was relaxed. I wasn’t really taking it seriously, I was playing around with other teammates, other countries. I wasn’t really taking my warm ups that seriously. But after I bummed I had to really focus…from the beginning. I got into it really seriously this afternoon, because no PB throughout my day was too bad for me. So I just took it more seriously this afternoon, warmed up, and just prepared for it as good as possible.”

Hanna Ruluked

Team Palau’s youngest member, 14-year-old Hanna Ruluked, gained a valuable and positive international experience in her first Oceania Championships appearance. 

“It’s really nice, it’s my first Oceania Championship. It’s been a really good first experience for me” 

She contested in four events including Women’s 50m Butterfly with a time of 33.85, 50m Freestyle at 30.92 and both 50m and 100m Breastroke at 40.56 and 1.29.42 respectively. 

Travis Sakurai

Travis Sakurai enjoyed an impressive return to competition after recently stepping back into swimming following a break from the sport. Despite the time away, Sakurai recorded personal bests in all three of his events. The Men’s 50m Butterfly saw a time of 27.45, the 50m Freestyle at 25.52 and the 100m Freestyle at 57.81. A great achievement after his break, highlighting his strong potential moving forward.

The championships marked another important step in Sakurai’s long-term ambition of one day representing Palau at the Olympic Games.

Shawn Wallace 

Veteran swimmer Shawn Wallace brought valuable experience and leadership to the Palau team. Competing at his second Oceania Championships in Fiji, ten years after his previous appearance there. Wallace balanced his own races with mentoring the younger athletes within the squad. Wallace competed in the Men’s 50m Butterfly, finishing with a time of 30.27, as well as also competing in the 50m and 100m Freestyle with times of 27.86 and 1.01.25 respectively. 

While juggling full-time work alongside full-time training, Wallace acknowledged the challenges of maintaining high-level swimming commitments but said being part of the team environment made the experience worthwhile.

“Our team has been excellent. They’ve been hitting personal best times and hitting national records. It’s been the best to see.”

As one of the senior figures within the squad, Wallace praised the younger swimmers for their focus and ambition, describing their mindset as one of the team’s biggest strengths. He also offered memorable advice to the next generation of swimmers: 

“Be delusional and never give up.”

Though humorous in delivery, Wallace’s message reflected the importance of unwavering self belief, believing in big goals regardless of obstacles or limitations.

Relays

The women’s relay team became one of the emotional highlights of the championships for Palau. Competing in a special Oceania composite team alongside Guam’s Amaya Bollinger, Mikel, Ruluked and Yuri Hosei raced in the Women’s 400m Medley Relay, creating a memorable cross-Pacific partnership, finishing at 5.17.69.

For the Palauan swimmers, the relay became less about times and results and more about the joy of racing together and sharing the experience with athletes from another island nation.

The relay also created lasting memories for the Palauan swimmers themselves, with Mikel sharing one particularly emotional moment when Fiji’s Anahira McCutcheon hugged the team after the race. A wholesome moment of admiration for her and the team, showing their admiration towards other nations and their athletes.

Throughout the championships, Palau’s relay squads continued building momentum. The Men’s freestyle relay team of Jion Hosei, Charlie Gibbons, Kazuumi Nestor and Travis Sakurai reached the final of the Men’s 400m Freestyle Relay, finishing in 7th place with a time of 3.41.84. The Men’s team improved upon their entry time in the Men’s 800m Freestyle Relay final to place fifth overall at 8.42.98.

After the Men’s 400m Freestyle Relay final, the athletes reflected on the trust and encouragement shared within the group, with each swimmer praising the efforts of his teammates and the progress the relay squad has made over recent years.

Nestor explains:

“I was able to watch all 3 of them. Jion started off really nice, really strong and Travis kept it really fast pace. Charlie just blasted it out. It was just fun watching these guys being able to race their best. It was nice”

Gibbons described the relay as inspiring, saying the team’s growth has shown how far they could potentially go together in future competitions.

“It’s awesome to see our progression of the 4×100, we’ve really improved over these years. I think just swimming with these boys and seeing how fast we can truly go, is inspiring. We could go really far with this event so I’m happy”

Open Water

The championships concluded with Palau also competing in Open Water events at Pacific Harbour. Jion Hosei and Travis Sakurai contested the Open Water 5km races, while the team later combined for the Mixed 6000m Free Relay featuring Kazuumi Nestor, Yuri Hosei, Galyah Mikel and Charlie Gibbons. The quartet finished fourth overall at 1.37.29.60, closing the championships together in a fitting display of the camaraderie that defined Team Palau throughout the week.

Across every race, relay and training session, Palau’s swimmers consistently demonstrated encouragement, unity and belief in one another, qualities that may ultimately become just as important as the personal bests they achieved in Fiji.