It was a tough week for the Swim Kauai Aquatics team with the loss of team parent, Mike Splittstoesser, who died Sept. 6 at the age of 49. With his wife Lisa’s consent, the meet was named in his honor.
It was a tough week for the Swim Kauai Aquatics team with the loss of team parent, Mike Splittstoesser, who died Sept. 6 at the age of 49. With his wife Lisa’s consent, the meet was named in his honor. He was a great supporter of the team, especially to all the young swimmers. He always had an encouraging word and a warm smile, and he will be missed dearly.
The Mike Splittstoesser All-Island Pentathlon was a virtual meet open to all the Hawaiian Islands that took place Sept. 9. Teams from each island swam the same events and submitted the results to a common data base. They were then ranked against each other to see how the swimmers matched up against all swimmers of the same age and sex.
“It was a good kickoff meet for the winter season,” said coach Curt Colby.
The next qualifying meet is on Oct. 7 at the YMCA.
“We will get back to work and keep on improving our conditioning and technique so we can qualify for the Bill Smith Meet & Senior (Championships) and State (Championships) in Kona,” Colby said. “Again, I thank the parents and officials for volunteering to make these competitions possible for these athletes.”
The events included all strokes and culminated in a 100-meter individual medley. There were many standout swims from more than 40 SKA swimmers. The top swimmer of the meet was Mahina Dameron, 10, who achieved first place of all the island swimmers in her age group. Next highest rank swimmer was Jack Machorek, 16, who pulled off four out of five best times for a second place of all the 16-year-old boys. Other swimmers in the top 10 of their categories were Marcus Robinson, 17, in fifth place, Akira Williams, 16, in fifth place, Ryden Williams, 14, in seventh place, Isaac Vallance, 14, in eighth place and Alana Cayabyab, 14, in eighth place.
Swimmers completing all five events and placing in the top 20 were: Silas Adams, 9, in 12th, Pulama Kaeo, 10, in 13th, Nicolas Rojas, 10, in 17th, Chloe Inouye, 11, in 15th, Trevyn Nishimura, 11, in 11th, Nevaeh Ibanez, 12, in 11th, Kamaira Silva, 12, in 13th, Lucas McSweeney, 13, in 13th, Olivia McSweeney, 14, in 20th and Dutch Fairbanks, 16, in 14th. Two other swimmers who completed in all the ranked events were “T” Perriera, 11, and Daisy Asai, 13.
First-time competitor honors went to: Zeke Adams, 5, Riley Carl, 11, Taylor Carl, 9, Pope Curren, 11, Koi Pope, 7, Maddox Robinson, 9, and Kohlton Sanchez, 8.
Swimmers who had new personal bests and new qualifying times were: Moses Adams, 8, who had all best times in five events. Ace Cayabyab, 6, who had a new “A” time in the 50-meter butterfly. Luke Ibanez, 7, who had four out of five best times. Kaolu Kaeo, 7, who had three out of five best times. Maiha Kjeldsen, 7, who had four out of five best times. Mai Kjeldsen, 9, who had three out of five best times. Natalie Lett, 12, who had three out of four best times. Moanna Liddell, 6, who had four out of five best times. Kiki Nishimura, 6, who had four out of five best times. Ahonui Perreira, 9, who had two out of five best times. “T” Perreira, 11, also had a new “AA” time which qualifies him for off-island meets.
New “AA” time qualifiers are: Nicolas Rojas, 10, and Marcus Robinson,17. Julia Safford, 15, had three “AA” times and Lei Sitani, 14, had one out of four best times. Both Henry, 8, and Lucy Whitmore, 6, had two out of five best times.
