KONA, Hawaii — Swim Kauai Aquatics recently returned from a very successful showing at the 2015 Hawaiian Swimming State Championship Meet held in Kona. The 17 teammates, ranging from age 9 to 17, combined for a total of 252 points,
KONA, Hawaii — Swim Kauai Aquatics recently returned from a very successful showing at the 2015 Hawaiian Swimming State Championship Meet held in Kona. The 17 teammates, ranging from age 9 to 17, combined for a total of 252 points, which placed them in 10th place out of 24 teams in the state of Hawaii, including two Hawaiian Swimming State Champions.
“We are a confident team after this meet, but we are not fully satisfied,” said head coach Curt Colby. “The swimmers are hungry for greater improvement in their times, and those swimmers that didn’t make their state cuts yet are anxious to be there with us next July.”
Leading the scoring for SKA were Akira Williams and Jack Machorek, with 42 and 39 points respectively. Both swimmers posted “perfect” meets and earned eight out of eight personal best times. Williams, 14, clinched four second-place finishes at the championship meet in the 50-yard (22.75), 100-yard (48.79) and 200-yard (1:48.27) freestyle events, and the 200-yard individual medley (2:04.33). His other top events were 400-yard individual medley (4th), 100-yard backstroke (5th), 100-yard butterfly (7th) and 200-yard backstroke (7th). Overall he tied for third place in the boys 13-14 age group.
Machorek, 15, pocketed second-place finishes in the 400-yard individual medley (4:12.76) and 500-yard freestyle (4:41.65) events, took third in the 200-yard butterfly (1:59.09), fourth in the 200-yard individual medley (2:00.43) and 1,000-yard freestyle (9:51.97) events. Machorek also was in the final in the 200-yard freestyle (5th), 100-yard butterfly (6th) and 100-yard freestyle (7th), which placed him in fifth place overall for his boys 15-16 age group in the state.
Kai Norman, 12, earned a State Champion title for his time of 2:21.52 in the 200-yard butterfly. He also had top finishes in the 100-yard butterfly (3rd), 50-yard butterfly (5th) and 50-yard freestyle (6th). He had eight new personal best times, earning 22 points for his team, and tied for 10th place overall in the boys 11-12 age group.
Riley Young, 17, grabbed his first State Champion title in the 1,650-yard freestyle event. He touched the wall in 17:35.53, and earned 17 points for SKA, placing him in 11th overall for the boys 17-18 age division. His other top finishes were in the 1,000-yard freestyle (2nd) and 100-yard breaststroke (8th).
Zach Safford, 16, secured 23 points for SKA. He collected fourth-place finishes in the 200-yard butterfly (2:02.67) and 1,650-yard freestyle (17:20.82) events. Safford made finals in the 200-yard individual medley (5th), 400-yard individual medley (6th), 100-yard freestyle (6th), 100-yard butterfly (7th) and 200-yard freestyle (8th).
Henry Scherer, 14, grabbed sixth place in the 1,000-yard freestyle and seventh place in the 1,650-yard freestyle and 500-yard freestyle events. Sprinter Jackson Evans, 15, placed fourth in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 22.47.
Evans, Machorek and Safford combined with Dutch Fairbanks, 15, in the boys 15-16 relay events and brought home hardware in the 800-yard freestyle relay (2nd), 400-yard freestyle relay (3rd), 400-yard medley relay (3rd) and 200-yard medley relay (3rd). They earned 50 points for the team with their top performances in the relay events.
For the ladies, Ava Wagner, 17, clinched fifth in the 1,000-yard freestyle (11:05.93), 200-yard breaststroke (6th), 100-yard breaststroke (7th), and 400-yard individual medley (7th). Kaira Kaaihue, 16, was in the finals in the distance events: 1,650-yard freestyle (6th) and 1,000-yard freestyle (8th). Alana Cayabyab, 12, placed eighth in the state in her 100-yard breaststroke (1:15.71) and just missed finals, placing ninth in the 100-yard, 200-yard and 500-yard freestyle, and the 100-yard butterfly and 200-yard individual medley events.
Competing at their first state championship meet were Lucas McSweeny, 10, Sadie Stearns, 12, Trevyn Nishimura, 9, and Xaveria Rodriguez, 13. McSweeny walked away with four medals for his first attempt. He secured second place in the 100-yard backstroke, third in the 200-yard freestyle and sixth in both the 100-yard freestyle and 200-yard individual medley events. McSweeny contributed 19 points to SKA’s total, and secured ninth place overall in the boys 10-and-under division.
Stearns earned a state finalist medal in her first outing, grabbing seventh place in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:46.90, dropping over 17 seconds off of her seeded time. Nishimura swam for five new personal best times, and Rodriguez saw a drop in her 100-yard freestyle event (57.33).
Saber Fairbanks, 17, earned state medals in the distance events: 1,650-yard freestyle (2nd) and 1,000-yard freestyle (6th). Ryden Williams, 12, swam to four new personal best times in his events during the meet.
