LIHU‘E — Alana Cayabyab, 9, and Tory Taboniar, 11, shared Swimmer of the Meet honors following two days of the Mokihana Aquatics timed trials at the Kaua‘i High School pool. “We have swimmers who already have qualifying times for the
LIHU‘E — Alana Cayabyab, 9, and Tory Taboniar, 11, shared Swimmer of the Meet honors following two days of the Mokihana Aquatics timed trials at the Kaua‘i High School pool.
“We have swimmers who already have qualifying times for the 33rd annual Ken Suenaga Invitational Swim Meet, but this is an opportunity for swimmers to qualify for more events,” said Mokihana Aquatics coach Orlando “O” Anaya. “It also gives our younger swimmers an opportunity to get meet times.”
The Ken Suenaga Invitational is scheduled for Nov. 24 and 25, hosted by the Pearl City Aquatics and the Hawai‘i Foodbank Food Drive at the Veterans’ Memorial Aquatic Center on O‘ahu.
“The kids are all up for this meet,” Anaya said. “We just had the Bill Smith Invitational, but the swimmers said they wanted to swim in the Suenaga.”
Following the two-day meet, which wrapped up Sunday, 10 Mokihana Aquatics swimmers hold qualifying spots for the Ken Suenaga Invitational, including the co-swimmers of the meet. Taboniar got four spots including the 50-yard fly (36.49), the 100-yard back (1:22.43), the 100-yard free (1:11.13) and the 50-yard free (31.17).
Cayabyab posted two qualifying events, the 50-yard fly (42.07) and the 50-yard free (36.10), taking 3.50 seconds off her seeded swim in the 50-yard fly for a Hawai‘i AA time and 1.02 seconds off her seeded time in the 50-yard free, another Hawai‘i AA time.
Beyond that, Cayabyab posted improvements in six of her 10 swims, her biggest coming in the 100-yard back where she touched the wall on a 1:42.14 swim for a 7.85 improvement, and the 200-yard free where she touched at 3:08.18 for a 7.82 improvement to open Sunday morning.
Taboniar also posted seven improvements in 10 swims, his biggest feat taking 14.71 seconds off his 100-yard fly event where he touched at 1:28.68. His swims in the 50-yard fly, a Suenaga qualifier, and the 100-yard back (1:22.43) earned him Hawai‘i AA time standards.
Alana “Kawehi” Tamashiro, 12, chopped 2.11 off her seeded time in the 50-yard fly (34.89) for one of two qualifying spots, the swim earning her a Hawai‘i AA time standard. Her other qualifying berth came in the 100-yard free (1:16.78).
“I am very impressed by all our swimmers,” Anaya said in an email. “All were awesome. This was an awesome weekend, and best of all, it was way too much fun.”
Chloe Inouye, 6, was a first-timer at a meet, netting eight times of 10 swims, her strong swims coming in the 100-yard back (2:53.94), the 100-yard free (2:34.57) and the 50-yard back (1:14.00).
“Everyone has a story,” Anaya said. “From Kaitlin Santos, team leader at 17 years old, in her long tenure, to our newest swimmer, Chloe, who wanted to swim in the longer races while being a swimmer for only two months. What we have been able to do with the swimmers gives me so much pride, and I know I speak for our staff when I say they feel the same way — to take swimmers with little skill or understanding of the sport and turn them into swimmers is a great opportunity that we are honored to be entrusted with.”
Mokihana swimmers holding qualifying times for the Suenaga Invitational include Cayabyab, Sara Funtanilla, Kayla Ishida, Santos, Grace Stokes, Tamashiro, Micah-Kamuela Nobriga-Ferris, Kyle Riddle, Luke Roberts and Taboniar.
Grace Stokes, only recently aging up, was joined by two other Stokes siblings: Samantha, 9, and Lily, 11, who was swimming her first meet.
“The entire Stokes family, if they were not swimming, were volunteering — and so many of our families and volunteers, make these events so successful, and fun,” Anaya said. “It’s the Moki ‘ohana way.”
