LIHU‘E — Swimmers from the Mokihana Aquatics took to the water to post new times as well as add to their qualifying events tally during the two-day timed trials which ended Sunday at the Kaua‘i High School pool. “All of
LIHU‘E — Swimmers from the Mokihana Aquatics took to the water to post new times as well as add to their qualifying events tally during the two-day timed trials which ended Sunday at the Kaua‘i High School pool.
“All of our new and young swimmers really were the best this weekend,” said Mokihana coach Orlando “O” Anaya. “Trevyn Nishimura, Leigh Indica, Sammy Stokes, Iverson Corpuz, Jake Valenti — just incredible. Such great young talent. I love it. Immensely!”
As is customary, Anaya said for this meet there were a lot of things clouding the naming of a Swimmer of the Meet.
The title eventually was awarded to Alana “Kawehi” Tamashiro who finished the meet with improved times in eight of her 10 events over the two-day span — her biggest improvement coming in the girls 200 individual medley where she shaved 11.42 with her 3:01.91 swim.
She also posted a 5.20 improvement in her 100 butterfly (1:26.57) and a 5.18 rise in the 100 breast (1:34.57).
“Our experienced swimmers shone just as brightly as our young swimmers,” Anaya said.
“It’s interesting that in the water there are so many great things going on and sometimes, you have to do some searching of the times to confirm what is not so obvious. All of our swimmers were awesome.”
At 6 years old, Nishimura was enjoying his first meet, capturing the hearts of the volunteers and spectators despite ending with two disqualifications, but getting times in five of his seven swims.
Sammy Stokes, 9, also posted times in nine of her 10 swims in her first meet and Iverson Corpuz, 8, got familiar with the meet atmosphere, nailing times in five of his eight events.
Alana Cayabyab, 9, finished with an impressive 23.64 improvement in the 100 butterfly, stopping the clock at 1:57.01 and followed that with a 16.79 improvement in the 200 free (3:36.63) and an 11.62 improvement in the 100 freestyle (1:40.47).
Sara Funtanilla, 10, swimming some events paired with the 11s and 12s, posted a nice 3.80 improvement in the 200 IM (3:37.63), a 1.14 showing in the 50 butterfly (47.93) and a 1.02 improvement in the 50 back (44.85) among her achievements.
Christopher Harvey, 8, topped his achievements with a 6.72 improvement in the 25 back (26.16) and Indica,6, posted a 64.61 improvement in her 200 free (5:27.65), a 25.83 improvement in her 100 freestyle (2:48.62) and a 10.48 improvement in her 50 free (1:10.73) among her achievements.
Micah-Kamuela Nobriga-Ferris, 15, was well on his way to a stellar performance before being grounded by an injury, posting just two times for improvements. He posted a 2.71 improvement in the 100 back (1:14.69) and a 1.16 bettering of his 200 breast (3:01.33) before being relegated to Anaya’s right hand doing errands and running times.
Kyle Riddle, 14, posted his best showing in the 200 back (2:43.93) with a 13.13 improvement. And Isabella Roberts, 9, had her best showing in the 100 freestyle (2:05.27) for a 9.70 improvement before adjourning to the Passion for Purses event with her mother.
Brother Luke Roberts, 11, showed his best improvement in the 100 fly (1:38.89) for a 9.59 gain.
And Gracie Stokes, 12, despite “getting lost” in the 200 freestyle (2:35.38) was able to post a 12.32 improvement, one of her best showings of the meet.
Kyana Yamaguchi, 14, was unsettled after getting a DQ in the 200 back, but still posted four improvements, her best showing coming in the 200 freestyle (2:26.29) for a 3.05 improvement.
Following the meet, Mokihana Aquatics has five girls and six boys qualifying for events in the 2012 Hawai‘i 38th annual Coach Soichi Sakamoto Invitational which will be held May 25 to 27 at the Kihei Aquatic Center hosted by the Maui Swim Club.
• Dennis Fujimoto can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@ thegardenisland.com.
