PUHI — The Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation swim season got off to an explosive start as six KIF records fell, led by the performances of two freshmen swimmers, Saturday at the YMCA ‘Ohana pool. Kate Machorek and Yasmine Ware, both freshmen
PUHI — The Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation swim season got off to an explosive start as six KIF records fell, led by the performances of two freshmen swimmers, Saturday at the YMCA ‘Ohana pool.
Kate Machorek and Yasmine Ware, both freshmen swimming for the Kaua‘i High School girls team, each picked up two individual new record swims and helped pilot the Red Raider relay teams to two new KIF standards.
Machorek and Ware started off the day early, leading the opening event, the Girls 200 Yard Medley Relay to a new record swim, stopping the clock at 1:58.28 to better the existing 2:01.62 standard set in January, 2009 by the Kapa‘a High School team of Tanya Rames, Emma Rausch, Anya Littlefield and Sarah Faraola.
Littlefield, now a senior at Kapa‘a, was on hand to watch that record tumble, and experienced head-to-head battle with Machorek in the Girls 200 Yard IM where Machorek used her long powerful body to advantage by slicing out an early lead and holding on to set another KIF record with her 2:17.66 swim, Littlefield finishing second (2:22.96) in that event, the two girls clearly dominating the swim.
The KIF record in the 200 IM was set in Jan. 2011 by Littlefield who stopped the clock at 2:19.02.
Machorek’s powerful long body pierced the field in the Girls Medley Relay where she took the lead in the backstroke phase and quickly established a lead for Sophie Britmann, a junior, in the breastroke phase. Ware continued to build the lead in the butterfly phase and Kaitlyn Santos, another junior, iced the win in the freestyle phase.
Britzmann, Santos, Machorek and Ware made up the Kaua‘i 200 Yard Freestyle Relay which broke a KIF record on a 1:45.79 swim, bettering the 1:46.77 time set in 2009 by a Kaua‘i High School team of D. Pia, T. Kobayashi, R. Linthicum and C. Ford.
Another freshman, Kayla Ishida, swimming for Waimea High School, gave Santos some tough competition in the 200 IM where Ishida touched just .06 second ahead of Santos, the Menehune freshman stopping the clock at 2:38.65 to Santos’ 2:38.71 swim.
Machorek rounded out her record-setting swims with a new record in the Girls 100 Yard Backstroke where she dominated the field on a 1:03.42 swim, bettering the former 1:04.80 record set in January, 2011 by Kapa‘a’s Littlefield.
Ware, with the two relay team records in her pocket, set out to open the record books by shattering the Girls 50 Yard Freestyle record of 26.35 set in 1986 by Waimea’s Alisha Golden.
Ware, comfortable in the swim, stopped the clock at 24.62 followed by Kapa‘a’s Maluhia Stark-Kinimaka, a sophomore, who touched at 26.90.
She followed that record-breaking swim with the Girls 100 Yard Freestyle where she touched at 53:96, bettering the KIF record by almost two seconds, the former record standing at 55.49 set in January, 2011 by Littlefield. Santos followed in the No. 2 position on a 1:02.81 swim followed by Kapa‘a’s Kiana Fores at 1:02.98.
Ware was also close to another record in the Girls 200 Yard Freestyle where she finished first on a 2:02.92 swim, missing the KIF record by .73 second.
Saturday, the KIF Invitational launches at 10 a.m. from the Kapa‘a Swimming pool before winter break. The next KIF qualifying meet will be on Jan. 7 at the Kapa‘a Swimming Pool starting at 10 a.m.
