HILO — Mokihana Aquatics coach Chelsea “Coach Lahiki” Chock topped the group of 11 swimmers representing the Kauai-based swim club at the 32nd Charles “Sparky” Kawamoto swim meet that wrapped up Sunday in Hilo.
Chock, who earned her USA Swim coaching certification just days ahead of the competition, was named the Mokihana Aquatics Swimmer of the Meet for the off-island tournament where team leader Leigh Idica, 13, set the pace for the group of young swimmers.
“The Mokihana Swimmer of the Meet is easy,” said Mokihana Aquatics coach Orlando “O” Anaya. “It goes to Coach Lahiki. I threw her into the fire, and she came out unscathed. Mahalo, coach. You rock. We score.”
Anaya said this group was the team with the least amount of tournament experience heading to Hilo.
“I was asked on the way home, ‘Coach, have you ever had a younger team at Sparky’s?’” Anaya said. “Yes, I have, but Mokihana has never had a team with this little experience. That’s right. This was the least experienced team that Mokihana has ever fielded at any swim meet in our 38 years.”
Leading the way, Shealee Moises, 8, finished with a perfect meet — the sole Mokihana Aquatics swimmer to grab that honor — improving in all eight of her swims at the two-day meet.
In addition to posting improvements in all her swims, Moises pocketed three first-place honors and three second-place honors in the meet. Her strongest showing came with a third-place finish in the 100 individual medley event where she touched the wall on a 1 minute, 49.26 seconds swim for an improvement of 16.67 seconds. She also posted strong in the 50 breaststroke (57.92) where she touched first on an improvement of 13.51 seconds.
Triton Kurisu, 8, was strong in the younger aged swimmers, finishing the meet with six personal bests over nine swims, his strongest showing coming in the 50 backstroke (1:04.15) where he posted a 17.17-second improvement.
Jayna Sams, 11, finished with four personal bests, led with her swims in the 100 backstroke (1:39.80) and the 50 breaststroke (54.20) where she posted improvements of 7.59 and 7:39 seconds, respectively.
Aylwen Fife, 7, might have been one of the youngest swimmers in the Hilo pool, but did not stop from making her mark, posting best swims in six of eight events, including the 25 breaststroke (34.83) where she posted a 14.08-second improvement with her fourth place finish. She also showed strong in the 50 backstroke (1:09.75) where she finished just out of the ribbon count, but posting a 13.55-second improvement.
Tyler Cole, 8, made his mark in the 50 backstroke (59.72) where he finished third for a 19.97-second improvement. He finished the meet with four new best swims, including the 50 freestyle (1:03.02) where he posted a 10.26-second improvement.
“Hey, do not get too excited,” Anaya said. “We have a lot of work ahead of us. It is about our swimmers. They show that while there is so much more to learn, the process is awesome.”
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
