LIHU‘E — A memorable afternoon for Anya Littlefield nettered not one, but five state championships at the Hawaiian Age Group Swimming Championship, held last weekend on O‘ahu. Anya, 16, one of the Swim Kaua‘i Aquatics participants at the meet, dominated
LIHU‘E — A memorable afternoon for Anya Littlefield nettered not one, but five state championships at the Hawaiian Age Group Swimming Championship, held last weekend on O‘ahu.
Anya, 16, one of the Swim Kaua‘i Aquatics participants at the meet, dominated the Girls 15-16 age group, taking home the High Point Award by collecting 59 in her eight events, medaling in each.
She took home the gold in the 1,500 Meter Freestyle, touching the wall with a time of 18 minutes, 7.08 seconds, finishing 34 seconds ahead of the second-place swimmer.
There were four more gold-medal performances for Anya, coming in the 200 Meter Freestyle (2:17.46, a new Sectional Time Standard), 400 Meter Freestyle (4:40.34, new Western ZONE Time Standard), 800 Meter Freestyle (9:29.76) and 200 Meter Butterfly (2:38.86).
She added a second-place finish in the 100 Meter Freestyle, having come from the seventh seed, with a new ZONE time of 1:01.63. In the 100 Meter Butterfly, Anya placed fourth (1:08.78) and was seventh in the 50 Meter Freestyle.
“Anya had an amazing meet,” said Billy Brown, SKA head coach, in a press release. “She set the tone for the meet with her strong performance in that mile and never looked back.”
Yasmine Ware also took home a state championship with a first-place finish in the 50 Meter Freestyle event. Yasmine, 13, came into the Girls 13-14 event as the No. 4 seed, but finished with a new Sectional time of 27.66 seconds for the victory, a second better than her previous best.
In the 100 Meter Backstroke, Yasmine finished in second with a time of 1:10.45. Competing in eight events, she made the finals in seven of them, adding a third in the 100 Meter Freestyle (1:01.40), a fourth in the 200 Meter Backstroke (2:33.27, a new ZONE time), a fifth in the strenous 400 Meter Individual Medley (5:35.77) and a fifth in the 100 Meter Butterfly (1:09.72).
There were nine SKA competitors who headed to O‘ahu from their typicaly training grounds at the YMCA pool in Puhi. The event was held at the Veterans’ Memorial Aquatic Center.
“It was a fitting end to an awesome long course season,” said Coach Brown. “The most amazing part of the meet was the strong finishes that our kids showed in all of their races. No one ever gave up and they pushed hard into the wall every time.”
Kate Machorek, 12, had one of the most exciting races of the meet, coming in second by a mere .02 seconds in the 50 Meter Backstroke final. Barely missing out on what would have been her first state championship, Kate touched the wall in 34.10 seconds, just a fraction off the winning time of 34.08.
She also took second place in the 100 Meter Backstroke, recording a new ZONE time of 1:13.53. Kate finished fifth in the 50 Meter Freestyle final (30.40) and sixth in the 50 Meter Butterfly. All her meets netted Kate personal bests.
Jack Machorek, Kate’s younger brother, took seventh place in the 50 Meter Breaststroke (48.30) for the Boys 10 & Under age group. Jake, 9, also made the finals in the 100 Meter Breaststroke, taking eighth (1:49.13), and the 200 Meter Freestyle, taking eighth (2:51.87).
Recent Kaua‘i High School graduate Aaron Pigott made his final appearance at the state championships, as he will be headed to Embry-Riddle Aeronautical College in the fall. Pigott, 18, placed seventh in both the 100 Meter and 200 Meter Breaststroke events, with times of 1:13.95 and 2:46.02, respectively.
Ka‘eo Kruse knocked 21 seconds off his previous best in the Boys 11-12 400 Meter Freestyle event. Ka‘eo, 12, finished with a 5:07.76 for fourth place, jumping up from his No. 11 seeding. He competed in three events, notching new personal best times in each.
Adding to the new personal records was Amber Hopkins. Amber, 12, dropped time in both her Girls 11-12 events, competing in the 50 Meter (43.83) and 100 Meter (1:34.65) Breaststrokes.
The brother-sister combination of Sam and Sophie Britzmann each performed well. Sam, 10, knocked three seconds off of his 100 Meter Breaststroke and Sophie, 14, posted a strong time of 2:49.44 in the 200 Meter Individual Medley.
SKA swimmers are already back in the pool, preparing for their next swim at the YMCA in Puhi on Aug. 7. The organization offers age-group programs for swimmers 5-18 and a Masters program for those 19 and over.
For more information, contact club president Dan Britzmann at 639-8792.
