Nevaeh Ibanez, 10, finished first in all 10 of her swims, while capturing qualifying swim time standards in nine of her 10 events at the Mokihana Aquatics Bill Smith Qualifying Meet. The event wrapped up Sunday at the Kauai High
Nevaeh Ibanez, 10, finished first in all 10 of her swims, while capturing qualifying swim time standards in nine of her 10 events at the Mokihana Aquatics Bill Smith Qualifying Meet.
The event wrapped up Sunday at the Kauai High School pool.
En route to her accomplishments, Ibanez posted eight new best times, with her strongest showings coming in the 200 freestyle (2 minutes, 36.54 seconds) for a 5.93 second improvement.
In the 200 individual medley she posted 2:54.33 for a 5.74 improvement. She also took off more than 5 seconds in the 100 butterfly (1:22.50) for a 5.14 improvement.
Those performances led Ibanez to earn Swimmer of the Meet honors, said Mokihana Aquatics coach Orlando “O” Anaya.
“We usually make our decision on what we see in the pool,” Anaya said. “When coaches have to go to times, you know it is close. Congratulations to all swimmers, but especially to Nevaeh Ibanez.”
Anaya said the Bill Smith Invitational file is not available so the results cannot indicate a swimmers’ eligibility report. However, swimmers need to finish with Hawaii AA times, or better to enter the swim meet later this month.
“I felt really accomplished,” Ibanez said. “At the Keo Nakama meet, I was having a hard time just to qualify, so to make so many qualifying swims is very satisfying.”
Ibanez, with her Swimmer of the Meet honor, meets the qualifying standards for all of her swims.
“The Bill Smith meet will be exciting because it will be the first time in a long while that Mokihana Aquatics will swim a relay event — girls 10 and under — with Kamaira Silva, Nevaeh, Leigh Idica and Chloe Inouye.”
Other results
Silva, 10, finished her individual events with four AA time standards and posted her biggest improvement in the 100 breaststroke (1:54.65) where she cut 15.63 seconds off her previous swim.
Idica and Inouye, both 9, are breaking into the 9-10 female age bracket with strong swims.
Idica finished with nine A time standards and a personal best in the 50 breaststroke (48.06) while Inouye posted an AA time standard in the 50 breaststroke (46.51).
“New state times and a new HI-AA Invitational times were just icing on the cake,” Anaya said. “It doesn’t get much more fun than what just happened over the weekend.”
Elijah Adams, 9, finished with three personal bests, his strongest coming in the 100 backstroke (2:03.69) for a gain of 8.28, and Silas Adams, 7, saw a 1.68 improvement in the 25 freestyle (43.78).
Alfred Auger, 8, picked up three HI-B time standards.
His best swim came in the 25 freestyle (21.69) where he posted a personal best in his second-place finish.
Sara Funtanilla, 13, was limited to five swims, but finished with an A time standard in the 100 backstroke (1:21.47). She also posted three personal bests, the strongest swim coming in the 200 butterfly (3:06.25) for a 5.62 improvement and first place.
Kelson Haraguchi, 9, finished with two AA time standards and six A time standards, his strongest swim coming in the 200 freestyle (3:11.33) for a 17.23 improvement in the A swim.
Katharine Hoesel, 11, posted a personal best in the 50 breaststroke (57.17) for a 1.82 improvement, and Madeline Hoesel, 13, finished with an AA time standard in the 200 freestyle (2:20.29) for a 2.86 improvement.
Azteca Ramos-Valdovinos, 7, picked up a B time standard in the 25 backstroke (25.81) for an 8.44 improvement.
Ian Raquel, 10, finished with six A time standards. His strongest swim came in the 100 backstroke (1:41.72) where he shaved 6.27 off his previous swim, and Jei Li Rosare-Yadao, 8, finished with an A time standard in the 25 breaststroke (24.53) for a first-place finish and an improvement of 0.68.
Kaedyn Santiago, 8, posted six A time standards. Her strongest swim came in the 200 freestyle (3:20.82) for an A time standard and a 12.30 improvement in her first-place swim.
Kaeleb Santiago, 6, finished with a B time standards in the 25 backstroke (25.19) for a 6.38 improvement.
Samantha Stokes, 12, posted nine first finishes with an AA time standard emerging in the 50 freestyle (30.34), and Tyler Tanaka, 11, finished with nine A time standards. His strongest swim came in the 200 freestyle (2:41.05) for a 5.54 improvement, and the 100 backstroke (1:30.89) for a 2.09 improvement.
