The Fourth of July fireworks didn’t pop over Kailua Bay until the evening on Saturday, but the morning was filled with explosive competition as nearly 250 athletes ventured into the Kona waters for the King’s Swim.
Daniel Kniseley reached the beach first at the 21st edition of the storied swim, winning with a time of 25 minutes and 14 seconds.
Incoming high school freshman Maile Lawson finished as the top female and second overall, crossing in 25:16. Madeline Foo, the Hapuna Rough Water champ, came in just one second behind Lawson.
Kniseley held a slight lead on the rest of the lead pack as he crossed the welcoming buoys just in front of Kamakahonu Beach, and it seemed like he would cruise to victory. However, things got interesting when he swam to the wrong side of the beach, despite screams and signaling from the eager crowd on shore.
“I had a little lead coming in so I was able to pull it out,” Kniseley said. “Luckily, if you beat somebody to the beach you can usually outrun them if they are still in the water, no matter how much of a mistake you make.”
Nolan Grossman (25:30) and Daniel Manzo (25:53) rounded out the top three male finishers in the 1.2-mile swim, while Madison-Gail Hauanio (26:10) edged Tori Oshiro (26:13) to make the overall female podium.
“The times were a bit slower because there was definitely a current and south swell,” said Steve Borowski, whose Kona Aquatics club hosted the event.
Andrew Ezer, of Honolulu, set the male record of 22:47 in 1996, and 2014 Kealakehe graduate Leahi Camacho holds the overall female record of 23:20 from her 2012 finish.
But despite the slightly slower times, a neat piece of history was made at the race. Kniseley became the oldest champion — male or female — to win the King’s Swim at 54-years-old, and Lawson the youngest, at just 13.
Overall and age group winners alike were celebrated at a post-race awards ceremony, where nearly everyone walked away with a raffle prize or trophy.
“The support we get from people within our club and the community is just unbelievable,” Borowski said. “A week before this thing we had almost no prizes, but people just poured on the support.”
Inspired racing
Kniseley, who moved to Hawaii a little over a year ago, likes to fly under the radar, but has found that hard to do with his open water swim wins piling up.
However, it has led to the retired Florida lifeguard meeting people from all walks of life during his time on the Big Island, including the Hauanio ohana.
Kniseley said he met Madison-Gail Hauanio at Kona Aquatics swim practice leading up to the race. He soon learned of her sister, Phoenix-Claudia Kalelenai’a Hauanio, who passed away after a tragic auto accident on Feb. 14 of this year.
Kniseley praised the strength that the entire Hauanio family showed when tested with a tough situation and found a lot admiration for Madison-Gail’s father, Kaleo Hauanio, a long time Hawaii County employee and lifeguard at Kahaluu Beach.
Kniseley was able to meet Kaleo for the first time after Saturday’s race.
“That guy is a hero and I was thinking about him during the swim,” Kniseley said. “How many people can say they save lives on almost a daily basis? He is more than a lifeguard — he’s a lifesaver. It’s stories like his that really inspire me.”
Kniseley, Oshiro are Triple Crown winners
The King’s Swim wrapped up the Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming. The Cinco de Mayo Splash, held on May 2, and the Hapuna Rough Water on June 13 make up the swim series. To be eligible for the Triple Crown, swimmers must race in all three.
The Triple Crown uses lowest cumulative time between the three races, but Kniseley made it easy, pulling off the American Pharoah-esque feat of taking top overall honors at the trio of races. His combined time was 67:59.
It was a different story on the female side. Tori Oshiro captured the female crown without winning a race. She had the low cumulative time of 70:39.
The King’s Swim top three male finishers were in the same order for the Triple Crown. Grossman finished second with a cumulative 68:54, and Manzo followed at 69:32.
Kuulei Patterson finished second among females at 72:55, and Hannah Tomlinson earned third with a combined total of 74:19.
BikeWorks Beach & Sport revived the race for the Triple Crown a few years ago, and have seen numbers increase every time out.
“It is just going to continue to grow,” said Ellie Sumic of BikeWorks, who headed up the Triple Crown awards on Saturday. “There are more and more kids swimming and it’s really exciting. But I think a retired lifeguard coming out and winning caught a lot of them off guard.”
Sumic said nearly 100 swimmers completed all three races.
