The Kapa‘a Water Warriors were sort of in their element, yesterday. Early morning rain was water, but not the type the Kapa‘a High School Warrior swim team was used to. “Some of us have state times so we’re trying to
The Kapa‘a Water Warriors were sort of in their element, yesterday.
Early morning rain was water, but not the type the Kapa‘a High School Warrior swim team was used to.
“Some of us have state times so we’re trying to get a step ahead of helping with the state meet,” said one of the Kapa‘a swimmers that had all the doors of the Wal-Mart store covered with boxes of Krispy Kreme doughnuts as a team fundraiser.
The Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation swim season starts today at the Waimea pool from 10 a.m.
“It’s been quite a while since we had a meet at the Waimea pool, so it’s going to be interesting,” said Kara Kitamura, one of the Kapa‘a swim coaches.
Another swimmer checking in doughnuts is familiar with the renovated pool and noted that she personally likes the new starting blocks and the pool’s condition.
Kapa‘a enters the season with 14 girls and 11 boys, Kitamura said.
Of those, there are several swimmers who already qualified for the state meet by achieving qualifying times in their respective community swim clubs.
Kitamura said swimmers can qualify for state times in any of the six KIF swim meets, but there are some rule changes for this year which will make it harder on swimmers.
One of the changes involve swimmers having to swim in an event in order to compete in the KIF championship meet which is scheduled for Jan. 31 at the new YMCA pool and hosted by Island School.
“It used to be that swimmers just needed to swim in a meet to be able to compete in the KIF championship,” she said. “But now, if a swimmer wants to compete in the Butterfly, they need to swim that event in one of the qualifying meets to be eligible for the KIF championship meet.”
Kitamura is optimistic about the Water Warriors for this season, noting that the team has several good swimmers mixed in with some swimmers that have no experience.
Tanya Rames, Anya Littlefield, Emma Rausch and Sara Faraola are just some of the swimmers that have had experience competing in swimming, Kitamura said, noting that Rames and Littlefield have already proven to be state qualifiers.
Last year, Rausch represented the Swim Kaua‘i Aquatics program, one of the community swim clubs, at the Zone competition, and Littlefield led the SKA contingent at the state’s Short Course Championships held recently at the Central O‘ahu Regional Park aquatic facility.
“Kaua‘i High School has a big team as usual and Kula has been practicing with us, so I know they’ve got about five strong contenders,” Kitamura said. “I haven’t really seen any of the schools, but I know the KIF has quality coaches at all of the schools so it should be an interesting season.”
The Hawai‘i High School Athletic Association meet will be hosted by the Interscholastic League of Honolulu this year on Feb. 13 and 14.
KIF Swimming
Jan. 3 Qualifying Meet Waimea pool 10 a.m.
Jan. 10 Qualifying Meet Kaua‘i pool 10 a.m.
Jan. 17 Qualifying Meet Kapa‘a pool 10 a.m.
Jan. 24 Qualifying Meet YMCA-Kula 2 p.m.
Jan. 31 KIF Championship YMCA-IS 10 a.m.
Feb. 13,14 State Tournament ILH
