He finished 21st overall in both events. The swimmers at the 2001 Western Zone Championships were big, strong and fast. Kaua’i’s Keenan Anaya was among them, fighting to keep pace with the best in 12 western states at the Kihei
He finished 21st overall in both events.
The swimmers at the 2001 Western Zone Championships were big, strong and fast.
Kaua’i’s Keenan Anaya was among them, fighting to keep pace with the best in 12 western states at the Kihei Aquatic Center on Maui.
“The guys over there were going really fast,” Anaya said. “It was good to swim against fast people.”
The meet ran from Tuesday, Aug. 7 through Saturday, Aug. 11. Over the first couple of days, Anaya failed to fare as well as he’d hoped. He was unable to duplicate his best time in any event except the 100-meter butterfly, where he dropped from a 1:12.56 to a 1:11.85.
But Anaya rebounded on Saturday. He bettered his times in the 50 backstroke and 100 freestyle. He had produced a zone-qualifying time in neither prior to the meet.
He rectified that situation on Saturday. He dropped his 50 back time from a 35.28 to a 35.04; his 100 free fell from a 1:05.32 to a 1:04.47. He finished 21st overall in both events.
Saturday, he was also part of Hawai’i ‘A’ team’s eighth-place finish in the 400 free relay. Anaya swam 50-meter split times of 30.29 and 34.79.
Anaya, 12, admitted that there were swimmers there in another league.
“The people winning my events were going my time in yards,” Anaya said. “But it was fun.”
Anaya, who swims for Mokihana Aquatics, may have suffered initially from the fact that his club was out of the water for a month just prior to the zone championships..
“I knew that would affect my swimming,” Anaya said.
