Mokihana Aquatics swimmer Leigh Idica, 10, posted a perfect meet to claim Swimmer of the Meet honors at the 68th annual Keo Nakama Invitational swim meet that wrapped up Sunday at the Veterans Memorial Aquatic Center on Oahu. “When you
Mokihana Aquatics swimmer Leigh Idica, 10, posted a perfect meet to claim Swimmer of the Meet honors at the 68th annual Keo Nakama Invitational swim meet that wrapped up Sunday at the Veterans Memorial Aquatic Center on Oahu.
“When you have a perfect meet, or best times in all her events, that’s hard to beat,” said Mokihana Aquatics coach Orlando “O” Anaya. “In her 10 events, she made two new state qualifying time standards, or HI AAA, in the 200 individual medley (3 minutes, 23.30 seconds) and the 100 breaststroke (1:45.78). She also scored three points for the team for her 6th place finish in the 100 butterfly.”
Idica’s greatest improvement came in the 200 IM where she posted an improvement of 12.72 seconds, and added a new time in the 50 butterfly (44.12) where she finished with a HI AA rating.
Of the five participating swimmers from Mokihana Aquatics, Chloe Inouye, 9, finished with new best times in eight of her 10 swims, her best showing coming in the 200 IM (3:19.07) where she trimmed 9.01 off her seeded swim for a state qualifying time. She also finished with eight state qualifying swims.
Ian Raquel, 10, just missing top swimmer honors at the latest home meet, also fared well with eight new best times in 10 swims, including two state qualifying time standards coming in the 200 IM (3:34.22) and the 200 freestyle (3:05.73). He fell short of a state swim in the 100 butterfly (1:47.19) for a HI AA time standard and a 7th finish for two team points.
The older swimmers fought, but did not fare as well as the 10-year-olds.
Kamaira Silva, 11, finished with one state qualifying swim — the 200 freestyle (1:10.02) where she finished in ninth place, just out of the team scoring. However, her swim was enough for a 1.97 second trim off her seeded swim. This was one of two events where she posted new best times, the other coming in the 100 freestyle (1:11.20) for a 0.96 second improvement.
Tyler Tanaka, 12, after aging up, finished with seven HI AA time standards, including his one new time in the 400 freestyle (5:50.81). He also posted a 0.96 improvement in the 200 IM (3:07.84).
Anaya said Mokihana Aquatics swimmers have two remaining events before the calendar ends — the Long Course state championships, and the Mokihana Aquatics Fun Meet 2016.