Hawaiian Swimming_||_More Articles on Molokai Swimming

Members of the Molokai Swim Team participated in the 19st Annual Pearl
City Aquatics Association Invitational Swim Meet over the Thanksgiving
break. Mahinameli, Leoho`onani, and Ilia Reyes, Lenn and Loni Yonemura,
Naeha Breeland, and Pili Keala endured some poor weather and an extremely
large field to compete in the three-day meet.

Veterans Mahina, Leo, Lenn, and Loni were entered in ten individual events
while newcomers Ilia, Pili, and Naeha swam in fewer events. The newcomers
all aged up prior to the meet and benefitted from the experience of
swimming against the top swimmers in the state as well as participating in
the highly competitive and exciting relay events.

Ilia made the most of his opportunities and came up with three
state-qualifying times to join Mahina, Leo, Lenn, and Loni in the Hawaiian
Swimming Short Course Championships. One swimmer had a part in breaking
two state records and two other swimmers swam to zone-qualifying times.
The championships were held from December 19-22 at the huge Duke
Kahanamoku complex on the University of Hawaii-Manoa's campus. The
first-class facility afforded the swimmers more than a "fast" pool to the
five qualifiers. Lenn swam on two-record breaking relay teams and Mahina
and Leo attained zone-qualifying times. All of the swimmers came up with
strong performances that resulted in many personal bests, a tribute to
their hard work and the quickness of the pool.

The swimmers also had the opportunity to observe the UH swim teams during
their practice sessions as well as a number of visiting teams from the
mainland and Japan. Scheduled in two-hour blocks, six teams shared the
complex (the first block started at 6:00 AM and sessions ran to midnight)
and all of the mainland teams swam two-a-days during the holidays.
Besides the Rainbows, the University of Arkansas, University of Iowa, and
University of Virginia teams afforded the swimmers a good look at
collegiate level practices and coaching.

For Molokai swimmers, Lenn was the overall top scorer and Mahina was the
top individual scorer. Mahina finished in the top eight in all of her
eight events and was on two second-place relay teams. Some mid-meet
adjustments from Coach Lloyd Yonemura, who once again served as the meet
announcer and is quickly becoming the voice of age group swimming in
Hawaii, and the fast design of the pool enabled Mahina to add two more
zone-qualifying times to her credit. In addition to her zone times in the
50 Y (2nd place) and 100 Y (3rd place) Breaststroke events, Mahina blazed
to a second place finish in the 50 Y Butterfly and a fourth place finish
in the 100 Y Butterfly events and attained zone times in both. She added
a third place in the 100 Y Individual Medley (IM), a fourth place in the
200 Y IM, and fifth place finishes in both the 100 Y Free and 50 Y
Backstroke events.

Lenn placed in seven of his individual events that included a second place
in the 1000 Y Free and a fourth place in the 1650 Free. Most of his
scoring came on four first-place relay teams as he teamed with Cheyne
Bloch, Reece Kaya, and Caleb Rowe, all of Hawaii Swimming Club-Kahului, to
win the 400 Y Medley, 800 Y Free, 200 Y Medley, and 400 Y Free relays.
The quartet added bonus points for breaking records in the 400 Y and 800 Y
Free relay events.

Leo had a very strong meet to close her career in the 11-12 age group.
She improved her times in seven of her eight events and attained career
bests in the 50 Y and 100 Y Breaststroke events with a pair of third place
finishes. Both events are her favorite and she has consistently earned
zone-qualifying times in the two events for four years. Leo also swam on
four relay teams with Jessica Boyer (HSC-Hilo), Nikoya Collier, and
Mikiala Miller, (HSC-Kahului) and the quartet took one first (200 Y
Medley), a pair of seconds (400 Y Medley and 400 Y Free), and a fourth
(200 Y Free).

Ilia swam to personal bests in three individual events and both of his
relay teams medaled. He swam with Liokea Lia and Sho Fujikawa (HSC-Oahu),
and Davis Kane (HSC-Kahului) for third place in the 200 Y Medley relay and
second place in the 200 Y Free relay.

Loni swam in one individual event and a pair of relay events. Erin
Samura, Jessica Bartolome, and Roanne Chow, all of HSC-Hilo, were Loni's
teammates in the 400 Y Medley relay (6th) and the 200 Y Free relay (9th).

The Molokai Swim Team thanks the Molokai Ranch for their funding support
for both the Pearl City Invitational and the Short Course Championships.
The Team also thanks the Parks Department for pushing through the
improvement in the pool facilities (Director Zach Helm and Head Lifeguard
Kalani Johnston).

Practices are held daily with registration for the 1999 season recently
completed. The team now has 15 swimmers registered for the season and
anticipate a few late registrations to enable swimmers to train with the
team.

The long course season begins in March and some of the younger swimmers
are taking a break before prepping for the first meet. Lenn, Loni, Leo,
and Mahina will all age up for the next season and will face faster
qualifying times and much tougher competition.

Contact Coaches David Kalani, Lloyd Yonemura, or assistants Kalani
Johnston, Lani Caparida, and Clare Pereira for practice information.
Congratulations to the swimmers, their families, and the coaches, and
mahalo to the supporters of swimming on Molokai!