There was a time, on Halloweens, when Kaya and Maya Uchimura relished the spotlight.

“We dressed up as princesses once,” Maya Uchimura said. “And a ladybug and bee pair.”

They’ve heard all the twins-oriented questions. Who was born first? (Answer: Maya, by 30 minutes.) They aren’t sure about the answer to this one: When was the last time twin sisters started for an OIA water polo championship team?

Maya Uchimura scored five goals and Kaya Uchimura had two in Roosevelt’s stunning 10-5 win over Kaiser in the OIA title game last week. The Rough Riders had not won a league title in girls water polo since 2009, when current co-head coach Hoku Keola was a player. This season, the resilient Rough Riders are leaning on their endurance and stamina as a team to topple powerhouses like Kaiser and, in the semifinal, Kahuku. Kaiser won the crown in the last full season, 2019. Kahuku has won 12 league crowns since the OIA began playing the sport in ’03.

In a condensed, abbreviated season, the opportunity was there for the group of seven seniors to seize the moment.

“It feels good because we worked so hard and we wanted it more than anyone else,” Maya Uchimura said. “Before the playoffs started, we were all scared to our stomachs. None of us could sleep or eat.”

In classic style, the smaller Rough Riders were always aware of time and space.

“We were able to get some quick goals in there and that took (the Cougars) a little bit off their game plan,” co-head coach Susan Nishioka said. “In both games, we managed to get a lead, so in the fourth quarter, it came down to time management. Use the clock wisely. Use the whole shot clock and, if possible, force the other team to use the whole shot clock. Kahuku was tough. They’re like Kaiser. They’re very tenacious.”

When they first stepped on campus in 2018, the Uchimura twins had never played the sport. After a season on the swim team, they gave it a try.

“We got super close because we all started in freshman year together. We’re experiencing the same thing, missing out on our sophomore and junior years, so we became closer,” Kaya Uchimura said. “Out of the seven seniors, five of us went to the same middle school (Stevenson).”

It was Maya who took the chance.

“I wasn’t going to do water polo freshman year,” Kaya noted. “But Maya put down my name. Most of the students who swim do water polo, too.”

Nishioka was a math teacher for decades. She began coaching swimmers in 1972. When she came to Roosevelt to teach, the coaching continued. She began the water polo program in 2002. Her ’22 squad has carved a niche of its own.

“I don’t know if I can compare this team or players to anyone else. Actually, it goes back to the season that was cut short (2020). We’re always looking at who’s graduating, who’s got people coming back. I thought 2020 might be a decent season for us, and ’21,” she said. “And ’22 is here and seven girls are back, so that’s a good start.”

Nishioka saw some programs in the league struggle.

“A lot of teams just got decimated by the pandemic. This group was really special from ninth grade, always organizing themselves, really close. Just an amazing batch,” she said.

Kaya Uchimura remembers the influence of the seniors in ’19.

“We listened. Freshman year, we lost one game, took third place in OIA and fifth place in states. We were on the bench. Those seniors are who inspired us,” she said.

Since that season, there were constant, consistent workouts.

“Maya and I practiced on our own. We had summer water polo and we trained through that,” she said.

Maya Uchimura took it to another level. With pools shut down across the island during the lockdowns, she searched for an outlet.

“That’s where I found the passion for fitness and health. When the pools were closed, I started running, but I found that lifting weights was more fun,” she said.

Her five goals in the OIA final were a season high.

“I played the pole position, closest to the goal. My teammates did a good job of throwing it at the right time when I had my position. Definitely, in terms of ball skill and swimming speed, the workouts helped. You need those quads for treading water,” she added.

Kaya Uchimura, like her teammates, is versatile. Defense is her forte.

“Most times we do like to press and sometimes, depending on who they have in the middle, we might have to run a drop. Whoever the goalie decides who to have come back and help,” Nishioka said.

That goalie is Emily Pacis, one of the seven seniors.

“We didn’t have a goalie, so I’m actually the goalie this year, but I’m the shortest one on the team,” she said.

What Pacis brought, of course, was experience and communication with her defenders.

“It all comes down to our practice time. On Saturdays, we usually practice three to four hours, just swimming and treading water,” she said. “(In 2019), our seniors told us how aggressive some of those teams are. When we scrimmaged them this year, we realized this is how they’re playing. We have to do something about it so we have more endurance than most teams.”

That comes from their veteran coach, Nishioka.

“In every match, our coach just wants us to outswim them. We have a lot of fast people,” Pacis noted. “But it comes down to how long we can last.”

The twins often set the tone in and out of the water. Kaya Uchimura has a 4.1 grade-point average. She is in AP Statistics and AP Calculus. Maya Uchimura has a 4.236 GPA and is taking AP Research, AP Biology and AP Calculus. She took honors biology as a freshman.

“We get to choose our own topic in AP Research and I chose the First Amendment and freedom of expression through Hawaii social media platforms. So, like news platforms and local politicians,” she said.

Maya Uchimura plans to major in nursing at Boston College. The versatility doesn’t end in the pool.

“I’m not obsessed-obsessed about grades, but it’s something I care about. It helped me to pursue my academic interests, and use that to apply to colleges this year,” she said.

Kaya Uchimura will attend Babson College (Mass.). She is leaning into her preference for numbers.

“It’s a college for future entrepreneurs. I was taking an entrepreneurs class at Roosevelt. I started researching more on colleges and Babson College was listed as one,” she said.

Neither sister expects to play water polo in college, but it’s possible neither is quite ready to give it up.

“I think (Babson College) has intramural water polo. If they don’t, I’ll start one,” Kaya said.

