Chloe Inouye, 9, picked up her second Swimmer of the Meet honor following her performance at the 36th Harry Mamizuka Invitational swim meet that wrapped up Sunday at the Manoa Valley District Park in Honolulu. “This was a hard choice
Chloe Inouye, 9, picked up her second Swimmer of the Meet honor following her performance at the 36th Harry Mamizuka Invitational swim meet that wrapped up Sunday at the Manoa Valley District Park in Honolulu.
“This was a hard choice because all of the Mokihana swimmers (and support families) did well,” said Mokihana Aquatics coach Orlando “O” Anaya. “I had to review and review, and after intensive review, it has been decided. Chloe Inouye gets her second Mokihana Swimmer of the Meet award after earning the honor at last year’s Bill Smith Invitational.”
Inouye was one of five Mokihana swimmers who qualified for and traveled to the Mamizuka swim meet. She finished the two days of competition with three HI AAA time standards and five HI AA swims. Her best performance came in the 100 breaststroke (1:45.31L) where she earned three of the team’s seven points with a sixth place finish.
“Chloe was off the hook, swimming like a bat out of hell,” Anaya said. “She pushed herself like I have never seen before. She did not relent, or make excuses. She just swam, even getting a top eight finish.”
Tyler Tanaka, 11, finished the two days by earning four of the team’s seven points with a sixth and eighth place finish in the eight events he swam in. His sixth place finish was an AA time standard for the 100 breaststroke (1:31.15L), and his eighth place for one point came in the 50 breaststroke (46.32L).
“Tyler attends every practice and works harder than anyone else,” Anaya said. “If I could bottle his work ethic, I would be a billionaire. He makes no excuses, but just does it. Most likely, he has less experience than any swimmer in his age group, but making trouble for all those he’s competing against.”
Kamaira Silva, 11, posted a perfect meet with improvements in all four of her swims, three being AA times. Her strongest swim came in the 200 freestyle (2:38.99L) where she sliced 25 seconds off her seeded swim.
“Kamaira learned valuable life lessons,” Anaya said. “She was so devastated when she missed a state time despite swimming faster than she ever had in her life. She just broke down and cried. She is only 11 years old in the 11-12 age group, but her intensity is contagious, making all our swimmers try harder.”
Mokihana Aquatics teaches life lessons, the head coach said.
“We had some bad swims and a couple of ugly,” he said. “That’s life, and that’s what we do — teach life lessons. Great swimmers are a dime a dozen; great individuals change the world. Our five swimmers represented Mokihana with pride, class, and humility. They may one day, change the world.”
Leigh Idica, 10, was swimming in her first Long Course Invitational and made some mistakes, but was able to overcome them with a few great swims, Anaya said.
“Leigh most likely learned more than anyone else this weekend,” Anaya said. “Life is not all roses. Yet, when we get thrown lemons, we persevere and make lemonade. Leigh was incredible, but gracious in her life-learning curve.”
Idica’s strongest swim, the 100 butterfly (1:45.89L), was a ninth place, just out of the point spread, but securing an AA time.
“Maddie Hoesel, 13, recently returned from an extended family vacation, and having received some devastating family news, still swam like a wild woman,” Anaya said. “She helped as a team manager and mother, swimming fast and making sure all of our swimmers knew their races and were ready.”
Hoesel finished the meet with improvements in seven of her eight swims, her strongest showing coming in the 100 backstroke (1:21.16L) for a 6.53 improvement, and in the 200 Individual Medley (3:05.87L) for an 8.32 improvement.
