Mokihana Aquatics swimmer Ryan Valenciano, 12, had a perfect meet in Maui, and Yasmine Ware, 10, was 7-for-10 in her events at the 33rd Annual Coach Soichi Sakamoto Invitational meet on Maui over the weekend. “Ryan and Kaitlyn swam in
Mokihana Aquatics swimmer Ryan Valenciano, 12, had a perfect meet in Maui, and Yasmine Ware, 10, was 7-for-10 in her events at the 33rd Annual Coach Soichi Sakamoto Invitational meet on Maui over the weekend.
“Ryan and Kaitlyn swam in their very first invitational and long course meet and did very well,” said Mokihana Aquatics head coach Orlando “O” Anaya.
Valenciano came away with improvements in all four of the events he participated in. His greatest achievement was in the 200 Free (3:03.73L) where he cut 8.50 off his previous time despite a 20th overall finish.
He followed that with improvements in his 100 Breast (1:43.33L -3.81), 50 Free (46.60L -1.50) and 50 Free (39.24L -1.59). Those finishes earned him two HIAA times and two HI-A times.
Anaya said the times are based on converted times, the same basis Mokihana Aquatics uses to enter its swimmers.
Ware made a strong showing in her age group with a second finish in the 50 Fly (40.40L), an event where she cut 0.66 off her previous swim. Her greatest improvement was in the 200 Free (2:50.88L) where she finished fourth while shaving off 6.14 over her previous time.
Kelsey Tanaka, 16, also came away with a fourth finish in the 100 Free (1:03.11L) for a HIAA rating.
Kaitlin Santos, 12, was almost perfect with improvements in three of the four events she swam in. Her biggest improvement came in the 100 Back (1:30.97L) where she trimmed 2.84 off her previous time for an HIAA rating. Close on that achievement, Santos knocked off 2.08 off her previous swim in the 50 Free (33.90L) for another HIAA rating. Her third event, the 50 Back (39.97L) also earned her an HIAA time with a 1.66 improvement over her previous showing.
Evan Hamamoto, 12, had four events he showed improvements in, the biggest achievement coming in the 100 Back (1:35.23L) where he earned an HIAA time with a 3.37 improvement over his previous times.
His other achievements came in the 200 Free (2.37 improvement), the 200 Individual Medley (1.28 improvement) and the 50 Free (1.08 improvement).
Kesia Anaya, 14, also had improvements in four events, the biggest coming in the 200 Free where she trimmed 4.17 off her previous time on a 2:31.30L for fifth place honors in her age group.
She followed that with a 1.99 improvement in the 100 Fly (1:21.25L), an improvement of 1.72 in the 200 IM (2:54.46L) and a 0.12 improvement in the 50 Free (32.29L).
Kyson Gusukuma finished his senior year in swimming by earning eighth place in two events — the 100 Breast (1:39.93L) and the 200 IM (2:50.84L).
“Kyson swam in the last race of his swimming career that lasted seven years and was a true leader for all the swimmers,” Anaya said. “It is only fitting that he went to the Sakamoto meet. His first meet when he started with Mokihana at age 11 was the Sakamoto, and how fitting that he closes his swimming career at the Sakamoto.”
Anaya said the club extends is appreciation for the support it gets from its support group and the community.
Next on the agenda for Mokihana Aquatics swimmers is the 2007 Hawaiian Swimming Long Course Age Group Swimming Championships on June 7 to 9 on O‘ahu.
Anaya confirmed that only two Mokihana swimmers will be participating, although several other swimmers were qualified to participate in the meet.
Ware will be competing in eight events while Hamamoto will be participating in two events.