“BC does have a water polo club,” Maya said. “They have three players from Punahou, so that’s cool.”

Thousands of miles away, the twins will still be fairly close to each other.

“Massachusetts is cold. I heard they have good food. I’m excited to try those,” Kaya Uchimura said.

There is something different about a twin sibling, right?

“There’s times when I say something and five seconds later, Kaya says the same thing, and we say, ‘I already said that.’ We don’t really play pranks on our friends because we’re fraternal twins, but for the first year, (coach) Susan couldn’t tell us apart,” Maya Uchimura said.

Nishioka can tell them apart easily now.

“When they were in ninth grade, I would constantly get mixed up. I think finally by the end of the year and during summer, I could differentiate, and now they look totally different. What they have in common is they’re both kind of laid back, but otherwise, they’re just different,” she said. “Maya is a little more aggressive.”

Kaya, according to Pacis, is more outgoing. Willing to talk to someone new. But Kaya Uchimura still remembers the first time they met Nishioka.

“It was scary meeting our coach at first. She seems very unapproachable and strict. Now I feel like she’s someone I can call a family member now. It’s more a fear of what they would think about you, and how they would treat you because of that,” she said. “She wasn’t as scary as I thought. I would joke around with her and she would laugh.”

Maya Uchimura, perhaps, wasn’t quite as intimidated at the beginning.

“When it got down to business, all coaches yell, but our team is close enough to call her by her first name. She’s really nice,” she said.

If their busy schedules and high achievements seem Herculean, it’s because Kaya and Maya Uchimura were raised by a super mom, Mie.

“Our dad (Aaron) passed away when we were 1. We really want to take care of our mom,” Maya said. “She moved from Japan and met him, and that happened. She’s been taking care of us by herself for her life.”

Older sister Kyani attends the University of Hawaii and lives at home, so the nest won’t be completely empty in a few months.

“My mom’s family is in Japan. Ever since she moved here she hasn’t been able to visit her parents. That’s really at the top of her list. She really wants to go back,” Maya Uchimura said. “My dad’s family is here, but we haven’t seen them since he passed away. I’m not sure because my mom doesn’t want to talk about it.”

That conversation simmers. Mom is too busy to think about the past, at least out loud. Her girls are her pride and joy.

“When they first started swimming, they didn’t enjoy it. They even cried when they saw the ocean,” she said. “If I had the money and time to let them do the sports that they wanted to, I would have, but swim lessons were the only thing that worked with our schedule. As they kept swimming, I think I really saw growth in their ability and passion. Seeing them grow to loving a sport like water polo and being surrounded by amazing people, I truly am proud of them for not giving up, and seeing them always try their best.”

Kaya feels a strong sense of obligation.

“I want to become successful so I don’t let my mom down. I want to become financially comfortable and satisfied with my lifestyle,” she said. “To take care of myself.”

The state championships are nearing. Life is busy.

“We’re guessing that we’re going to have to see Kahuku or Kaiser again, so we’re going to work hard on that again,” Maya Uchimura said. “The ILH teams, we don’t really know how they play, so we’ll try our best.”

KAYA AND MAYA UCHIMURA’S FAVORITES

>> Did you know? Kaya Uchimura is a fan of frozen meals. “I like the burger ones they sell at Costco, but the burrito ones are good, too.”

>> The twins have three cats. “Maui, Coco and Iyla, all siblings,” Maya said. “They’re like dogs. I really want to take them (to college).”

>> Maya feeds Kaya updates about new K-dramas. “Right now, my favorite is probably ‘Crash Landing on You.’ They’re mostly recommendations from Maya,” Kaya said. “I like ‘Penthouse’ and “Descendants of the Sun.’”

>> Maya’s favorite shows: “All of Us Are Dead,” “Hachiko” and all of the Harry Potter movies. “I read the Harry Potter books in elementary school, borrowed them from the public library.”

>> Maya’s time-killer during lockdown was TikTok. Kaya soothed herself with something sweeter. “I ate ice cream every day. We ate a lot of Haagen Dazs and Dreyer’s coffee ice cream.”

>> Kaya’s favorite homemade food: “Anything my mom (Mie) makes. I will miss her dry curry. It’s really good. I used to make it with her during lockdown because I had a lot of time.”

>> Maya’s favorite homemade food: “My mom’s banana bread. She makes them when we have bananas that go bad. She uses cake flour and it makes a difference. I asked her to make it once for my birthday cake.”

>> Kaya’s funniest teammate: Maya. “I always seem to have fun around her.”

>> Maya’s funniest teammate: Jayzlyn Tomisa. “Our personalities align sometimes. Sometimes I call her my twin even though I have a twin.”

>> Kaya’s smartest teammate: “Our team managers are all really smart. Anson took calculus his junior year. Edison can make computers. Charles knows a lot of random facts.”

>> Maya’s smartest teammate: Kaya. “I take on more AP classes, so that boosts my GPA, but actual knowledge, she definitely reads more than me and scores higher on (standardized tests).”

>> Kaya’s teammate most likely to coach one day: Carly “CJ” Jimenez. “I think she likes to work with kids. When she’s older, she probably would be coaching kids water polo.”

>> Maya’s teammate most likely to coach one day: Kawai Hedges. “She’s been playing for a long time, a really friendly person, the type of person to stop and explain to our younger underclassmen.”

>> Kaya’s new life skill: Sewing. “I picked it up over lockdown. I have a couple of things that I stitched from scratch, but mostly I do alterations. My mom taught me everything, the basics.”

>> Maya’s new life skill: Being a team member. “Meeting people you don’t know for the first time and bonding over a common interest, and learning to play an entirely new water sport. And playing as a team.”