Hawaiian Swimming hosted it’s first “Virtual Pentathlon” with 14 teams from Kauai, Oahu, and Maui competing at the same time on each island. Swim Kauai Aquatics tied for third place overall and garnered three individual champions. “This was a great
Hawaiian Swimming hosted it’s first “Virtual Pentathlon” with 14 teams from Kauai, Oahu, and Maui competing at the same time on each island. Swim Kauai Aquatics tied for third place overall and garnered three individual champions.
“This was a great way for our swimmers to see how they match up with off-island swimmers without having to pay to travel off island. It was an excellent start to our fall/winter training season,” said SKA head coach Curt Colby.
Swim Kauai athletes combined for 93 personal best times Saturday.
Swim Kauai’s individual champions were Talen Koerte, 9, Jack Machorek, 15, and Zach Safford, 16.
Koerte posted a combined time of 4:18.60. Machorek finished with a combined time of 2:47.30 to take the boys 15-year-old division, with teammate Akira Williams, 15, finishing second with a combined time of 2:48.72. Safford clinched the title for the boys 16-year-old division with his time of 2:52.42.
In the girls 9-year-old division, SKA’s Mahina Dameron finished in fourth place overall, with teammate Pulama Ka’eo in 11th. The boys 9-year-old group had Micah Vallance in fifth overall. Trevyn Nishimura wrapped up his pentathlon in fifth overall for the boys 10-year-old age bracket.
Swim Kauai placed three girls and two boys in the 11-year-old division: Nevaeh Ibanez (9th), Kiana Kaaihue (21st), and Jaya Griesemer (25th), Lucas McSweeny (9th), and Kai Motley (11th).
Swim Kauai’s 12-year-olds swam well, with strong finishes by Daisy Asai (28th), Kai Norman (5th), and Grady Paulson (10th).
The 13-year-old bracket was full of SKA kids, including Hayley Ka’eo (3rd), Alana Cayabyab (9th), Olivia Lutkevich (16th), Lei Sitani (20th), Audrey Yukimura (22nd), Olivia McSweeny (23rd). Issac Vallance finished fourth place on the boys side.
Julia Safford and Malia Splittstoesser competed the 14-year-old division, with Safford finishing in ninth overall and Splittstoesser in thirteenth.
Joining Machorek and Williams in the in the boys 15-year-old bracket were Henry Scherer (9th), Ben Paulson (13th), and Nick Davies (15th).
Kaira Kaaihue and Kawehi Tamashiro competed in the girls 16-year-old age group, finishing in third and tenth respectively.
Swim Kauai Aquatics welcomes newcomers to stop by the YMCA pool in Puhi to see practice and get more information on joining the team.
The “Virtual Pentathlon” was a sprint format, meaning every swimmer swam the exact same events: 50-yard butterfly, 50-yard backstroke, 50-yard breaststroke, 50-yard freestyle, and the 100-yard individual medley. The format allowed for an even comparison across all islands, and was a simple way for many new swimmers to experience their first swim meet.
The swimmers combined times for each event were then ranked by age, male and female, and the rankings were finalized. Any disqualifications prevented them from being included in the final rankings, as it was necessary to have a combined time of all 5 events in order to be fairly ranked.
