PUHI —Nineteen Swim Kaua‘i Aquatics swimmers had perfect, or near-perfect meets, 20 swimmers achieved new times, and seven experienced their first meet during the 2nd Kaua‘i Classic meet over the weekend at the YMCA pool in Puhi. “What a phenomenal
PUHI —Nineteen Swim Kaua‘i Aquatics swimmers had perfect, or near-perfect meets, 20 swimmers achieved new times, and seven experienced their first meet during the 2nd Kaua‘i Classic meet over the weekend at the YMCA pool in Puhi.
“What a phenomenal meet this weekend!” said SKA coach Billy Brown. “Big tents, big swims, big drops, big everything!”
Yasmine Ware, 12, who recently became a rare Kaua‘i swimmer to achieve zone times at a state meet, led the SKA pack with a perfect meet, bettering her times in eight of her eight events participated in. She finished the meet with six qualifying times and two zone times.
Ware, who already holds zone times in the 50 Back and 100 Back events, improved in both those events, finishing with a .04 improvement in the 50 Back and a .95 improvement in the 100 Back.
With first place finishes in all eight events, Ware’s biggest achievement in the meet came in the 100 Fly where she finished with a 1:04.77 for a 5.14 improvement over her seeded time.
Juan Pigott, 11, may have finished the Classic with just one second place, but ended with a perfect meet, improving in eight events he swam in. His biggest improvements came in the 200 Free where he stopped the clocks at 2:54.20 for a 28.04 improvement over his seeded time followed by his 100 Back swim (1:34.51), a 12.19 improvement.
Aaron Pigott, 17, was first in seven of his eight events, posting improvements in six of his eight swims. The biggest showing came in the 500 Free where he swam a 5:37.14 event for a 32.61 improvement for an HIAA ranking. His other strong showing came in the 400 Individual Medley where he posted a 23.94 improvement for a qualifying time.
Kate Machorek, 11, was in the thick of the leaders, finishing with seconds and thirds at the meet that featured swimmers from three visiting swim organizations. But her achievement came in posting improvements in seven of her eight swims, the biggest coming in the 500 Free (6:12.35) where she posted a 14.24 gain over her seeded time.
Jack Machorek, 8, finished with first places in all eight swims, showing improvements in three events. His biggest gain was in the 100 IM (1:30.20) where he posted a 3.79 gain.
Maliana Kaui, 11, finished with improvements in seven of her eight swims, posting the biggest gain in the 100 Back (1:29.89) where she gained 10.06 over her seeded time.
Amber Hopkins, 11, mirrored Kaui’s performance, getting improvements in six of her eight events. Her biggest showing was in the 100 Back (1:21.63) where she posted a 20.49 gain for an HIAA ranking.
Saber Fairbanks, 11, posted a perfect meet with eight strong swims, his biggest gain coming in the 100 Breast (1:46.98) for a 6.02 gain.
Bryson Baligad, 11, powered his way to a perfect meet with eight first place finishes and personal best times. His strongest showing came in the 100 Free (1:02.98) where he posted a 6.65 gain for a qualifying time.
Brown said overall, the meet was fantastic and could not have happened without all of the volunteers that turned out to help with timing, hospitality, concessions, swim shop, computers, set up, and more.
But despite the strong showing at the Kaua‘i Classic, Brown said, “Start setting those goals, now. The Bill Smith Invite and States in Kona are coming up before you know it.”
SKA will host its next meet Oct. 3.
