AGE GROUP SWIMMING

Two new swimmers made their debut in age group swimming at the January 10th meet on Maui. Thanks to grants from the Outrigger Duke Kahanamoku Foundation and the Great Aloha Run, Jessica Jordan and Josephine Naeha Breeland joined veterans Mahinameli and Leoho`onani Reyes, Lenn and Loni Yonemura, and Michael Manglicmot in the competition held at the Coach Soichi Sakamoto pool.

The newest members of the Molokai Swim Team, a branch of the Hawaii Swimming Club-Kahului, made the most of their first competition in Hawaii. Breeland, a former competitor from California, and Jordan, an age group swimmer in Canada before moving to Molokai, both swim in the the Girls 11-12 division.

Naeha and Jessica swam in the 200 Y Individual Medley (IM), 100 Y Backstroke, 50 Y Breaststroke, and 100 Y Freestyle events. The pair still have some work to do before nearing qualifying times but this first meet provided an excellent benchmark to guide their future efforts in practice sessions.

Mahina re-established qualifying times in the 200 Y IM, 50 Y Breast, and 100 Y Free events and continues to improve in personal bests in some events. Leo also re-established qualifying times in the 100 Y Free and the 200 Y IM. She also swam to a zone-qualifying time in the 50 Y Breaststroke in bettering her times in all four of her events.

Lenn swam in the 15-16 age division and earned a qualifying time in the 200 Y Breaststroke. Loni bettered her previous best in the backstroke event and lopped 46 seconds from her previous best time in the 1,650 Y Freestyle (mile).

Mahalo nui loa to the Outrigger Duke Kahanamoku Foundation (ODKF) and the Great Aloha Run for their support of the Molokai Swim Team. The team received its second grant from the ODKF in two years. Thanks to their help, more new members of the Molokai Swim Team are able to make the journey to Maui for the swim competitions