PUHI — The Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation qualifying swim meet produced a mixed bag of results with seven times making the qualifying cut for the state championships on Saturday, Jan. 21, in the remnants of overnight rain, cold, and wind at the YMCA pool.
A spectator at the event attributed the poor turnout of KIF swimmers to the weather, and the KIF championships for the paddling program at the Wailua River going on at the same time.
Kaua‘i High senior Rich Jacob was one of the swimmers holding a mixed bag after qualifying in three of the seven qualifying swims, but coming up short in several other events.
Jacob finished first in the 200 individual medley with a swim of 2 minutes, 13.56 seconds to trim nearly three seconds from his previous qualifying attempt, but fell short of the state qualifying standard. During the 100 freestyle event, Jacob finished with a disappointing second-place finish to Kapa‘a senior Ian Raquel, who touched the wall at 51.06 to earn a qualifying swim. Jacob came up short with a 54.13 finish and failed to make the cut.
But Jacob finished by qualifying in the boys 200 medley relay in the squad’s 1:55.37 swim for first place. That was not as fast as its previous 1:51.97 state qualifying swim. Jacob finished second in the 100 backstroke on a 58.78, but was fast enough to post a qualifying swim despite going slower than his previous 58.27 swim. Top honor in the event belonged to Raquel, who stopped the clock at 57.86, a breath short of his previous 57.42 swim.
Jacob rounded out his day as part of the 400 freestyle relay team for a first-place qualifying 3:49.09 swim, another event where the team fell short of its previous 3:37.22 swim.
Fellow swimmer Kamaira Silva also finished with mixed results, falling short of making the cut in the 50 freestyle event on her first-finish swim of 26.18, less than a breath short of the state standard. Silva was part of the 200 medley relay team that despite bettering its previous swim on a 2:25.88 first finish, fell short of the state cut. Silva did come back to qualify in the 100 freestyle event on a first finish in 56.95 that was short of her previous 56.36 qualifying swim.
On the other side of the coin, Kaua‘i High junior Talen Koerte, part of the 200 medley relay team, made his own mark by bettering his first-place finish of 5:15.98 to earn a qualifying swim. Koerte also finished first in the 100 backstroke with a qualifying swim of 57.86, slower than his previous 57.42 swim but fast enough to relinquish teammate Jacob to a second-place qualifying swim at 58.78. Koerte also posted an improvement in the 500 freestyle, touching the wall at 5:15.98 to earn a qualifying swim.
Despite the shortfalls, numerous other swimmers, including four from Island School, posted improvements in their respective events. Voyager swimmers making positive strokes included Isabella Bivens, Eva Hadley, Cash McCluskey and Eric Sparks.
Kapa‘a High posted three swimmers, Rockwell Gillis, Mahie Panui, and Emma Seres, to the improved list, along with its 400 freestyle relay team.
Kaua‘i High, including performances from Jacob and Koerte, finished with Karree Desierto-Vasquez and Liam Juvan getting improved swims in their respective events. In addition to the individual swimmers, the Red Raiders also earned improved performances for its girls 200 medley relay and girls 200 freestyle relay teams.
Waimea High posted improvements for Jayna Sams in the 50 freestyle, where she touched at 27.94, and Richard Palacio, who finished the 100 freestyle at 1:17.44, nearly a second better than his previous 1:18.37 swim.
The KIF swim championships take place on Saturday, Jan. 28, starting at 7:30 a.m. at the YMCA pool.
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 808-245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
