Maia Hideg (Cree/Nehiyaw) led one person Team California at NAIG’23 with Five Bronze Medals

Dan Ninham, Contributing Writer

Maia M. Hideg is a member of the Piapot First Nation, Treaty 4 Saskatchewan, Canada and she is Cree/Nehiyaw. She will be a sophomore at San Dieguito Academy. Hideg was a varsity swimmer as a freshman and also competes for the Rancho San Dieguito Club Swim Team. 

As the only athlete from Team California, Hideg earned five bronze medals out of six events at the North American Indigenous Games 2023 in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She earned the bronze medals in the 200IM, 200 freestyle, 50 butterfly, 100 backstroke, and 400 freestyle.

Last season Hideg competed in the CIF Regional championship finals in the 200 IM and 200 free relay. The high school team set new school records in both events.


“Being Cree/Nehiyaw increases my efforts in practice and competing because outside of the Indigenous Games I am often the only Native person who is competing,” said Hideg. “It makes me work harder to be a good representative of my people.”

“Going to NAIG, seeing 5000 other young indigenous athletes, and competing at that level in Canada really helped my confidence in who I am as an athlete and what it means. I am really looking forward to going again in four years,” added Hideg.

Hideg is preparing to compete for the 2023-24 season and getting to be at a high performance level. “I am currently working towards sectional times in my short course events. I am doing more cross training and weight lifting,” said Hideg.

“One of my goals is to set new records in the 200IM and 100 butterfly at my high school soon,” said Hideg.

Hideg swims on her own and lifts weights to complement her training. She also surfs every chance she gets.

Alisa Hideg is Maia’s mom and coach. Alisa said, “Maia has an amazing determination when she decides to do something and incredible capacity to connect with other people in all kinds of situations. She was the only athlete for Team California, but she immediately started to make friends and encourage others.”

“Team Wisconsin coaches and athletes were very kind and she practiced with them and she did a relay with Team Saskatchewan and Team Yukon. Through this sport she had the opportunity to be with other Native athletes. Coming home with the medals was her determination and hard work, but the community and pride at NAIG and the lifetime friends she made was the best,” added Alisa.

Gene Dixon, Pauma Band of Luiseno Mission Indians, is the Chef de’ Mission for Region 2: Team California for NAIG’23. He talked about how the one person Team California of Maia Hideg came to be to go to NAIG’23 in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He said, “Maia’s mother emailed me asking if her daughter could swim for Team California. She said her daughter’s tribe is from Canada but she lives in southern California.”

“I got to watch her compete and win (bronze). Watching her interact with other swimmers and she was very poised for a young lady. Her family was awesome watching too. She represented Team California with flying colors and we look forward to 2027,” added Dixon.

Maia Hideg is a member of the Rancho San Dieguito (RSD) swim team in Solana Beach, CA. Joe Benjamin is the head coach of the RSD. He said, “Maia trains with our senior championship prep group. Maia is a hard-working and dedicated athlete. She is a great teammate to the other swimmers on our team, and she is quick with a smile and a high five to her teammates and coaches.”

“We are very proud of her accomplishments in Canada, and we are looking forward to more great things from this athlete,” added Coach Benjamin.