LIHUE — Swim Kauai Aquatics collected five state championships and 41 championship medals for ninth place at the State Long Course Championships on Maui. An SKA spokesperson said this was the highest a Kauai team has placed at the State
LIHUE — Swim Kauai Aquatics collected five state championships and 41 championship medals for ninth place at the State Long Course Championships on Maui.
An SKA spokesperson said this was the highest a Kauai team has placed at the State Long Course Championships and the effort was spread among the 15 athletes who participated in the Maui meet.
“I am so proud of how well our kids raced throughout the meet,” said SKA Head Coach Billy Brown. “It was great to see our team fulfill a goal we set five years ago to place in the top 10 within the state of Hawaii. To have 11 out of 15 of our kids placing top 8 or higher in the state, it was a phenomenal meet.”
Yasmine Ware, 16, and Kate Machorek, 15, led the charge for SKA. Each swimmer collected a share of championship titles in the Girls 15-16 division.
Ware collected titles in the 50 meter freestyule (26.88), the 100 meter backstroke (1:06.90), 100 meter freestyle (59.77) and the 100 meter butterfly (1:04.08)
She also collected second place finishes in three events, the 100 meter breaststroke (1:18.36), the 100 meter breaststroke (2:47.10) and the 200 meter individual medley (2:29.51).
Ware collected a fourth place finish in the 400 meter individual medley to finish second place overall in her age division, followed by Kate in fifth place.
Kate topped the 200 backstroke (2:27.49) for the second consecutive year. She added two third place finishes in the 50 meter free (28.64) and the 100 meter backstroke (1:10.15).
Adding fourth place finishes in the 200 meter free (28.64), 800 meter free (9:45.43) and the 1500 meter free (18:47.12), Kate rounded out the meet with fifth place finishes in the 400 meter free and 400 meter individual medley.
Sophie Britzmann, 17, who graduated from Kauai High School in late May, closed out her age-group swimming career by making finals in four of her events in the girls 17-18 division.
Britzmann finished fifth in the 1500 meter free (19:28.64) and sixth in the 200 meter butterfly (2:58.68) and 400 meter individual medley (5:43.37). She closed off her medals with an eighth place finish in the 200 meter free.
Britzmann, who will be swimming for the University of Idaho in the fall, just missed the cut in the 100 meter butterfly after chopping 10.05 seconds off her seeded swim, touching at 1:14.63 for ninth place.
Jack Machorek, 12, Quinn Hannah-White, 17, and Ryden William, 9, each made state finals in four of their events.
Jack locked in fourth place finishes in the 200 meter (2:25.71) and 400 meter (5:00.55) freestyle, with his 400 meter swim dropping nearly 30 seconds off his seeded swim.
Hannah-White picked up seventh place in the 1500 meter free (18:51.49) and 200 meter butterfly (2:39.76), and eighth place in the 800 meter free and 400 meter individual medley.
Williams claimed four state medals with the most exciting event coming in the 50 meter free where he raced with his teammate Kai Norman.
Both boys made the finals and Williams took fifth on a 34.33 swim and Norman locked in an eighth place finish at 36.35.
Williams also took seventh in the 100 meter free (1:16.65) and the 50 meter breaststroke (47.04) and eighth place in the 50 meter butterfly.
Jackson Evans, 12, finished in three finals, securing a fifth in the 50 meter butterfly (32.80), sixth in the 100 meter backstroke, and eighth in the 50 meter backstroke.
Akira Williams, 11, was just .1 second off the finals in the 50 Meter Free but blazed through the 100 meter free (1:07.30) for a sixth place finish.
Tabrina Fairbanks, who will be a senior at Kauai High School when doors open next Monday, clinched fifth in the 200 meter breaststroke on a 2:55.10 swim. She also finished sixth in the 1500 meter freestyle and an eighth place finish in 800 meter freestyle.
Ava Wagner, 14, who will be a freshman at Kauai High School, captured sixth in the 200 meter breaststroke (2:58.58) in her first finals cut. She just missed the cut in the 100 meter breaststroke with a ninth place finish.
Dutch Fairbanks dropped 18.47 seconds off his 100 meter breaststroke and 12.35 seconds from his 200 meter individual medley.
Kaira Kaaihue posted improvements in her 50 meter and 100 meter freestyle swims and cut more than 30 seconds in the 200 meter individual medley (2:46.86).
Zach Safford touched at 1:23.38 in the 100 meter breaststroke, falling just short of the finals in 10th place.
Malia Splittstoesser, 10, swam in four events, the 50 meter and 100 meter backstroke and the 50 meter and 200 meter freestyle.
SKA boys 11-12 relay teams, including Jack, Evans, Williams, and Fairbanks, finished fifth in the 200 meter and 400 meter freetsyle relays and fifth in the 200 meter medley relay.
“I was so impressed with how well our swimmers, especially the younger kids, did in the Long Course, considering we rarely get to train in that format,” Brown said. “These kids, some of whom have never swam in a Long Course pool, as well as all of our teammates who were cheering for us on Kauai, train hard throughout the year. It is wonderful to see them achieve success, and have a great time doing it. I am a very proud coach.”
SKA will host its home meet Saturday at the YMCA pool before taking a two-week break ahead of the start of the school year. Warmup swims take place from 7:45 to 8:45 a.m.
Visit www.swimkauai.com for more information.
• Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
