Kai Norman, 12, and Jack Machorek, 15, led the Swim Kauai Aquatics contingent at the recent Hawaiian Swimming State Championships on Oahu by successfully defending their state titles at the four-day meet with more than 300 of the top swimmers
Kai Norman, 12, and Jack Machorek, 15, led the Swim Kauai Aquatics contingent at the recent Hawaiian Swimming State Championships on Oahu by successfully defending their state titles at the four-day meet with more than 300 of the top swimmers from around Hawaii.
Machorek topped his perfect meet by dominating the 200-meter individual medley, stopping the clocks at 2 minutes, 15.87 seconds — more than two and a half seconds ahead of his closest competitor and earning a Speedo Summer Sectional time standard in the Boys 15-16 age group.
The Kauai High School junior continued through the meet by grabbing second place finishes in the 200-meter freestyle (1:59.88), 400-meter freestyle (4:16.67), and the 800-meter freestyle (9:04.04). He fell short of second place in the 400-meter individual medley (4:51.37) by a mere .08 second, finishing the meet in overall fourth place.
Norman finished the meet by racking up 42 points for the team and placed third in the Boys 11-12 division. He grabbed gold in the 50-meter freestyle (29.29) and the 200-meter butterfly (2:43.85). Norman copped silver in the 100-meter freestyle (1:05.11), bronze in the 100-meter butterfly (1:14.18), and fourth in the 50-meter butterfly (32.29).
“They raced hard and have put in a lot of work in preparation for this meet,” said Curt Colby, SKA head coach. “I’m incredibly proud of all 10 of our SKA athletes.”
Trevyn Nishimura, 9, competed in his first Long Course state championships, finishing with 10 points for the team and earning five new personal best times for 12th place in his age group. Nishimura medalled in the 200-meter freestyle (2:44.63 – 5th place), 100-meter freestyle (1:15.00 – 6th place), and 100-meter backstroke (1:31.35 – 6th place).
Henry Scherer, 15, grabbed a medal in the 800-meter freestyle (9:44.20 – 7th place) by taking off more than seven seconds off his seeded swim, and finished ninth in the 1,500-meter, and 12th in the 400-meter freestyle.
Kalen “T” Koerte also competed in his first LC state champs, falling short of a medal in the 50-meter backstroke (41.69) where he touched in ninth place. He also finished the 50-meter freestyle (36.61) for 13th place overall.
Dutch Fairbanks, 15, ended in 11th place overall. His featured swim going in the 200-meter breaststroke where he touched the wall at 2:57.01.
SKA girls Malia Splittstoesser, 13, Sadie Sterns, 13, Hayley Ka‘eo, 13, and Alana Cayabyab, 13, also competed well in their relay and individual races.
Splittstoesser and Sterns touched the wall at 10:27.24 (12th place) and 10:42.51 (16th place), respectively in the 800-meter freestyle. Ka‘eo and Cayabyab finished 11th and 12th in the 200-meter butterfly.
The girls combined to grab eighth place in the 800-meter freestyle relay, stopping the clock at 10:09.76.
SKA athletes resume training at the YMCA pool on Aug. 1.
