AGE GROUP SWIMMING

Another new age group swimmer made her debut at the February 7 meet at the Coach Soichi Sakamoto Pool in Wailuku. Stesha Jordan, competing in the Girls 11-12 division, managed to attain a Hawaii "AA" time in one of her four events as she joined six other swimmers in the all-day meet.

Stesha and her older sister, Jessica, both competed in the 100 Y Butterfly, 50 Y Backstroke, 100 Y Breaststroke, and 200 Y Freestyle events. Both attained Hawaii "AA" times in the Freestyle event and Jessica also attained a "AA" time in the Breaststroke event.

Mahinameli Reyes, a veteran at nine years old, lowered her personal bests in all four of her events, lowering state qualifying times in three of them and establishing a state championship qualifying time in the 200 Y Freestyle. She won the 100 Y Butterfly event and took second in the 50 Y Backstroke, the 100 Y Breaststroke, and the 200 Y Free. Mahina also swam the breaststroke leg in teaming with Ailani Miller, Nikoya Collier, and Aja Suehiro to take second in the 200 Y Medley Relay. Mahina dropped seven seconds in the butterfly event and over eleven seconds in the 200 Y Free.

Leoho`onani Reyes had a very impressive meet as she also lowered her times in all four of her events. In the process she established state qualifying times in the 50 Y Backstroke and 100 Y Butterfly events. She lopped nearly ten seconds off her previous best in the butterfly event and over five seconds in the freestyle event. Leo made an excellent run at a zone time in the breaststroke event but missed the qualifying time by six-hundredths of a second. Swimming the breaststroke leg of the 200 Y Medley Relay, Leo and teammates Mikiala Miller, Helena and Emalia Suehiro, won the event less than two seconds from a new county record.

Michael Manglicmot continues to perform well in the Boys 17-18 division earning "AA" times in all four of his events. Mike won the 1000 Y Free and 200 Y Backstroke, placed second in the 200 Y Free, and captured third in the 100 Y Butterfly.

Loni Yonemura showed great improvement in her events and placed second in the 1000 Y Freestyle with a state-qualifying time. She missed state times in the 200 Y Backstroke and 200 Y Freestyle by less than a second lowering her times by five seconds in the free event and over ten seconds in the backstroke event. Both times were "AA" times as well as her personal best time in the 100 Y Butterfly. Loni led off her relay team with the backstroke leg of the 200 Y Medley Relay. Loni, Pualana Reyes, Ji Yeon Ku, and Kyla Siangco captured second place. Pualana is the daughter of Debbie Pastrana Reyes and the granddaughter of George and Rita Pastrana of Ranch Camp.

Lenn Yonemura suffered through two early disappointments despite swimming to personal best times. He missed a state qualifying time in the 200 Y Backstroke by just over a second and followed with a miss in the 200 Y Freestyle by less than a second. Both times were "AA" times. In the final event of the day, the 1000 Y Free, Lenn's determined effort resulted in drop of 33 seconds from his previous time and a state qualifying time in the second longest event in age group swimming.

Mahalo to the Great Aloha Run Charities and the Outrigger Duke Kahanamoku Foundation for their support of the Molokai Swim Team. Thanks to mini-grants from both organizations, team members are able to travel to meets on neighbor islands.

The County of Maui and the Maui Age Group Swimming Association have announced tentative plans to schedule a sanctioned meet on Molokai in August, 1998. The meet was originally scheduled for this past September but a number of logistical problems forced the cancellation of the meet. With hundreds of swimmers, officials, parents, and supporters having to travel to Molokai for the meet, the County, MAGSA, and the Molokai Swim Team face a number of tasks to successfully host the meet at the Cooke Pool in Kaunakakai. It has been a number of years since sanctioned meet was held on Molokai and the Molokai Swim Team coaches, swimmers, and parents are determined to make this meet a success.

Molokai coaches David Kalani and Lloyd Yonemura invite anyone interested in learn-to-swim classes to mark their calendars for classes to begin in April. Stand by for futher announcements. Swimmers interested in competing in age group swimming are encouraged to begin training immediately as the short course season will conclude at the end of March and the new long course season will begin in April.