Overall Male
1 Daniel Kniseley :25:14
2 Nolan Grossman :25:30
3 Daniel Manzo :25:53
10 & Under Male
1 Duke Becker :32:04
2 Aiden Ankrum :32:27
3 Gared Sarubbi-Monell :40:58
4 Nathan Grocholski Jr :45:01
11 -14 Male
1 Aye Chan San Tun :26:48
2 Max Owens :26:50
3 Weylin Foo :27:08
4 Silas Wiley :29:08
5 Kai Griley :31:50
6 Kaden Parker :32:06
7 Brock Imonen :32:25
8 Kanaipono Eckart :33:01
9 Avan Becerra :33:18
10 Wesley Jr Monty :33:21
11 Luka Wohi :33:46
12 Julian Nelson Langacker :34:30
13 Finnigan Morton :34:36
14 Kaimana Stewart :35:57
15 Alec Ankrum :41:19
15 -18 Male
1 Matthew Ostrem :27:00
2 Kai Bunnell :28:43
3 Jordan Kamimura :29:01
4 Greg Kathe :30:20
5 Nahia Kaulai Pilago :40:57
6 Sean Jesser :41:07
19 -24 Male
1 Ky Foo :26:46
2 Cody Hamane :26:47
3 Nathaniel Goodale :26:51
4 Carter Suzuki :26:58
5 Thomas Kuhn :27:52
6 Jonah Hu :28:31
7 Dare Uy :30:07
8 Grant Zukeran :33:44
9 Brian Kispert :35:37
10 Nainoa Akiona :35:53
25-29 Male
1 Joe Kent :30:04
2 Robert Chadwick :33:43
30-34 Male
1 Keololani Oka :32:39
2 Petter Manzoli :34:56
3 Nicolas Takamine :37:44
4 Ted Shaw :38:30
5 Henoch Heimana :38:34
6 John Atchison :41:11
7 Scott Ast :42:24
35-39 Male
1 Martin Heckmann :32:37
2 Jacob Lindsay :33:20
3 Mike Bennet :34:22
4 Jonathan Carroll :41:12
5 Nathan Grocholski Sr :45:02
40-44 Male
1 Lee Imonen :35:45
2 Kaleo Pilago :35:56
3 Adam Andrum :36:12
4 Jason Curry :36:47
5 Lance Oliver :36:49
6 Che Pilago :38:23
7 Todd Kinkade :41:29
8 Marko Reumann :41:42
9 Chris Wickersham :42:32
10 Jeff Fosta :45:42
11 Erik Basden :49:57
45-49 Male
1 Chad Owens :28:50
2 Ed Doherty :29:11
3 Brent Imonen :29:39
4 Danny Becker :31:28
5 Ed Wetherell :32:15
6 Michael Smith :33:26
7 Steve Schlom :33:35
8 Charlie Becerra :33:48
9 Chad McBride :34:46
10 Mog Mather :37:14
11 Michael Karson :37:39
12 John Ferdico :37:49
13 Hiro Yanagihara :39:34
14 Vegard Fyrileiv :41:33
15 Diego Tamburini :41:57
16 Jay Keen :42:16
17 Chitwin San Tun :43:18
18 Doug Henbost :43:29
19 Richard Robinson 1:04:04
50-54 Male
1 Matt Dixon :26:36
2 Mark Noetzel :29:04
3 Derek Monell :29:30
4 Marq Prince :38:13
5 Rob Van Geen :40:07
6 Roy Dollwet :40:31
7 Peaman :41:55
55-59 Male
1 Don Baldassari :31:41
2 Alfred Kent :32:35
3 Robert Murray :33:55
4 Bob Hoxsie :33:56
5 Paul Carney :35:28
6 Stanley Lee :35:29
7 Lloyd Talbert :37:11
8 Daniel Berg :37:41
9 Robert Puaokalani :37:47
10 James Sakai :41:03
11 Rick Bergstrom :41:04
12 David Mattice :42:34
13 Kelly Shaw :42:39
14 Giovanni Paciello :43:01
15 Tim Wiley :50:50
60-64 Male
1 Jd Devins :32:32
2 Steve Halsey :34:04
3 Peter Morton :35:39
4 Les Lindsay :35:48
5 Norman Wessel :35:51
6 Steve Dailey :36:29
7 James Tuscany :37:02
8 Daniel Piccuta :40:33
9 Bob Ranfranz :40:59
10 Danny Jesser :42:37
11 Michael Traub :46:27
12 John Miller :50:25
13 Robert Nacario :58:42
14 Joe Florendo :58:47
15 Richard Ritter :58:56
65-69 Male
1 Jim Mcleery :31:00
2 Jim Budde :32:20
3 Tom Sena :32:44
4 Ron Ahloy :33:03
5 Steve Mcelrath :36:32
6 Steve Sugar :37:38
7 Walt Andreae :38:04
8 Douglas Dierenfield :41:37
