Seven events, seven medals, and the same effervescent smile no matter the outcome! Quite a remarkable performance, considering the shoulder injury Ben Baldwin suffered through the first day of competition at the 2005 Hawai‘i State Long Course Championships. However, newly
Seven events, seven medals, and the same effervescent smile no matter the outcome! Quite a remarkable performance, considering the shoulder injury Ben Baldwin suffered through the first day of competition at the 2005 Hawai‘i State Long Course Championships.
However, newly appointed Mokihana Aquatics massage therapist, Candice Agustin, who made the trip to Maui, along with coach Winston Kawamoto, made quick work of Baldwin’s ailment and helped him flourish the rest of the way.
“The first two races, it hurt real bad, so I didn’t do as good as I’d like to, but we iced it and our new massage therapist helped out too,” Baldwin noted.
But despite all the accolades, the Island School sophomore’s greatest performance came from outside of the pool.
After a nearby youngster complained about his lackluster fifth-place performance, Baldwin offered some help by mentioning something he learned from when he was at that age.
“Every swim’s a good swim, if you learn something from it,” Baldwin commented.
But beyond the advice, Baldwin took some time to talk to the young swimmer to help him put a good outlook on the event.
This past weekend allowed Baldwin to add to his many pieces of hardware, with medals in the 50 free, 100 breast, 400 IM, 200 IM, 100 fly, and 200 breast.
“It was a great experience for him, his 200 breast performance was probably the most exciting race, because he came from behind,” his mom Coco Baldwin, who attended the state meet said.
The 200 breast was also one of three events that Baldwin notched zone times.
“I’ve never gotten to the finals in every event and it felt good; we trained really hard and never tapered at all and we just had a meet just before that too, so that helped me out a lot,” Baldwin said.
The 15-year-old finished in eighth in both the 50 free (27.17) and the 100 breast (1:15.66). He nabbed a seventh-place medal in the 100 fly (1:05.71), a sixth-place finish in the 100 free (58.58), a fourth-place spot in the 200 breast (2:42.55), and two bronze medals in the 400 IM (5:04.65) and the 200 IM (2:22.73).
The Mission Viejo High School 100 breast short course record holder credits his family and coaches for leading him in the right direction.
“He has such a connection with Mokihana Aquatics and I think he improves because coach Winston utilizes video to critique Ben,” Coco Baldwin said.
The aspiring journalist reached the point of burnout with his California team, who practiced almost every hour of the day. Here on Kaua‘i, Baldwin takes more time off to avoid the same type of situation he faced in the Golden State.
So what’s next for the talented waterman?
“We have the end of summer Mokihana Fun Meet, then life-guard instructing, surfing, training, and spending time with my family and beautiful girlfriend,” Baldwin said.
Kelsey Tanaka also made the trip up to the Hawai‘i State Long Course Championships on Maui, but an injury kept the 14-year-old out of contention.
- Duane Shimogawa Jr., sports editor, may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 257).
