Keenan Anaya swims in three event finals By JASON GALLIC TGI Sports Editor The streak is still alive at Mokihana Aquatics, and the resurgence of a club has continued. First, the streak. In its first trip to the Hawai’i State
Keenan Anaya swims in three event finals
By JASON GALLIC
TGI Sports Editor
The streak is still alive at
Mokihana Aquatics, and the resurgence of a club has continued.
First, the
streak. In its first trip to the Hawai’i State Championships since 1991,
Mokihana put a swimmer into an event final — three of them, in fact.
“Our
streak is going strong,” Mokihana coach Orlando Anaya said. “Before 1991 we
made the finals in about 20 consecutive state meets [short and long
course].”
In keeping with the family name, it is 12-year-old Keenan who
single-handedly kept the streak alive, and is the frontrunner in the resurgence
of the club.
He was the only swimmer from Mokihana at the 2001 Hawai’i
Short Course State Championships held December 15-18 at Punahou School. Of the
eight events in which he participated, Anaya earned a finals’ spot in the
200-yard individual medley, 50-yard butterfly and 100-yard butterfly.
The
youngster finished fourth in the state in the 50- and 100-yard flys, and sixth
in the 200 IM.
“He was so close to winning a medal,” Orlando said. “I mean
he was right there.”
Keenan finished just three-tenths of a second out of
the third spot in the 50 butterfly, and less than that in the 100 butterfly. He
swam a 1:09.25 in the final of the latter; in the preliminaries, he swam a
1:08.42, which would have given him a medal in the final.
“Keenan went in
wanting to get a medal,” Orlando said. “I tried to explain to him that it was
his first state championships and that might be a little unrealistic, but he
did great and nearly proved me wrong.
“He bettered his times in seven of
his eight events.”
Those were the 50-yard backstroke, 100-yard freestyle,
100-yard individual medley and 100-yard backstroke. He failed to better his
time in the 200-yard freestyle.
Based on his son’s performance, Orlando
said he feels confident in what his club can accomplish at the Hawai’i Long
Course State Championships in June on the Big Island.
“I feel pretty good
about going out on a limb and saying that Keenan can win a medal at the long
course meet,” Orlando said. “Even more than that, I think that Mokihana will
have more representation at that meet.”
The coach said he believes at least
two more of his swimmers, Danelle Yost in the 13-14 year old age division and
Taylor Bell (10-and-under), could qualify if they don’t “age up” before
June.
“I have to check their birthdays to see that they aren’t going to get
older,” Orlando said. “If they aren’t, I really feel like they’ll be
there.”
And so will Mokihana.
This past weekend, the club finished 19th
out of the 22 teams who had gathered from around the state. That, said Orlando,
was quite an accomplishment considering their contingent of just one
swimmer.
“We stayed out of last place,” the coach said. “Things are looking
up.”
Unattatched swimmer Dylan Strong also represented Kaua’i at the short
course meet. He competed in the 50- and 100-yard backstroke, as well as the 50-
and 100-yard breaststroke.
