PUHI — Boys in the Kauai Interscholastic Federation made a big splash Saturday during the KIF swim championships held at the YMCA pool in Puhi. Led by Kauai High School sophomore Jack Machorek, na kane swimmers broke eight KIF records
PUHI — Boys in the Kauai Interscholastic Federation made a big splash Saturday during the KIF swim championships held at the YMCA pool in Puhi.
Led by Kauai High School sophomore Jack Machorek, na kane swimmers broke eight KIF records while qualifying for the OC16 Hawaii High School Athletic Association state diving and swimming championships, which will be held at the Kamehameha Schools-Hawaii campus Feb. 12-13. Machorek was also key to leading the Kauai High School boys to the KIF title with 99 points.
Kapaa High School boys finished in second place with 51 points followed by Island School, who was led by freshman Akira Williams who broke a KIF record in the 100 freestyle (49.27 seconds). Williams’ swim was .13 second better than the record set by Kapaa swimmer Bryson Baligad (49.14) in 2015 and helped the Voyager men accumulate 50 points, just a point below the Warriors.
Machorek picked up record-breaking swims in the 200 freestyle (1:45.57) where he broke his own 1:51.88 time set in 2015, and the 500 freestyle (4:47.89), another event where he bettered his own 5:00.86 record set in 2015 while being part of the boys 400 freestyle relay team (3:30.11) and the boys 200 medley relay team (1:44.99), sharing the limelight with sophomore Zachary Safford who also claimed two individual KIF records and was part of the record-breaking relay teams.
Safford earned his marks in the 200 individual medley (2:02.08) where he bettered Baligad’s 2:07.41 set in 2013, and the 100 butterfly (53.89) where he topped the 56.09 set by Keenan Anaya in 2004, and the 55.55 set by Baligad in 2015.
Kauai senior Riley Young made his mark in the 100 breaststroke (1:03.40) where bested his own 1:04.21 set in 2015, and the 1:04.15 set by Safford during the 2016 season.
Kapaa High School women topped the team championships, collecting 94 points followed by Kauai High School at 57 points, Island School at 44 points, and Waimea High School who fielded three women swimmers at five points.
Grace Stokes, a junior swimming for the Warrior wahine, led the field of Kapaa girls, securing a qualifying swim last week in the 100 freestyle (58.50), but being unable to better that swim during the championship meet. She was part of the girls 200 medley relay team and the 400 freestyle relay teams which both earned qualifying berths at the state meet. Other Warriors on the relay teams making the state cut included Tori Hinkel, Heather Faretta, Juliana Tampus, Lily Stokes, Asianna Nelson and Tessa Ramsey.
Kauai junior Ava Wagner led the Red Raider girls, qualifying for two individual swims, the 200 IM (2:19.21) and the 100 breaststroke (1:11.64) while being part of the 200 medley relay and 400 freestyle relay teams, both teams qualifying for the state meet.
She was joined by sophomore Kaira Kaaihue who also qualified for two individual swims, the 200 freestyle (2:02.84) and the 500 freestyle (5:36.93) as well as being part of the 200 medley relay and 400 freestyle relay teams.
