LIHUE — Chloe Inouye, 12, of the Kauai Swim Aquatics program finished a point short of high point honors in the Girls 11-12 age group during the Hawaiian State Age Group Championships that wrapped up Dec. 17 at the K. Mark Takai Veterans Memorial Aquatic Center in Waipahu, Oahu.
“Tulip Hori of the Hawaii Swim Club had 125 points to Chloe’s 124 points,” said Curt Colby, the SKA head coach. “But still, Chloe had a great showing with three state championships — the 50 breaststroke (31.27 seconds), the 100 breaststroke (1:08.96), and the 100 freestyle (54.79).”
Inouye also finished with two second-place finished, a third place finish, and one fourth place.
“As a swimmer, Chloe has broadened her abilities by placing in butterfly and Individual Medley as well,” Colby said. “During the meet, she came out with four best times, and seven qualifying times for the North West Regional meet in Washington state that will be held in March. Chloe will compete with swimmers from 13 states, and SKA is looking to take a good contingent of swimmers in March.”
Inouye’s individual performance helped lead SKA to finish 11th place out of 23 scoring teams.
“We brought 13 swimmers to the meet,” Colby said. “We were small, but very strong. Overall, the SKA swimmers finished with 48 best times from 67 individual swims, and four 11-12 relays where Inouye was a participating swimmer.”
Mahina Dameron finished the three-day meet with 83 points, her premier stroke being the butterfly where she earned two regional times in the 100 butterfly (1:05:48) on a seventh place finish, and finished fourth in the 200 butterfly (2:27.96). She also picked up a regional time in the 200 freestyle on a 2:05.42 swim.
“Mahina had a well-rounded meet, scoring in all of her events while picking up four best times,” Colby said. “Pulama Kaeo, 11, missed a perfect meet by just one event, placing in the top 16 and scoring points with all of her best times.”
Kaeo finished in the top eight in two of her events — the 100 backstroke (1:07.61), and the 50 backstroke (32.26) — and just missed the top 8 in the 100 freestyle (58.31), and the 50 freestyle 27.34).
Taimana Kjeldsen, 11, was a contributing swimmer in the four 11-12 girls relay events — the 100 freestyle relay (1:12.45) and the 50 freestyle (33.61) — swimming best times in those events in the Girls 11-12 age group.
Kamaira Silva, 13, led the Girls 13-14 age group, picking up four best times — 1,650 freestyle (18:46.24), 1,000 freestyle (11:32.02), 500 freestyle 5:34.46), and the 200 freestyle (2:01.72).
“Kamaira, like the girls in the 11-12 division, has regional times and looks to compete in Washington this spring,” Colby said. “To round out her events, she swam the 50- and 100-freestyles to score. It is a rare swimmer who can compete successfully in that wide range of freestyle events.”
Maddie Hoesel, 16, making her initial appearance in the Kauai Interscholastic Federation qualifying meets, Saturday, picked up best times in two of her events, the most significant coming in the 200 freestyle where she broke the two-minute barrier by touching the wall at 1:59.39. She also made the finals in the 100 backstroke on a 1:03.81 swim.
Julia Safford rounded out the female swimmers, picking up two state qualifying swims in the 100 breaststroke (1:14.99), and the 200 breaststroke (2:43.20).
“This was not an easy task,” Colby said. “She is recovering from a severe thumb strain suffered during water polo.”
Akira Willliams, 17, topped the boys’ scoring with his best event coming in the 50 freestyle where he finished second on a 21.09 swim. The swim was one of his four of six best times.
“Akira is heading off to swim in college next year and has been accepted in multiple schools,” Colby said. “He is deciding where to attend. He is also one of three finalists for the Duke Kahanamoku scholarship.”
Kai Mottley, 14, had a perfect meet with seven best times, the standout event coming with his third place finish in the 200 butterfly (2:06.78).
“Kai scored in all his events and achieved a Western Zones time standard that gives him the possibility to represent Team Hawaii in August for the meet in Oregon,” Colby said. “Tyler Tanaka, 14, scored in six of his seven events with five best times. His stellar event was the 1,650 freestyle (18:12.26) where he dropped an amazing 44 seconds. Tyler is a multi-talented swimmer, placing in the 1,650 and 500 freestyle events, the 100 and 200 breaststroke, and the 200 and 400 IM events.”
Talen Koerte, 12, medaled in all three of his butterfly events — the 50 butterfly (29.86), the 100 butterfly (1:07.31), and the 200 butterfly (2:35.83).
Ryden Williams, 15, and Ahonui Perreira, 10, each swam in three events and picked up best times in all of the events.
Ryden picked up his best times in the 200 freestyle (1:54.08), the 200 backstroke (2:13.04), and the 100 backstroke 1:000.15), while Perreira finished 2:38.97 in the 200 freestyle for a five-second improvement and, 44.44 in the 50 breaststroke, and stopped the clocks at 1:15.52 in the 100 freestyle.
“This is a great way to finish off our short course season with so many improvements,” Colby said. “Our last practice was Dec. 21, and we will restart on Jan. 2, leaving time for festivities, rest, and time to reflect on this swimming season, and plan for the next.”
