HONOLULU — Island School junior Chloe Inouye is the state champion in the 100-yard breaststroke, finishing in 1:04.55 on Saturday at the University of Hawai‘i Aquatics Complex in Manoa and powering the Island School girls to a tie for seventh place in the team competition.
“The Island School junior Chloe Inouye has done the island proud,” Kaua‘i High coach Kelsey Tanaka said.
“Missing out her freshman year due to COVID, she is making up for time lost. She placed sixth in the 50 freestyle and is state champion for the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:04.55. Starting from her days with Mokihana Aquatics to Swim Kaua‘i Aquatics to two-time state champion for the 100 breaststroke.”
The Island School girls swim team, including Hannah Hoveland, Inouye, Mahina Dameron and Taimana Kjeldsen, led the Voyagers to finish in a three-way tie for seventh place with eight points at the K. Mark Takai Hawai‘i High School Athletic Association Swimming and Diving Championships.
Based on final results from the HHSAA, the Voyager girls finished in fifth place in the 200-yard medley relay, and the same four Voyager athletes finished eighth in the 200 freestyle relay by touching the wall with a swim of 1 minute, 45.82 seconds.
“The entire Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation league and its limited qualifiers had an uphill challenge to face,” said Tanaka. “They took the challenge and proved those folks on the little island at the end of the chain came to compete with the best.”
Kaua‘i High swimmers participating in the state championships included Eli Adams, Liam Juvan, Brandon Lin and Talen Koerte.
“Seniors and team captains Kamaira Silva, Ian Raquel of Kapa‘a High School and Jacob Rich competed in individual races for the final time at the UH Manoa pool,” Tanaka said.
“Following four long years, their high school swimming journey has reached its zenith. Kamaira gave it all she got against the likes of the top girls Kai Flanagan and Gigi Hioki, finishing with 13th in both the 200 and 100 yard free. Ian Raquel cut off time for his 100 free and the 100 breast, landing him 21st in both events. Jacob Rich powered through and achieved his best times again in the 100 free and 100 backstroke, cementing his spot at 24th and 16th, respectively.”
Kamehameha Schools-Kapalama set the standard in the girls 200 medley relay, finishing first on a 1:47.84 swim, the Voyagers touching the wall in the event at 1:55.03.
The girls 200 freestyle relay was taken by Punahou School on a swim of 1:37.23 swim, with the Voyager girls touching the wall with a 1:45.82 swim.
Kaua‘i High freshman swimmer Brandon Lin showed the best results for the Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation males with his third-place finish in the boys 100 breaststroke, where he touched the wall at 1:00.40, just 0.19 second ahead of fourth-place finisher Tristan Regula. The event was taken by X X Rose of Kealakehe High School, who broke the minute mark by touching the wall at 55.23.
Lin, who was part of the Kaua‘i High relay team that earned a placement in the finals, continued to collect individual honors by finishing seventh in the 200 individual medley on a swim that stopped the clocks at 2:00.85 following the first-place finish of Kai Hayashida of Hilo, who finished in 1:55.29.
“Brandon Lin’s first state championship saw a raw debut of being the only freshman in his final’s race for the 200 IM, placing seventh, and nearly breaking one minute for the 100 breaststroke for third place,” Tanaka said.
The Kaua‘i High team of Jacob Rich, Lin, Talen Koerte and Eli Adams finished sixth in the 200 medley relay on a 1:43.12 swim to give them a two-way tie for 13th place with Maryknoll High, at three points each.
“During a windy and bright Friday preliminaries, the swimmers competed against the best in the state, against stiff competition from those looking to break state records,” Tanaka said.