9 Dane Decker :42:39
10 Peter Bresciani :44:41
11 Jack Hoyt :51:06
12 Paul Dolinoy :53:48
13 Terry Wigzell 1:00:34
70-74 Male
1 Bob Smith :33:51
75 & Over Male
1 Dennis Osier :42:38
2 Warren Harlow :55:09
3 Paul Patnode 1:13:14
No Age Male
1 David Viejo :39:18
2 Jim Wyban :45:12
========================
Overall Female
1 Maile Lawson :25:16
2 Madeline Foo :25:17
3 Madison-Gail Hauanio :26:10
10 & Under Female
1 Jillian Schlom :31:16
2 Kiana Wiley :33:11
3 Hope Neufeld :37:16
4 So Myong Jeong :37:45
5 Lilo Fyrileiv :40:22
6 Bella Shurley :40:35
7 Jada Keen :40:40
8 Jayden Hall :43:35
11-14 Female
1 Ku’ulei Patterson :26:53
2 Mary Campbell :29:41
3 Hannah Boatman :31:02
4 Isabella Zambrana :31:23
5 Makena Becker :31:45
6 Kaitlyn Tang :32:10
7 Alana Grossman :32:42
8 Keakoa Pinter :32:47
9 Maile Akiona :33:05
10 Loea Andrade :33:57
11 Jennifer Kamimura :35:39
12 Hana Wigzell :37:34
13 Ryanne Doherty :38:46
15 – 18 Female
1 Tori Oshiro :26:13
2 Taylor Doherty :26:52
3 Hannah Tomlinson :28:19
4 Sheridan Nelson Langacker :31:34
5 Kara Decarvalho :36:53
6 Lailan Uy :37:36
19 -24 Female
1 Cara Jernigan :27:03
2 Alyssa Foo :27:05
3 Beth Tsuha :28:40
4 Bhillie Luciani :30:39
5 Chenoa Jesser :32:46
6 Kaula Pilago :37:40
7 Leire Montoya Ruiz :38:15
25-29 Female
1 Sarah Sermons :31:05
2 Beata Tou :34:28
3 Megan Beattie :35:39
4 Crystal Banning :39:32
5 Brittany Sorenson :41:09
30-34 Female
1 Tara Brown :44:27
2 Sarah Szewczyk :50:22
35-39 Female
1 Bree Wee :27:10
2 Kristin Old :34:02
3 Morgan Butler :35:41
4 Patricia Winter :36:51
5 Rani Henderson :38:38
6 Andrea Jasper :42:06
40-44 Female
1 Lori Oka :32:36
2 Susannah Mistr :38:07
3 Patti Hatzistavrakis :40:53
4 Emily Moore :41:35
5 Ali Steiner :42:29
6 Kai Imonen :43:44
7 Saala Larson :44:52
8 Renata Goetzendorfer :45:46
9 Robin Coonen :46:17
10 Jenny Payne :50:53
45-49 Female
1 Tina Doherty :32:23
2 Christine Winn :34:00
3 Kim Clingman :37:05
4 Serena Puaokalani :38:00
5 Tiffany Chow :41:53
6 DeAnna Adams :42:19
7 Carol Earles :45:05
8 Kate Nawahine :54:39
50-54 Female
1 Brenda Avery :29:13
2 Jennifer Stabrylla :32:12
3 Ginger Thomas :36:41
4 Catherine Shannon :41:22
5 Jeannette Vidgen :41:26
6 Lisa Week :41:40
7 Leanne Pletcher :45:37
8 Janet Manzo :53:22
9 Brenda Nelson 1:00:36
55-59 Female
1 Glee Jewell :30:09
2 Lisa Parsell :35:55
3 Reiko Sekine :36:30
4 Marcia Nora :40:09
5 Tami Macaller :42:32
6 Sheaneen Gedayloo :42:35
7 Jodie Hagerman :45:48
8 Laura Rogers :45:53
9 Pam Miller :47:05
10 Vicki Pendergrass :53:19
11 Janet Roberts :58:37
60-64 Female
1 Merry Finch :33:24
2 Sam Marhn-Ekings :35:45
3 Barbara Taylor :36:43
4 Mary Kent :37:29
5 Laurie Beers :40:42
6 Donna Goodale :41:01
7 Chris Wong :41:02
8 Jan Wilson :42:10
9 Mindy Gruber :42:40
10 Linda Hallinger :45:07
11 Linda Pollack :45:39
12 Robin Woodley :46:52
13 Toni Arthur :50:20
14 Christine Ogarman :53:31
15 Ellen Jackson :54:16
65-69 Female
1 Patti Kiernan :38:26
2 Jane Dierenfield :39:29
3 Linny Vermeire :53:29
4 Wendy Clark 1:01:52
70-74 Female
1 Susan Lalanne :47:41