WAIPAHU, O‘AHU — Swim Kaua‘i Aquatics’ swimmers Chloe Inouye, Tyler Tanaka, and Kai Mottley found gold during the recent Hawai‘i Short Course Senior Championship swim tournament that was held in Waipahu, O‘ahu.
“These three swimmers, plus Ian Raquel, and Brandon Lin, all representing SKA had a remarkable meet on O‘ahu,” said SKA coach Curt Colby. “They all qualified for finals in all of their events and scored a total of 352 points in combined team scores for a sixth-place finish.”
Chloe Inouye, 15, was the sole woman representing SKA and scored 72 points to put SKA in seventh in women’s team scores.
She finished with two first finishes in the 100 and 200 Breaststroke.
“Both were best times of 1 minute, 4.80 seconds in the 100 Breaststroke, and 2:21.99 in the 200 Breaststroke which was a 12-second drop from her previous best,” Colby said. “She also finished second in the 500 Freestyle with a 5:09.80 swim.”
The SKA Men’s team scored 280 points with four swimmers. Tanaka led the way with 84 points to place the team fifth in the Men’s division. Tanaka’s 84 points also earned him third place in individual high points for men.
During the tournament, Tanaka, 17, won the 100 Breaststroke on a 1:00.08 time that was just short of his previous best time, Colby said.
“Another impressive race for him was the 1,650 where he dropped 35 seconds for a 16.55.92 swim, and fourth place,” the SKA coach said. “Kai Mottley, 17, took the 200 Butterfly (1:51.61) by overtaking his 22-year-old rival on the last 50 yards with a strong finish. Kai also finished second in the 200 Individual Medley with a 1:55.94, an improvement of 6.5 seconds over his previous swim.”
Ian Raquel, 16, finished seventh in the 500 Freestyle, touching the wall at 5:01.18, a 6-second improvement on his previous swim. Colby said Ian was also impressive in the 200 Freestyle where he dropped nine seconds on his 1:49.95 swim.
“The youngest member of the team, Brandon Lin, 13, was not to be outdone by his older teammates,” Colby said. “He kept himself in the game by scoring in all of his events for 21 points. Some of his highlight swims included the 400 IM where he finished fifth on a 4:31.19 swim, and the 100 Breaststroke where he improve by nearly two seconds on his 1:05.74 swim.”
“Thank you to all the parents, coaches, and officials who have worked so hard to have these swimmers so accomplished in the Hawaiian Swimming community,” Colby said.
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
