LIHU‘E — Sara Funtanilla, 10, did not have a perfect meet, but there were three others who did. But Funtanilla was named Mokihana Aquatics Swimmer of the Meet for the 24th Fun Meet, which wrapped up Sunday at the Kaua‘i
LIHU‘E — Sara Funtanilla, 10, did not have a perfect meet, but there were three others who did. But Funtanilla was named Mokihana Aquatics Swimmer of the Meet for the 24th Fun Meet, which wrapped up Sunday at the Kaua‘i High School pool.
“It’s not just about fast swimming,” said Mokihana coach Orlando “O” Anaya. “It’s about so much more. Don’t get me wrong, fast swimming is part of the equation, a big part, but it is also about who represented the club with the most class and humility — very important Mokihana traits.”
Anaya said Ana Yamaguchi and Micah Nobriga-Ferris had perfect meets over the two days and Tory Taboniar had a perfect outing on the one day he swam, but many of the Mokihana swimmers had the best meet of their life.
“I know a lot who had the best time of their life, too,” Anaya said. “They told me. I just love that. Congratulations to all Mokihana swimmers. You truly make Kaua‘i, Mokihana, Coach Bo, Coach Jeff, and myself very proud.”
Funtanilla, in earning Swimmer of the Meet honors, finished with improvements in eight of the 10 events she swam against a field of swimmers representing eight swim clubs, including Swim Kaua‘i Aquatics and others from Maui, Big Island and O‘ahu.
Funtanilla’s biggest gain came in the 100 individual medley where she was pitted against SKA’s Julia Safford, both Kaua‘i swimmers exchanging leads several times before Funtanilla touched fourth at 1:38.40, but slashing 20.60 off her seeded time.
Her best swim of the two days came with a third finish in the 50 butterfly where she touched at 46.89 for a .77 improvement.
“Our family is so blessed because Sara’s participation in Mokihana Aquatics has been so much more than just swimming,” said Stephanie Funtanilla in an email. “Sara is essentially an introvert for whom making conversation with other kids takes effort. At Mokihana, she has the benefit of kids who embrace her and include her.
“She gets the benefit of learning to accept hard work and to challenge herself beyond what she thought her limits were. Where she has admitted to being lonely somewhat at school this new year, she has had Mokihana to love on her and anchor her in this time of transition.”
“She has the benefit of uncles and aunties (team parents) who make her feel safe and support the whole club so meets like the Fun Meet can be done, and done well.”
Taboniar, 11, had good swims in the 200 IM, touching at 3:08.25 for a 17.52 improvement and in the 100 IM, Taboniar touched at 1:26.38 for a 32.25 improvement.
Nobriga-Ferris had strong swims in the 100 breaststroke (1:17.74) and the 50 freestyle (25.51) where he finished second in both events, taking 5.70 and 1.40 off each event, respectively.
Yamaguchi, 14, was perfect through six meets, capturing five first places and a third, her best swim coming in the 200 IM where she touched first at 2:49.33 for an 11.54 improvement over her seeded time. She also showed strong in the 100 breaststroke, touching third at 1:32.82 but trimming 9.64 over her seeded time.
Alana Cayabyab, 9, captured a first in the 50 breast (51.13) and trimmed 4.90 off her seeded time in the process, Iverson Corpuz, 8, got his first time with a first finish in the 25 breaststroke on a 30.22 swim along with Christopher Harvey, 9, who also captured a gold medal in the 50 breast (56.46) and his first time in the event.
Leigh Idica, 6, finished with three first finishes, her best swim coming in the 25 backstroke (31.45) where she trimmed 1.82 over her seeded time. Her best swim of the meet was the 50 back (1:05.21) where she touched sixth, but chopped 6.31 over her seeded time.
Noah Kelekoma, 7, touched the wall on a 4:05.70 swim in the 100 freestyle, taking 48.69 off his seeded time while crowd favorite, Trevyn Nishimura, 6, showed a 68.57 improvement on his 3:07.30 swim in the 100 freestyle.
Kyle Riddle, 14, posted his best swim in the 100 butterfly (1:24.67), taking 12.36 off his seeded time while Luke Roberts, 11, posted a 14.38 improvement in the 100 IM (1:26.00), sharing honors with Marcus Robinson, 11, who took 16.04 off his seeded swim on his touch at 1:29.03 in the 100 individual medley.
Kaitlin Santos, the Mokihana team leader and a swimmer for Kaua‘i High School, posted two second finishes, the 100 Freestyle (1:01.00) and the 50 free (28.12).
Kawehi Tamashiro, 12, posted two first finishes, the first coming in the 100 free (1:10.37) where she trimmed 8.68 off her seeded time and the other in the 100 individual medley where she dominated the pool on a 1:26.23 swim for a 25.52 improvement.
Jake Valenti, 8, picked up a new time in his best swim, a third finish in the 50 breast (1:05.20) and took 8.26 off his seeded time in the 100 individual medley (2:10.56).
Anaya sai the success of the meet was based on the noise levels over the two days.
“You can tell when a meet is good because of all the cheering you heard,” Anaya said. “But a meet is only successful because of all the support from the swimmers, their families and the community supporters such as the East Kaua‘i Lions Club who has been with the Fun Meet from the very first meet, and the Waimea High School Jr. ROTC program who had a dozen cadets volunteering in addition to providing the color guard.”
For more information visit www.mokihanaaquatics.com
•Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@ thegardenisland.com.
