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In all timed sports breaking certain barriers like the 4 minute mile or 3 hour marathon is always very satisfying. In our local sporting events the goals may be on a lower lever but time and number related barriers are there nonetheless.

Last weekend's double header of swimming and running events saw numerous barriers broken as our island athletes came out in mass quantities to race hard, stay fit, and celebrate our Nation's Independence.

The biggest numerical wall that came down happened on Sunday as 321 swimmers crossed the finish line at the 24th Annual Hapuna Roughwater Swim. Over the past few decades Hapuna has always been the Big Island's biggest and oldest ocean swimming event.

In the past cracking the 200 mark always seemed like a huge
accomplishment but with our island's youth programs like the Academy Swim Club, Kona Aquatics, and the Kona Dolphins continuing to turn out our future champs, Hapuna has seen it's numbers jump up over 260 the past 2 years. As the event organizer I realized it was only a matter of time until we went
over 300 but I thought it would take a few more years.

The start line at Sunday's 1 mile loop was just awesome. Swimmers from 7-year-old Geoffrey Inaba to Bob Oswald who was our most chronologically gifted participant ever at 81 years young, line up in one huge pack of lycra covered bodies to see if they could reach their personal goals.

For the front group breaking the 20 minute mark has always been
considered very good on the permanently set Hapuna course. On Sunday this was made a bit more difficult as cloudy and moderately windy conditions made the race a little more challenging. With a surprise start by super volunteer Turtle, the race was on.

A strong front pack made up of past Hapuna champs James Cotter, Keith Johnson and Ashley Rose as well as 2002 Cinco Swim champ Jim Mellon, Mike McCary and James Wee quickly formed. Just a few seconds behind was a much larger second pack with several top age group contenders and four more wahine contenders Merdeca Rivera, Sierra Binek, Koko Jinbo-Doran and Tammy Okada.

The leaders made the 1 mile course look like a sprint as they blazed through the ocean with ease. During the final few hundred yards Wee, who was 29th overall last year, pulled away from Cotter, the 2001 champ, and the rest of his pursuers with a strong final surge.

Wee ran up the beach and across the line with a winning time of 18:38. Cotter, who is looking very strong in his preparation for this weekend's Tinman Triathlon on Oahu, followed in 2nd at 18:49. Right behind Cotter was the rest of the elite group headed by Rose, the 2000 and 2001 wahine champ, at 18:51. Johnson, the 1990 winner, was next in 18:52. Chipmunk McCary at 18:54 and recent Peaman Biathlon winner Jim Mellon at 18:55 completed a very fast top 6 overall and top 5 kane group.

Rose's nearest wahine competitor was Rivera who crossed the line in 9th overall at 19:48. Binek followed in 12th overall in 20:07. Oahu's Jinbo-Doran took 14th overall and 4th for the wahine in 20:23. Fifteen year old Tammy Okada of Kailua-Kona rounded out the very talented all teenage top five with an 18th overall and 5th wahine time of 20:44.

Since the Hapuna swim has been held 25 times since 1976 you can imagine how hard it is to set an age group record. Even with so many historical times in the books, one wahine and three kane records still went down.

Leading the way was the amazing 55-year-old Bob Momsen who wiped out Jim Budde's 55-59 record of 20:37 set just last year with his 7th overall time of 19:25.

Not too far behind him was Betty Ann Barnett-Sallee of Oahu. At 56 Barnett-Sallee is one of the top masters swimmers in the United States and it showed on Sunday as her 7th place wahine time of 21:25 completely destroyed Marcia Kreofsky's 2000 55-59 record of 27:00.

The day's final finless record went to 81-year-old Bob Oswald who finished with a terrific time of 38:07 and became our most experienced finisher ever.

Dietrich Lawrence, the first finned swimmer across the line, also added his name to the historic record sheets by clocking the fastest time ever on the course. Lawrence easily took down Damon Duval's 1994 time of 18:46 with a fantastic finish in 16:57. Clay Hutchinson at 20:18 and Sandy Sandusky in 21:12 made up the rest of the finned top 3.

Past finned wahine champ and course record holder Antonita Sena topped the wahine list with a winning time of 21:15, well off her previous best of 19:35 set in 1995. Rani Tanimoto at 23:18 and Jen Losby in 23:28 completed the wahine top 3 list.

On a day with so many outstanding winning performances there were also many, many more hidden victories of note. In a new division for 2002, Matt Kelley took home the title of "top finisher in surf trunks" category with his time of 27:02.

Veteran swimmer, and in my opinion the founder of the Hapuna Swim, Mo Mathews completed the race for his 22nd time. Also reaching the 20 finishes mark were Jeanne Knapp, Jane Dierenfield, and Peaman.

The day's most exceptional finish and most inspirational award went to Laak Russell who despite having cerebral palsy completed the course in 1:08:08. Laak, who was escorted this year by his dad George, also finished last year's race with a slightly faster time of 1:06:16. In the true spirit of the Hapuna Swim, Laak's sister Lexi and mom Alexa also swam, making the event a family outing.

Next year's swim will be very special as it will be the 25th annual and 26th overall. We're hoping to get as many former champions, participants and families as possible to join the celebration and once again experience the great atmosphere of family, friends, fun, and fitness that the Hapuna Swim truly represents. Hope to see there on Sunday July 6th, 2003 at 8:00
a.m.!!

Also last weekend our island runners were given the chance to break the 40 minute barrier for 6.2 miles and the 20 minute mark for 3.1 miles at the newly named Lanihau Canter's 14th Birthday Blast. Formerly the Firecracker Blast which was always held on July 4th, the Birthday Blast took place a few days later on Saturday July 6th.

With so much going on over the Independence Day weekend, the Birthday Blast drew only a small field, especially in the 6.2 mile race where only 25 runners showed up. The shorter 3.1 miler brought out 57 dedicated runners and walkers but despite the low numbers the competition was still keen.

In the shorter race Gordon Christie of Kailua-Kona pulled away from our June Sportsperson of the Month, Jason Thorp, to take the title in a fast time of 15:41. Christie led the way for 9 other runners who broke the 20 minute mark. Thorp of Hilo blazed in for 2nd at 16:21. John Beitler, a U.H. Hilo Vulcan runner also from Hilo, took 3rd at 16:55.

The rest of the sub-20 finishers on the slightly short course were Cody Bergfalk (17:29), Noah Kruger-Burgess (18:13), Tom McHale (18:19), Kris Kiser (18:44), Jon Kunitake (19:15), Brandon Okazawa (19:38) and 14-year-old Sammy Nicholas of Chatsworth, California (19:48). Mouse Kelley topped the ladies field with a winning scamper of 24:32.

On the longer 6.2 mile course 50-year-old Kalani Scott came close but was unable to crack 40 minutes with his time of 40:22. Scott was followed by The Road Runner, Rani Tanimoto, who glided across the line 2nd overall and 1st for the ladies at 41:02.

Switzerland's Danny DuBouloz took 3rd overall at 42:27. Masters runners Autumn Johnson and Janet Scott completed the ladies top 3 with their 8th and 10th overall times of 46:09 and 49:19.

This weekend the fun and fitness will continue at The Kings Swim on Saturday morning at the Kailua-Kona Pier. Start time is 8:00 a.m. Call 334-0083 for details.

On Sunday the action jumps over to Oahu where 1,000 of our state's multisport junkies will get their fix at the 22nd Annual Tinman Triathlon. Go get'um James Cotter and the rest of our exceptional Island of Hawaii athletes!

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