PUHI — It was a day of firsts for many young athletes from Swim Kaua‘i Aquatics at their home meet on Sept. 10. Mackenzie Bettencourt ( age 10) and Tristan Temme (9) competed in their first swim meet, each participating
PUHI — It was a day of firsts for many young athletes from Swim Kaua‘i Aquatics at their home meet on Sept. 10.
Mackenzie Bettencourt ( age 10) and Tristan Temme (9) competed in their first swim meet, each participating in four individual events plus relays with their fellow SKA teammates.
Akira Williams (10) and Ava Wagner (12) each earned the first State Qualifying times of their careers. Williams touched the wall in 33.88 for his State time in the 50 yard Freestyle, slicing 3.10 seconds off of his previous best. He continued his success with a personal best in the 50 yard Backstroke (42.82), and a “AA” time in the 100 yard Backstroke (1:39.07).
Wagner obtained her first State cut in the 50 yard Breaststroke with a time of 38.82, a 1.92 second improvement. She also collected personal bests in the 100 yard Breaststroke (1:25.84) and the 50 yard Freestyle (31.71) events.
The State times kept coming for Dutch Fairbanks (10), Sophie Britzmann (15), and Kate Machorek (13). Fairbanks had a great meet, posting improvements in all four of his events. His State cuts came in the 50 yard and 100 yard Butterfly events with times of 40.03 and 1:31.40. He chopped over 6 seconds off of his 100 yard Breaststroke time, coming in at 1:33.24, and stopped the clocks at 1:12.41 in his 100 yard Freestyle, shaving 4.45 seconds off of that time. Older brother Saber (13) made a statement in the 200 yard Individual Medley, slicing 7.62 second off for a new “B” time of 3:06.74.
“This meet was awesome…lots of great swims, and a lot of new time standards were achieved this weekend” stated Head Coach Billy Brown. “These kids work hard day in and day out, so it’s wonderful for them to be rewarded with such fantastic results.”
Sophie Britzmann (15), a strong KIF swimmer for Kaua‘i High, pocketed another State cut with her time of 5:39.42, a startling 21.14 second drop. Britzmann posted improvements in her 100 yard Freestyle (58.43) and her 100 yard Backstroke (1:07.30) as well.
Kate Machorek (13), who will be swimming for Kaua‘i High School this winter, walked away with her new State time in the grueling 200 yard Butterfly with her time of 2:21.85, a 10.59 second improvement. Machorek had a “perfect meet” as well, with personal best times in the 100 yard Butterfly (1:02.74), 50 yard Freestyle (25.66), and her 200 yard Freestyle (2:02.43).
Yasmine Ware (14), who recently returned from the Junior Nationals competition in Palo Alto, Calif., had a stellar day with the 200’s. In the 200 yard Butterfly she put up a 2:16.77 to earn a new Western ZONE time, and a 2:30.22 in her 200 yard Breaststroke, for which she acquired a Senior Sectional time.
SKA swimmers from the westside program at the Waimea County pool had outstanding meets as well. SKA Coach Jeff Casey was impressed with the performances of Bailey O’Sullivan (16) and Alex Hashimoto (15). O’Sullivan dropped time in each of her three events, and brought a large cheering section from the westside as well. She touched the wall in 1:30.71 for her 100 yard Breaststroke, 1:10.90 in her 100 yard Freestyle, and 32.14 in her 50 yard Freestyle, all new “A” time cuts.
Hashimoto saw big drops in his 100 yard Freestyle (1:15.96) and his 100 yard Freestyle (3:14.53).
The young athletes of SKA continued to improve their times, with new AA time cuts garnered by Quinn Hannah-White (15) in the 200 yard Breaststroke (2:48.93), Asa Hendrickson (12) with a 1:13.23 in his 100 yard Freestyle, and Tyler Keith coming in at 1:09.90 in the 100 yard Backstroke. Carolyn Price brought in the “AA” times for the ladies, with a 41.03 in her 50 yard Breaststroke, and an impressive drop of 13.74 seconds in her 100 yard Backstroke for a time of 1:17.43. Price posted two additional personal bests in the 100 yard Butterfly (1:26.67) and the 200 yard Freestyle (2:31.02).
Britnee Akau (11), came ready to race, and walked away with four new personal bests. Her biggest improvement came in the 100 yard Freestyle, where she cut 7.59 seconds to stop the clocks at 1:33.77. Sam Britzmann (12) celebrated his birthday with 2 new “B” times in his 50 yard Freestyle (37.65) and 100 yard Freestyle (1:26.75), over a six second drop from his previous best.
Newcomer Malina Dwight (11) earned a new “A” time for her 46.20 time in the 50 yard Breaststroke.
Fellow 11 year old Jackson Evans had a great race in the 100 yard Backstroke. His time of 1:33.09 was good enough for a new “A” time as well. Zach Safford (11) continued the hot streak for the eleven year olds, with his “A” time coming in the 50 yard Backstroke with a time of 43.94, slicing 5.56 seconds of off his previous best. Safford’s younger sister Julia (9) kept it in the family with her “A” time of 53.88 in the 50 yard Breaststroke. Naia Greenberg (10) found success in the 100 yard Breaststroke, earning an “A” time with her 1:56.75.
SKA teammates Pierce Bivens (9), Anya Littlefield (17), Lucas McSweeney (6), Olivia McSweeney (8), Maya Rivera (11), Kaz Tasic (17), Matthew Vickers (9), Risa Whetsel (11), and Ryden Williams (8) all raced hard on Saturday, posting many new personal times at their home meet.
For more information on Swim Kaua‘i Aquatics contact team president Dan Britzmann at 639-8792 or visit www.swimKaua‘i.com
