The Hawaii Swimming Club (HSC) overcame a deficit after the first day of competition, took the lead in the team scoring after the completion of the second day's events, and held on to that lead to capture the Hawaiian Swimming 2000 Age Group Long Course Championships held at the Coach Soichi Sakamoto Pool in Wailuku on June 9-12. The four-day meet drew the top age group swimmers in Hawaii and the HSC, comprised of clubs on Maui, Hawaii, Oahu, and Molokai, and under the leadership of Head Coach Reid Yamamoto, totaled 1195.50 points to outdistance the Aulea Swim Club (936 points), Punahou Aquatics (703 points), and Pearl Harbor Swim Club (695 points).
The swimmers from Molokai included Ilia Reyes (Boys 10 & Under), Mahina Reyes (Girls 11-12), Kimberly Mokuau (Girls 10 & Under), Loni Yonemura (Girls 15-16, and Lenn Yonemura (Boys 17-18). Lenn was competing in his final age group championships unless he decides to compete in the short course championships in December as he will still be eligible for those championships. He closed with two top eight finishes in the 100 M Breast and 200 M Breast events where he placed fifth and fourth, respectively. The first individual gold medalist for Molokai age group swimmers will be enrolling at the University of Northern Colorado in August.
Molokai's top individual scorer was Ilia Reyes who had seven top eight finishes in his eight events. Ilia became the third individual gold medalist when he won the 50 M Free event with a Western Zone Qualifying time of :34.70 seconds, edging Mitchell Chong of the Pearl Harbor Swim Club by just under a second. Ilia's attempt at a double gold medal fell short by .79 seconds as Chong nipped him at the finish.
The part-time swimmer came up with a superb meet despite splitting practice time with the baseball season. Ilia added a pair of fourth places in the 50 M Fly and 200 M Free, a fifth in the 200 M Individual Medley (IM), a seventh in the 50 M Breast, and an eighth in the 100 M Breast events. He joined teammates Chase Bloch, Ian Gerber, and Dean Christener to win the 200 M Free Relay and had earlier teamed with Herman Ludwig, Gerber, and Bloch to win an exciting 200 M Medley relay.
The Medley relay saw Bloch, the 10 & Under 50 M Fly Gold Medalist, enter his leg (the third leg of the relay) trailing the leaders from Lahaina Swim Club by over 8.5 seconds. Bloch made up a bunch of time on his leg and Ilia closed with a tremendous split to earn HSC important team points. The gold-medalist duo of Bloch and Reyes made up 12 full seconds in the final two legs.
Ilia had followed in the wake of older sister Mahina who became Molokai's second individual gold medalist just prior to his victory in the 50 M Free. Mahina edged Elizabeth Hanohano-Hong of Pearl Harbor by three-tenths of a second in the 100 M Breaststroke. She swam a smart race by electing to draft on Hanohano-Hong through the first half of the event, closed in the second leg, and sprinted to the finish.
Mahina's teammate, Alicia Gerber, edged Mahina in the 50 M Breast event but Mahina added another medal with a seventh place finish in the 50 M Free. In the relay events, Mahina joined Ailani Miller, Gerber, and Ariane Jardine-Namba to win the 200 M Medley Relay, place third in the 200 M Free Relay, and sixth in the 400 M Free Relay. Mahina also teamed with Gerber, Miller, and Ashley Otomo for fifth place in the 400 M Medley Relay.
Kimberly Mokuau overcame the anxieties of her first championship competition and swam very well in the meet. She swam two individual events and bettered her personal bests in both events, the 50 M Free and 50 M Breast. She also swam on two relay teams by teaming with Jennifer Cahill, Kiwa Fong, and Kristie Halvorsen for fifth place in the 200 M Medley Relay and fourth place in the 200 M Free Relay. Kim now has more concerns with aging up and attempting to qualify in the 11-12 age group beginning next season. Yes, even swimmers have worries about "getting older."
Loni Yonemura swam in only one individual event, the 200 M Free. She missed qualifying for the finals (top eight qualifiers) but is hoping to improve on her times during the summer where she will be training on Oahu while attending summer school.
The Molokai swimmers concluded an excellent season and the enthusiasm of several new swimmers in the program have coaches David Kalani and Lloyd Yonemura excited about more qualifiers down the road. Losing Lenn to college and Leohoonani Reyes to Kamehameha Schools will be big obstacles to overcome as both have provided Molokai swimming with a number of firsts and established standards for others to surpass. Leo continues to be active in the program on her returns to Molokai and will be more actively and consistently involved in swimming as she begins her freshman year. Lenn's leadership over the past few years will be difficult to replace but other swimmers are expected to step up to meet the challenge.
More than a dozen swimmers are actively participating in practices throughout the summer. The team will be focusing on conditioning and drills throughout most of the summer and will begin preparations for the short course season beginning in August, along with the Molokai High Swim Team.
Congratulations to all of the swimmers and their families, and to coaches Kalani and Yonemura. Coach Yonemura, the voice of Hawaiian Swimming, was the meet announcer for the championships. He was joined by Maui County Councilman Dain Kane and the duo did an excellent job in helping to keep the meet running smoothly. The pair is also slated to be the announcers for the upcoming 2001 Western Zone Championships to be hosted by the Maui Age Group Swimming Association next summer!
The next competition for the swimmers (yes, the swimmers still have things to do during the summer!) will be the 52nd Keo Nakama Invitational Swim Meet from June 30 to July 2 at the Palolo District Pool on Oahu. Standby for results!