Pac-Five’s Summer Harrison is back, and apparently she is faster than ever.
Harrison broke her own record in the 100 butterfly at the Kalani Invitational on Saturday, covering the pool in 56.88 seconds to beat teammate Michaela Yamashita by a full three seconds. Harrison clocked a 56.95 last year, when she took being in the pool every day for granted.
Harrison stayed dry for three months in the summer following the state championships after suffering a back injury. She has been in the pool for six months now, but the stretch on land is never far from her mind. The Mid-Pacific senior has since committed to San Diego State.
"It was hard, it depressed me," Harrison said. "But it also gave me a new perspective on why I love swimming. It means so much to me, and I realized that when I was injured. Life takes away the thing you love, and it turns into just a little bump in the road."
Harrison and the Wolfpack went through three-hour practices immediately before Friday’s trials and yesterday’s finals, but they still had enough love for the water to compete with the best from Oahu. Harrison said she only entered the 100 fly on Saturday to go for her year-old record, and breaking it signaled that good things are on the horizon for her team.
"I wanted to break that record," Harrison said. "I have been training really hard, I thought I could do it and I did, so I am super stoked about that. Especially since I could help out the team."
As fast as she was, Harrison lost the most anticipated race of the meet, the 50 freestyle. Harrison and Punahou’s Jasmine Mau were lined up side-by-side in that race, and Mau, the state champion in the 200 IM and 100 fly, grabbed the early lead and touched the wall 0.47 seconds quicker at 24.28. They never threatened Keiko Price’s meet record of 23.68 in 1996, but if they stay in the event all season, records will be in danger. They immediately reached over and congratulated each other after the race, as they often do.
"We have been going against each other since we were 10 years old," Harrison said of Mau, who is committed to Cal. "We have had this rivalry since we were young ‘uns. We have helped each other get faster because it is so much fun to have someone next to you who is super fast. It’s awesome, I love it."
The whole point of the Kalani Invitational is to get a clue into what will happen in league championships and states, and that one race could be a harbinger of things to come. Harrison’s crew swept the ILH and state championships last year, ending Punahou’s two years at the top.
"We don’t know what we are going to do with (Mau) yet. We have to sit down and look at it," Punahou coach Jeff Meister said. "But if they get together, that will be great. A senior battle right down to the end and the team race will be close. That will be fantastic."
Punahou swept both team races on Saturday, with the girls beating Pac-Five by eight points and the boys beating ‘Iolani, with defending state champ Kamehameha third.
"It was a great middle-of-the-season performance for us," Meister said. "It is always fun to win, but I don’t think it is a predictor of later on. The winning is great because it brings everyone together."
Mid-Pacific’s Lena Hayakawa was the big individual winner of the meet, taking first place in four different events. She swam the 200 free in 1:54.11 to beat Punahou’s Lia Foster by a full second and later clocked a 1:05.71 in the 100 breast to top Punahou’s Maddie Balish. Hayakawa teamed with Harrison, Erika Kakazu and Kayla Ippongi to win the 200 medley before she and Harrison helped Maia Petrides and Yamashita to a win in the 400 free.
Kamehameha’s swift duo of Ryan Stack and Kanoa Kaleoaloha each had two individual wins and joined Colin-James Fellezs and Kupaa Naone for a win in the 200 free.
