As a group of 15 swimmers huddled around Kona’s legendary Hall of Fame swim coach before the start of Saturday’s Cinco de Mayo Splash one-mile swim race, Steve Borowski’s advice to his pupils was like gold.
“Remember to stay to the far right on your way out. There won’t be any other buoys except for the one turnaround buoy. Sight off the coconut trees on your way back. If the sun comes out, the trees will help because the finish line is right here. But remember, have fun.”
While his words may have been rather straightforward on how best to navigate Anaehoomalu Bay’s swim course — frequented with as many turtles as those who find themselves swimming off-course — his calming and guiding voice was just the confidence boost everyone needed to shrug off some last minute race jitters to swim their best.
“It’s because these kids are a little faster, that I tell them to start on the right side,” Borowski said just before taking on morning duties as race announcer. “It’s our little secret. I like for them not to be in the middle of the crowd at the start to avoid getting hit. The left side is fine too. One side or the other is always best as the middle is always chaos.”
Borowski’s pre-race winning predictions in the past have always been spot on and Saturday was no different.
“Maile Lawson and Ku’u Patterson are both here,” he said. “Those two would probably be up there unless there are visitors. There are also two HPA boys who are faster than the two, Brock Imonen and Aapo Eerola. So I would say, Brock would be the favorite today.
“And today the conditions are good. Everyone was a little concerned of a little tidal swoosh because of yesterday’s earthquakes and tsunami possibility — which there was a small one in Hilo yesterday. I would say the conditions are excellent, especially since there is no sun, no wind and no swell right now. So we have three pluses all right here.”
Earthquakes that shook the island the day before left many concerned on whether the festive swim race would be canceled due to tidal concerns. However, the only waves in Anaehoomalu Bay were from 224 swimmers and a heated front pack contending for the win.
And just as Borowski predicted, Kamuela’s Brock Imonen and Kuuleionalani Patterson, of Captain Cook, took top honors with their winning times of 21 minutes, 18 second and 22:56 respectively.
“The conditions were great but the course might have been a little bit long as the fast swimmers should’ve been under 20 minutes,” Borowski said. “It was a good horse race. There was a pack of swimmers up at the front and they were all men. A bit unusual.”
Borowski explained there is typically a top female swimmer in the mix with the men and there have also been females who have won this race outright in the past. But for whatever reason, this year was different, including the second place female being a 53-year old Masters swimmer, Brenda Avery, who finished in an impressive time of 23:43.
While everyone’s attention may have been focused on the front pack of fast fish, for a few, the tranquil conditions were a perfect way to start a fun and festive day with their kids.
Kamuela’s Sylvia Ravaglia enjoyed swimming with her 10-year old daughter, Tiffany, and former professional triathlete, Brent Imonen, escorted his son Zane. Even Keola Oka and his daughter Kilihea were all smiles running up the beach and into the finisher’s chute.
And if all open-water swim races ended when a swimmer pops up from the water after their feet touch sand, race results would be very different. But these events add another level of difficulty as it culminates with a beach sprint to the finish line.
That was just the case for Kailua-Kona’s Rob Murray and myself. Last year, he was a few strokes ahead of me in the swim but struggled to find his running legs on the sandy beach. This year, it was déjà vu all over again.
“Aw c’mon!” Murray yelled in his West Virginian twang as he scrambled up the sandy beach to clock in one second behind me. “No fair you passin’ me on the beach like that!”
I laughed and for added emphasis did a fist pump in the air. A girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do, right? Murray will just have to wait till next year or next month at the Hapuna Rough Water swim race for any paybacks.
For Kailua-Kona’s Danny Becker, the one-mile swim turned out to be a good learning experience on how to improve upon his racing strategy for next time.
“I picked a guy to draft off of and then it felt easy,” Becker said. “Then I tried to go around him and then it was hard. So we kept going back and forth until near the end, when I decided to just go for it. I was definitely happy with the outcome and learned how I can use someone’s draft for a better result.”
The Hapuna Rough Water Swim slated for June 9 and is the second leg of the Triple Crown Open Water Swim Series, followed by the King’s Swim on June 30.