Ryden Williams, 10, led the Swim Kauai Aquatics home meet Saturday, enjoying a perfect meet and earning two new Western ZONE times at the YMCA pool. Williams picked up his ZONE times in the 50 yard freestyle on a swim
Ryden Williams, 10, led the Swim Kauai Aquatics home meet Saturday, enjoying a perfect meet and earning two new Western ZONE times at the YMCA pool.
Williams picked up his ZONE times in the 50 yard freestyle on a swim of 28.99 seconds, and in the 200 yard freestyle, touching the wall at 2 minutes, 18.96 seconds. He will be attending the Western Zone meet in Federal Way, Wash., in August with other top swimmers in Hawaii as part of Team Hawaii, states an SKA press release.
Williams also pocketed personal best times in the 50 yard butterfly, 100 yard freestyle and 200 yard individual medley for his perfect meet, which opened with a moment to send aloha to six-time Olympic Gold Medalist Amy Van Dyken, a frequent visitor to Kauai and SKA practices, who severed her spine in an all-terrain vehicle accident last week in Arizona.
Joining Williams on the podium, Kai Norman, 10, also pocketed a Western ZONE performance in the 50 yard free with a swim of 28.52 en route to earning personal best swims in the 50 yard backstroke, 50 yard breaststroke, 100 and 200 yard freestyle events.
This was the first SKA meet for the group’s new head coach, Richard “Doc” Ludemann who got to watch his new team in action.
“I am so excited about the potential and diligence of our team,” Ludemann said in a release. “We had outstanding swims today despite a Junior and Senior 5,000-yard workout at 6 a.m. before the meet started. These kids show a passion and desire to achieve.”
Other SKA swimmers posting perfect meets along with Williams included Sanoe Grijalva, 11, Xaveria Rodriguez, 12, and Jack Machorek, 13, Rodriguez securing a new Hawaiian Swimming AA time standard for her 1:20.52 swim in the 100 yard IM, an improvement of 11 seconds over her seeded swim.
Machorek, who will be swimming for Kauai High School during the upcoming Kauai Interscholastic Federation swim season, was joined by Dutch Fairbanks, 13, who collected a pair of AA time standards with swims in the 200 yard IM and 500 yard freestyle.
Aleya Stearns, 13, locked in a new A time standard on a 33:32 swim in the 50 yard freestyle, joined by Emma Hanchett, 10, who secured A time standards in the 100 yard breaststroke and the 100 yard freestyle.
SKA swimmers are in the middle of their training for the state championships on Oahu in mid-July. The home meet yielding 96 personal best swims for its members.
Daisy Asai, 9, Chelsy Choy, 11, Saber Fairbanks, 16, Kiana Kaaihue, 8, Jona Kirk, 15, TS Koerte, 7, Denise Koors, 9, Ella Marcil, 12, Colt McCoy, 6, Kassy McCoy, 10, Asha McGinnis, 14, Zoe McGinnis, 33, Lucas McSweeny, 9, Olivia McSweeny, 11, James Pratt, 12, Nico Rojas, 7, Malia Splittstoesser, 11, Sadie Stearns, 11, Isaac Valliance, 11, and Akira Williams, 13 were among the field of 96 personals best times.
Veteran swimmer Sophie Britzmann, 17, a swimmer with the University of Idaho, continues her training with SKA during the summer break, joined by other Mainland swimmers on vacation.
