Kesia Anaya set the tone for the day, knocking off a 20-year standard yesterday. Anaya, a swimmer for Mokihana Aquatics, was among the group of swimmers that were being looked at as having one of the premier races at the
Kesia Anaya set the tone for the day, knocking off a 20-year standard yesterday.
Anaya, a swimmer for Mokihana Aquatics, was among the group of swimmers that were being looked at as having one of the premier races at the Mokihana Aquatics Fun Meet which opened yesterday at the Kaua‘i High School pool.
The annual event, a fundraiser for the community swim program, drew swimmers from Swim Kaua‘i Aquatics, the Maui Gold swim club, the Hilo Aquatics program and the Hickam Hurricanes, who filled in when Flossie fizzled. Other unattached swimmers filled in the ranks from Lahaina, the Warrior program on the Big Iland, Pearl City and the Rainbow program on O‘ahu.
Off the blocks, the experience of Meaghan Sims, an SKA swimmer, pulled her into a half-body lead over the 14-year-old from Mokihana.
Off the turn, it was the middle swimmers who battled for the lead, Emma Rausch, another SKA swimmer who recently starred in the Junior Lifeguard program with Anaya and Sims.
On the second leg, Sims still held the lead, and off the final turn, Anaya, seeded second in the event, turned on the juice and tapped first.
“This is the first time in 20 years that someone swam the Girls 100 in under a minute,” an excited Mokihana coach Orlando “O” Anaya said. “Not only did we have one swimmer breaking 59 minutes, we had three!”
Going into the event, Kendra Rask, a former Mokihana Aquatics swimmer now swimming for the Rainbow program on O‘ahu, was seeded at 59:37.
“I saw that in the newpaper, and I didn’t tell her about it,” her mother said prior to the event. “She gets excited easily, and I didn’t want her to have all that pressure.”
Following Rask, Anaya had a 1:00.19 seed, but finished first with an unofficial 59.25, just .07 second ahead of Sims who stopped the clocks at 59:31 (1:00.55, No. 4 seed). Third place in the event went to Rausch who stopped the clock at 59:78 (1:00.50, No. 3 seed).
Another exciting race took place in the 18 and Under Boys 100 Yard Butterfly where top-seeded Tyson Chihara of SKA was upset by No. 7 Taylor Redmond of the Hickam Hurricanes. Although no times were available, Redmond had a strong start off the blocks and was able to hold on to his lead, leaving No. 9 Evan Hamamoto of Mokihana in his wake.
The battle on the outside lanes saw Chihara settle in the third place berth only after he was able to overtake No. 3 Kelsey Tanaka at the final turn.
Earlier, Tanaka successfully defended his Fastest Swimmer on Kaua‘i title by fending off Eugene Ancheta’s bid on a 50 Free swim of 24.04 over Ancheta’s 24.32.
This is Tanaka’s second straight win in the event that marked its third anniversary. Ancheta, who has been participating since the event’s inception, was more philosophical, noting that he was off to take part in the paddleboard competition at PK’s.
The Fun Meet continues today at the Kaua‘i High School pool.
