WAIMEA — Aimee Iwamoto of the Pearl City Swim Club broke a state record during the two-day Mokihana Aquatics Fun Meet at the Waimea Pool. “I was pretty nervous,” Iwamoto said after the realization of breaking a state record set
WAIMEA — Aimee Iwamoto of the Pearl City Swim Club broke a state record during the two-day Mokihana Aquatics Fun Meet at the Waimea Pool.
“I was pretty nervous,” Iwamoto said after the realization of breaking a state record set in. “But I knew I could do it because I broke the record before.”
Iwamoto, 10, had previously set the record in the 50 Breast with a 33.83, her seeded time for the meet. But following the swim, Saturday, Iwamoto emerged from the water with a 33.80 swim, bettering her own best time for the event.
The ZONE time for swimmers in her age bracket is 39.09, and for swimmers in the 11-12 age group, the ZONE time for the event is 33.89.
“She did it swimming against girls much older than her,” said Mokihana Aquatics coach Orlando “O” Anaya. “She’s only 10.”
The modest swimmer said she’s been swimming for just three, or four years, and didn’t feel anything special after her achievement.
“This is the first time a state record was broken on Kaua‘i,” Anaya said. “Actually, it almost happened many years ago when we had a few Olympians swimmer at the Fun Meet ‘96, but because they were international swimmers who were not registered in Hawai‘i, the time was not approved.”
Anaya said Iwamoto’s time must be approved for it to be official, but does not see a problem with the approval process.
Swim clubs from the Big Island and Maui joined the host Mokihana Aquatics and Pearl City at the two-day meet that saw competitive swimming punctuated with a cheer contest, more fun events, and culminating with the “biggest apple and orange bob in the state.”
Screams of joy echoed through the Waimea complex after host Mokihana Aquatics was named the winner of the cheer contest, Sunday.
“Kesia Anaya used to say that the home team can never win,” said Coach O. “The judges won’t vote for us because it’s our meet and we pick the judges so they would look biased. But, after 25 years, we finally did it. I have never seen a team get so excited about winning a cheer contest like ours did.”
And that celebration was not confined to the Mokihana camp as, led by “Coach Kesia,” the swimmers visited each camp to share their winnings.
Kiani Gandeza, 10, and Kayla Ishida, 11, posted perfect meets for the host Mokihana Aquatics program.
Gandeza participated in six events with improvements in all six events, her biggest improvement coming in the 100 Individual Medley where she stopped the clock at 1:57.04, shaving 47.19 off her seeded time. She also posted a 21.42 improvement in the 100 Freestyle where the clock stopped on a 1:32.76, earning the swimmer a HI-B rating on the swim.
Ishida finished the two-day meet with five first finishes in the six events she swam in, ending with two HIAA ratings, three HI-A ratings, and a HI-B.
Her best event was the 100 IM where she stopped the clock at 1:25.53 for a 9.55 improvement and a HI-A rating.
Kaleiu‘i Hosaka, 10, has been making strides in the Mokihana program, and finished with five improvements in her six events, earning four first finishes and two second place finishes.
One of her tough swims came Sunday when she bested top seed Reyna Iwamoto of the Pearl City Club for a first finish in the 100 IM, the first time she’s swam that event. Hosaka stopped the clock at 1:26.37 for a QUAL time, her second in six events. The other QUAL came in the 50 Freestyle (32.52) where she finished first with a 1.83 improvement.
Sara Funtanilla, 7, was a trooper, finishing with three first finishes, a second, a ninth, and 10th place, but showing improvements in all six events.
Funtanilla added a HI-B to her holdings with a 53.48 swim in the 50 Butterfly, her first attempt at that event, and in the 100 IM, stopped the clock at 2:01.47 for 10th place, but shaving a nice 13.89 off her seeded time.
Shasta Behling Camero, 11, was enjoying her first meet and finished with four first finishes and a second place.
“This is a really nice meet,” said John Hayashida, coach of the Big Island team. “It’s small, the kids have a lot of fun, and we always make it a point to attend.”
