PEARL CITY INVITATIONAL
Four Molokai swimmers prepped for the 2000 Hawaiian Swimming Age Group Short Course Championipships with great swims at the 21st Annual Pearl City Aquatics Invitational Swim Meet. The meet featured several teams from Japan for the first time in its history.
Mahina Reyes paced the group with top eight finishes in all of her eleven of her events led by a gold medal in the 100 Y Breaststroke. She added four bronze medals, finished no lower than sixth in any event, and improved her times in six of the events.
Ilia Reyes had an equally productive meet after aging up into the 11-12 age group. He qualified for states in 10 events an improved his times in four events.
Kimberly Mokuau also traveled to Pearl City with entries in three individual events. She also aged up into the 11-12 age group and will be working to earn a trip to the long course championships that may be held in Kona this summer.
Loni Yonemura was entered in eight individual events in the 15-16 age group. She earned three qualifying times at the meet.
The Hawaii Swimming Club took a small group to the meet and was not a factor in the team scoring. Most of the swimmers participated at the Bill Smith-Kamehameha Invitational in October.
The short course championships will be held from December 15-18 at Punahou. Aulea Swim Club from Kailua, Punahou Aquatics, and the Iolani Swim Team will be battling the Hawaii Swim Club for the overall team championship.

SHORT COURSE CHAMPIONSHIPS
The Hawaii Swimming Club (HSC) never led the team scoring through the first three days of the 2000 Hawaiian Swimming Age Group Short Course Championships while Punahou Aquatics, Aulea, and Iolani battled for the top spot. When the smoke had cleared and the pool had settled, there were only 12 points between the top three teams and only 2.5 points between the top two teams.
In a fantastic finish, HSC edged the Iolani Swim Club, 866.5 to 864. Punahou was in third with 853.5 and the Aulea Swim Club was fourth with 835 points. It was the closest competition ever and much closer than HSC's 18-point margin over Aulea in the 1999 Short Course Championships.
State championship entries are limited to eight entries over the four-day meet. Despite qualifying in twelve events, Mahina Reyes had a superb meet by making the finals in six of her eight events and was the first alternate in the other two. She won gold in the 50 Y Breaststroke and was on a gold medal relay team and all four of her relay teams earned team points. Mahina bettered her times in all eight events and will be swimming in the 13-14 age group at the long course championships. Of equal importance, Mahina earned two zone times.
Ilia Reyes swam against the top 11-12 year olds but managed to improve his times in four of his eight events and qualified for the long course championships in all of the events as times attained at this meet carry over into the next season. Ilia also swam on point-scoring relay teams.
Loni Yonemura swam in four events and on point-scoring relay teams. She also qualified for the long course championships.
The 2001 Western Zone Championships are slated for August 7-14 in Kihei, Maui. The Maui Age Group Swimming Association (MAGSA) will host the meet with HSC spearheading the group. Molokai Coach Lloyd Yonemura is slated to serve as the meet announcer, his first national meet since earning national certification two years ago.
Learn to swim classes for Molokai are slated to begin in March after the completion of the high school season. Stand by for further announcements.
Congratulations to our Molokai swimmers for their hard work and dedication and their contribution to the overall championship trophy!