KAPAA — Swim Kauai Aquatics swimmer Kamaira Silva, 13, capitalized on an error at the wall by teammate Hayley Kaeo, 15, to edge out the older swimmer at the touch by less than a second Saturday during the 100-yard freestyle event at the Mokihana Aquatics 30th Fun Meet contested at the Kapaa swimming pool.
But Kaeo roared back in the 100 butterfly to nail the event where she held the top seed over Silva.
Silva and fellow swimmer Chloe Inouye, 12, had just come back from the Western Zone meet in Sacramento, Calif., with SKA coach Curt Colby.
Silva and Inouye were selected to represent the Hawaiian Islands in the 14 and under age group, and Colby was chosen to be the 11 and over girls coach for the event that was contested Aug. 8 to 11 in Sacramento. This was Inouye and Colby’s second year to compete in the event, while it was Silva’s first.
“The time standards to qualify for this meet are higher than the Hawaii state championships,” Colby said. “This is the next level meet in the USA Swimming, and the first time for these two swimmers to be a part of a team representing a team made up from all of Hawaii and not just their SKA club team.”
During the Western Zone meet, Inouye placed in two finals — the 50 breaststroke, where she finished ninth on a 36.35-second swim, and 16th in the 100 breaststroke where she touched the wall in 1:22.16.
“She also placed well in the 11-12 girls relays with some fast swims of her own in those relays,” Colby said. “In total, Chloe swam in a total of six individual events and four relays. It is fun to watch the swimmers swim faster than they have before because they know their teammates are relying on them.”
Silva clocked a best time in the 400 freestyle — 4:53.05 — and fared well in the majority of her freestyle swims, Colby said.
“The model was created to expose swimmers to what it is like to represent the United States in international competitions like the Olympics,” Colby said. “The swimmers are working with new coaches, living and working with swimmers from many different teams from throughout the Hawaiian Islands. It is a great learning experience to be on their own away from family, traveling to different states and competing against teams from as far away as Alaska, Wyoming and New Mexico. Of the 16 scoring teams, Team Hawaii finished eighth, and also received the spirit award for having the best team spirit — a great showing competitively, and a good representation of Hawaii’s aloha spirit.”
•••
Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
