KAPA‘A — Kapa‘a High School senior Maddie Hoesel learned several coping mechanisms through her seven years of swimming both at the high school and club levels.
Throughout her career as a competitive swimmer, Hoesel learned the turbulent nature of the sport.
Hoesel, who qualified last Saturday at the YMCA Pool in Lihue for five of the 14 state 2020 K. Mark Takai Swimming and Diving Championship events Feb. 14-15 at the Kihei Aquatic Complex, said she felt last week’s race was her personal best.
Hoesel qualified for a total of five individual events, including two team relays.
Individually, Hoesel qualified in the 50 yard freestyle with a time of 25.87 seconds, the 100 yard freestyle with a time of 56.07 seconds, and the 100 yard backstroke with a time of 1:04.95 seconds.
Hoesel also qualified for two team relay events, including the second-place finish in the 200 yard medley relay with a time of 2:07.46 seconds, and the 200 yard freestyle relay with a time of 1:52.95 seconds.
Last week was Hoesel’s highlight of her high school swimming career.
“Last week was a pretty amazing meet for me,” Hoesel said. “It was a rough season before I qualified in the event. Last week was a big mental shift. I decided to make a change, so I came out and it was amazing.”
The success Hoesel had didn’t always come easy.
Earlier in Hoesel’s career, she struggled by putting too much internal pressure on herself to excel.
Hoesel, who excels at both the high school level and the club level, is a year-round swimmer.
“I struggled for a long time, but when I got older and more mature, I started realizing if I have a bad race, it’s not the end of the world,” Hoesel said. “I put a lot of pressure on myself. Now, I just come out, do the best I can do, have a good time, get better and improve with each race.”
Former Kapa‘a High School Andrew ‘Coach Z,’ Zumwalt, who coached Hoesel for three seasons before Marti Kitch took over this year, said Hoesel made significant progress.
“She is coming from a young woman to a mature adult in the way she handles her races,” Coach Z said. “She is more confident, and she has showcased her maturity as a senior to become one of the leaders. She leads by her performances, and it is nice to see her engaged with the younger kids.”
Current Warriors’ coach Marti Kitch, who has coached Olympic-caliber competitors on the mainland, said Hoesel displays the same competitive spirit.
“She has the level of dedication, seriousness and work ethic I’ve seen in highly-successful kids, and it’s nice to see that,” Kitch said. “That is my experience in coaching that type of swimmer. It’s a refreshing thing to see other swimmers show the same level of dedication as well.”
An All-Star showcase
Hoesel, who was named the Garden Island Athlete Of The Week, will be one of several swimmers featured in the KIF Championship today at the YMCA, which isn’t a qualifying event, but an end-of-the-year, all-star showcase.
Now Hoesel, who will participate in her KIF season-finale race today at 10 a.m. at the YMCA swimming pool in Lihue, hopes to advance her storied career.
“The KIF is something that you look forward to in the championships,” Hoesel said. “Not everyone comes to the state meet, and so competing with a lot of people for the last time is bittersweet.”
Achieving mainland success
Hoesel, who is still mulling out her collegiate options, will choose to extend her collegiate career on the mainland, where her parents are from.
Hoesel’s parents are mother Missy, who’s from Massachusetts, and her father, Chris, who is from Spokane, Washington. She is choosing to go to college to be close to her mainland family, she said.
“It’s pretty incredible because after every season, they will honor the seniors, and the last meet of the season is something special,” Hoesel said. “You meet all of your senior friends and see all of the signs and senior biographies. You don’t realize how quickly four years go by, and it’s you.”
KIF’s elite
The list of all-stars will feature some of the top-tier swimmers in the Kauai Interscholastic Federation this season.
Other swimmers to be showcased in the KIF’s grand finale will be Kauai High’s Kai Norman.
Norman qualified in the 100 yard freestyle in last week’s KIF qualifier with a time of 51.25 seconds.
Norman was also a member of a 200 yard freestyle relay and the boys 400 yard freestyle relay that finished second with a state-qualifying time.
Raider sophomore Kai Mottley placed first in the 500 yard freestyle event with a time of 5:08.50.
Warriors’ swimmer Ian Raquel finished second with a state-qualifying time of 5:17.65, nearly three seconds off the qualifying mark. Raquel qualified in 400 yard freestyle relay with Tyler Tanaka, who made his state swim qualifier in the Boys 200 yard individual medley with a time of 2:08.46 swim.
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Jason Blasco,sports reporter, can be reached at 245-0437 or jblasco@thegardenisland.com.
Garden Island photographer/reporter Dennis Fujimoto contributed to this story
