Jackson Evans, Zach Safford and Asa Hendrickson each posted perfect meets at the Swim Kaua‘i Aquatics home meet Saturday at the YMCA pool.
Evans, 12, earning his first state qualifying time, posted personal bests in the 50 yard freestyle (30.30) and the 50 yard backstroke (36.5).
Safford, 12, one of the strong SKA contenders in the recent eight-team Fun Meet at the Kaua‘i High School pool, picked up new state qualifying swims in the 100 yard backstroke, joined by Jack Machorek and Dutch Fairbanks.
But Safford “out-touched” the other two swimmers to highlight his perfect meet, where he pocketed four new personal best swims, dropping nearly five seconds off his 100 yard breaststroke and almost six seconds off his 100 yard butterfly and 500 yard freestyle. He rounded out his achievements by taking more than nine seconds off his 100 yard backstroke.
Machorek and Fairbanks were fueled by Safford’s performance, with each swimmer marking three new personal best swims. Fairbanks touched the wall at 6:53.88 in the 500 yard freestyle for nearly 20 seconds better than his seeded swim, and Machorek tripped the clocks at 1:20.73 in the 100 yard breaststroke for a 5.74-second drop.
Hendrickson, 13, had best times in all four of his swims, his best performance was going in the 200 yard individual medley where he touched at 2:45.86 for more than a six-second increase over his seeded swim. He also set an AA time standard in the 50 yard freestyle (28.83).
“What a great way to start the season,” said Billy Brown, head coach for SKA. “I was so impressed with all of our swimmers for having swum some excellent races, but I was even more impressed by their stroke technique and all of the other little details a coach is always looking for.”
Athena Alexander, 12, enjoyed a break-out meet with four personal best swims, one being a state qualifying time and the other three being new AA time standards. Her best swim came in the 500 yard freestyle, touching the wall at 6:40.67 for an improvement of more than 75 seconds, and taking more than 22 ticks off her seeded 100 yard butterfly (1:16.91).
Malia Splitstoesser, Julia Safford and Xaveria Rodriguez, all 10 years old, finished with new AA time standards in their respective swims, Splitstoesser leading the way with AA swims in the 100 yard breaststroke, 50 yard freestyle and 200 yard freestyle.
Julia, another strong swimmer at the recent Fun Meet, continued to demonstrate her strength, posting an 18.92-second improvement in the 200 yard freestyle, her best effort of the meet.
Rodriguez found success in the 100 yard breaststroke, taking off just enough time to qualify for her AA time standard on a 1:48.79 swim.
James Pratt, 10, finished with three new best times, his AA time standard coming in the 50 yard breaststroke where he touched on a 51.25 swim.
In total, SKA swimmers posted 13 new AA time standards, Ava Wagner, 13, clinching an AA time in the 500 yard freestyle where she touched at 6:08.15 for an improvement of more than 14 seconds.
Ryden Williams, 9, cut more than 17 seconds from his 100 yard individual medley on a 1:36.56 swim.
Saber Fairbanks, 14, posted three personal best times, breaking the 30-second barrier in the 50 yard freestyle (29.66) and posted his first 100 yard freestyle at 13:58.60.
Kassy McCoy, 8, took home best swims in the 50 yard free, 100 yard free and the 50 yard breaststroke and also posted her first time in the 100 yard breaststroke.
Akira Williams, 11, and Riley Young, 14, also posted three new personal best swims each, Williams’ biggest success coming in the 200 yard freestyle (2:29.94) for a 7.38-second improvement, and Young taking more than 22 seconds off the 500 yard freestyle (6:14.69).
Coming in the shadow of the veteran SKA swimmers, five new swimmers joined the folds of the 43-swimmer SKA ‘ohana. Kiana Ka‘aihue, 7, Takeshi Komar, 11, Blake Lewis, 12, Luna, 11, and Sol, 9. Trevino got a taste for what a swim meet is about, joining the other SKA swimmers in the single-day event.
“I’m still smiling from replaying those swims in my head,” Brown said.
With the meet done, SKA swimmers look ahead to the Swim-A-Thon fundraiser, Sept. 21 at the YMCA pool.
County of Kaua‘i lifeguards who headed the Junior and Keiki Lifeguard programs over the summer will be joining in the fun with the SKA swimmers.
The public is invited to watch the young swimmers work toward their goal of 5,000 yards each during the two-hour event. Contributions to the team to support their goals of water safety, physical fitness and swimming techniques. Kaua‘i’s keiki are also welcome.
