Joseph Ahia set two records and had a hand in another Saturday in leading the Roosevelt boys to victory in the Oahu Interscholastic Association Swimming and Diving Championships.
Altogether, five boys records were broken on the calm, sunny day at the Veterans Memorial Aquatic Complex. On the girls side, Kaiser earned the title on the strength of its divers.
“It was a very good day,” said Roosevelt boys coach Susan Nishioka, who said the record-breaking 200-yard medley relay team of Ahia, Jun Yueb Yoon, Jonathan Oba and Alexander Croll (1 minute, 38.90 seconds) was extra special. “All schools want to have that record because it shows that you have a good swimmer in each of the strokes.”
Ahia, a Rough Riders junior, now also owns the all-time OIA mark in the 200 individual medley (1:55.80) and the 100 breaststroke (57.91), and his collection of gold on the day swelled to four with his role in winning the 200 freestyle relay (1:30.22) alongside Croll, Reimon Wada and Shaun Saffery.
“It’s pretty big because it’s my first two records,” Ahia said. “And as a team it feels great because we’re supporting each other. The record was there and I wanted to shine.”
Yoon bested the OIA mark in the 100 freestyle (46.34), and also captured the 100 backstroke (53.24). Oba, a fellow Roosevelt senior, triumphed in the 50 freestyle (22.02) and 100 butterfly (51.4), and he and Yoon also swam to victory in the 400 freestyle relay.
“That (medley relay) record means a lot to us, especially the three seniors,” Oba said. “It’s our last year, so we wanted to make it as memorable as possible. Kids coming up looking to break records in years to come can see that Roosevelt was a team to be reckoned with in the year 2017. Rough Riders all the way!”
The Rough Riders scored 281 points and were followed by Kalani (196) in second and Kaiser in third (179).
Kalani’s DongJin Hwang was also a record-breaker (4:33.76, 500 freestyle) and doubled up in gold with a win in the 200 freestyle (1:45.03).
“It’s a good indication that (I’m) doing the right things,” said Hwang, who will swim for Northwestern next season. “There are a couple of things to tweak here and there. Wish I could have gone faster.”
The Kaiser girls had a tense moment during Friday’s trials when its 400 freestyle relay team was disqualified for a clothing infraction.
“That was shaky, but we swam well at the end,” said Cougars coach Asa Tanaka, whose team scored 313 points for the victory. “We were behind, but our diving put us over the top. We’re the only school with a diving board. We won by (29) points. If we didn’t have diving, we would have lost.”
Kaiser’s individual winners were Jill Chaffee (348.95 points, 1-meter diving) and Mari Yasumi (5:12.86, 500 freestyle). Erin Patterson (second in 100 backstroke and third in 100 freestyle) was also a big contributor, according to Tanaka.
The Cougars got an important win from their 200 medley relay team of Yasumi, Patterson, Hanna Heiss and Amanda Le, and the 200 freestyle relay team of Kanoko Niimura, Noelle Nakakura, Jenna Ikegami and Sarah Lorenzo placed second.
Team-wise, the Kalani girls finished second with 284 points, followed by Roosevelt (123) in third.
“It always feels good (to win),” Tanaka said. “Kalani was a big threat and will be a threat for years to come. They have a young team and we’ve got some good, young swimmers, so we’re going to be battling with them for the next three or four or more years.”
The Falcons’ Shirley Li swam to victory in the 200 freestyle (1:57.33) and the 100 butterfly (58.79). Teammates Lina Namatane and Emily Yang were parts of the winning 200 and 400 freestyle relays.
Kapolei’s Mailani Wendt was also a double individual winner — in the 50 (24.71) and 100 freestyles (53.57).