It’s been said there’s no better time than now for a fresh start.
That rang true for the Kona Aquatics Masters and Age Group swim teams as on Monday, athletes finally returned to the Kona Community Aquatic Center – a refreshing start after ten long months of not having any organized pool practice or competition.
In addition, a new head coach paced the deck and read off swim sets from a clipboard.
Dave Gibson, who recently took the helm as head coach for the Kona Aquatics swim teams, couldn’t have been happier as 2021 is certainly starting off on a positive note.
“The swimmers were kind of giddy – it’s like they were like little kids,” Gibson said of Monday’s Masters swim team. “They were just so grateful to be back in the water. We made sure to spread out and with 15 swimmers, it was very easy to spread out. We had some very happy people and I know we’ve got more coming later this week.”
By Wednesday, the number of swimmers increased to three athletes per lane for a total of 24 spread out over eight lanes to maintain appropriate physical distancing. Gibson said it’s been an accumulation of working with the County Parks and Recreation Aquatic Division for the past few months trying to figure out how to safely return swim teams to the county pools.
“All the USA swim and age group teams on the island had put together proposals on how they would use the pools once the County reopens and having the county comfortable to how we are planning to use the pools – what the teams were going to do versus what the county was going to do,” Gibson said. “Then it was a matter of timing for the county to figure out when to open the pools.
“So last week they made the decision to move forward as we got COVID processes in place and we’ve learned a lot from the county pools being open already for their limit lap-swimming. We’ve also talked with other teams across the nation to get a good feel about what best practices are across the nation and also picking up ideas from different publications from around the world.”
When asked why the county decided Monday was the perfect time to return teams back to the pool, Gibson stated being flexible with regard to current COVID statistics was a key factor.
“They been talking about it a lot after getting all of the new administration in place and making sure they were comfortable about where we are going,” he said. “I think COVID is in a pretty good place for the county, and they are also going to look at it a month at a time depending on how things are going with COVID. They said, ‘this is not a now we are open forever,’ but we were able to sign some permits and get in the water and stay flexible. That was another thing that we made sure they understood is that we are flexible. We understand that this is a privilege, not a right. I think that having the pools closed we realized that we need to use it safely and follow the guidelines.”
Gibson added the transition back to organized swimming at the pool this week was smooth and seamless.
“It’s much smoother just because people are pretty knowledgeable about COVID,” he said. “It’s not this we don’t know what it is, or how it’s spread, or where it comes from. There’s a lot of good information out there and people are fairly educated so a lot of the mystery is not there. We are able to focus on the simple processes we put in place, we don’t have to teach them about what COVID is because they have learned that over the last ten months.”
About Dave Gibson
Originally from Illinois and a former collegiate All-American swimmer, Gibson – who retired from State Farm Corporate after 35 years – moved to Kona in September of 2018.
“I was a pretty serious swimmer,” said the 60-year-old Holualoa resident. “I swam in college at Eastern Illinois and I’ve coached and competed for 30 years. I’ve raised four of my own kids and so I’ve been in and out helping with their teams and their activities over the years. So, I’ve been involved with a lot of different programs at different times.”
Gibson was president of his hometown Masters team for over ten years and coached both high school and Masters level teams while helping out with summer age-group programs over the years.
“I’ve always swam competitively as a Masters swimmer and I’ve done that for over 30 years,” he said. “I’ve always stayed in touch with the sport and did a lot of community projects and work for pools and aquatics back in my hometown, so it was natural for me to get involved with stuff out here just based on what I’ve done in the past.”
Gibson immediately got involved with Kona’s close-knit swimming community by joining the Kona Aquatics Masters swim team in 2018 under the legendary Hall of Fame swim coach, Steve Borowski. Just two years later, Gibson finds himself as the new head coach.
“We transitioned the age-group team late summer and then we transitioned the Masters team in the fall,” Gibson said. “At that point, neither team was actively swimming so there wasn’t much to do. It was time. I think Steve said he coached for over 50 years and that’s a long time, and that’s thousands of swimmers. That’s both kids and adults so when you look at the impact he’s had on people’s lives over the years, that’s just phenomenal.”
Given Gibson’s lengthy resume as a decorated swimmer along with coaching a wide range of age groups and skill levels over the last thirty years, he said the transition to being Kona Aquatics new head coach “felt pretty natural.”
“Probably the biggest thing is, Steve has done things very similar for years and I come from a little different perspective on some of those things,” he said. “So, things won’t be the same.
It was the feeling of being able to do what’s uncomfortable and what I think the programs need, and with Steve retiring he was able to say, ‘Yep, you are going to need to figure out how to make it work.’”
Gibson credited assistant coaches Jenny Hansen, Glee Jewel, Brenda Avery and Denise
Boatwright saying, “it’s a team effort when it comes to Kona Aquatics,” as the women help to coach the Age Group athletes in the afternoons.
When asked what he would like to see occur in the coming months Gibson said, “I’d like to see more kids becoming active again – it’s great to see them getting back to something they love.
They get to see their friends and workout, and that helps to balance out everything else they got going on with COVID.
“It’s just great to see a lot of smiling faces and happy smiles. And for Masters, just being able to give them the ability to get out. A lot of the Masters have been swimming in the ocean and it’s two very different workouts, swimming in the ocean versus the pool.
“The county was very good to work with to provide this opportunity to the swimming community – both the kids and the adults. It will be good going forward so I really appreciate them working with us.”
Kona Aquatics Club, Inc. is a 501(c)3 non-profit corporation with information about the program found at TeamUnify (https://www.teamunify.com/team/hikona/page/masters).
Masters and age-group swimmers currently follow strict COVID protocols when entering and exiting the aquatic facility (KCAC) with a maximum of five swimmers per lane to maintain appropriate physical distancing. For more information contact Dave Gibson at
dave.swim.gibson@gmail.com.