by Lloyd Yonemura
There were no winners, and there were no losers, but there was a lot of fun at the Cooke Pool on September 14. The Hawaii Swimming Club-Molokai and the Molokai Swim Team (MST) combined to host their sister clubs from Kahului and Hilo in a fun meet, the first meet of any kind to be held on Molokai in many years.
After a Friday potluck to welcome the visitors to Molokai, Saturday began with Coach David Kalani welcoming all the swimmers and their families to the pool. After some brief comments, he turned the meet over to Saree Kalani and Michael Manglicmot, MST members in charge of the events.
The swimmers were divided into six teams with all swimmers participating in every event. The relay format allowed for loads of laughter and fun. The Name Game Relay kicked off the meet and it was followed by the Colthing Exchange Relay, short-hand Relay, One-legged Backstroke Relay, Chain Relay, Kickboard Relay and Reversible-Stroke Relay.
The Bragging Rights Event was an individual event by ages and the Ultra-man event was a vertical swim with the freestyle kick with each swimmer carrying a 10-pound weight above the water leve. Michael Nishimitsu came with a one minute four second effort to become the meet's Ultra Man.
The visiting teams and families spent the rest of the day sight-seeing and another potluck on Saturday night was followed by a short program hosted by Channon Wong, Keola Stone and Lenn Yonemura. The trip put together a fun evening that opened with Kanoe Poloa, Loni Yonemura and Leo and Mahina Reyes of Moana's Hula Halau putting on a short Polynesian revue. They were accompanied by Kanani Brighter and Serina Tinao.
The revue was followed by a few energizers with group participation and concluded with everyone jumping in to attempt the macarena. In between, Pa'a pono (Fred Reyes, Bruzza Paleka, and Sterling Kalua) played some wonderful dinner music.
On Sunday, the entire group were the guests of Pilipo Solatorio on a hike to the falls in Halawa Valley. Guides Greg Solatorio (former MST member and MHIS swimmer), Donovan Tangonan, and Nani Sambajon guided everyone to a wonderful swim in the pool at the bottom of the falls and safely back to Halawa beach for lunch.
Thanks so much to Pilipo, Greg, Donovan, and Nani, Pa'a Pono, Lifeguards Kalani Johnston and Lani Caparida, SSG Sam Makaiwi of the National Guard, Zachary Helm and Leslie Kanoa of the County parks & Recreation Department, families and members of the Molokai Swim Team and HSC-Molokai, and to all of the Molokai community for the wonderful hospitality ! It was an exciting weekend for all and everyone enjoyed their visit to Molokai. Mahalo !
