As participants made their way down to the Hapuna Beach shoreline, no one could deny the picture-perfect conditions that lay before them — sunny skies and tranquil waters with a glass-like aura.
Sunday’s Hapuna Rough Water Swim was the second leg in the Triple Crown Swim Race series named after Hapuna’s frequent rough water swimming conditions.
“It’s early and so it’s very flat and calm but Hapuna has a reputation that when it gets a little later in the day, the wind picks up and it gets a little rougher and that’s why it’s called the Hapuna Rough Water Swim,” said Triple Crown series race director and head coach for the Kona Aquatics, Dave Gibson. “Right now, the conditions look to be about perfect. There’s not much current and the wind hasn’t quite picked up so we are in good shape so far. It should be a fast race today.”
The 1-mile triangular course had swimmers race in a clockwise direction starting from the center of Hapuna Beach, then to the south end, followed by a long straightaway parallel to the shoreline (south-to-north), and finally back to the center with a sprint up the beach.
“Hapuna Bay is a lot shallower than Anaehoomalu Bay so we try to keep the swimmers inside the bay because once you get outside of the bay you get more ocean currents, the waves pick up, so from a safety perspective, it’s safer to swim inside the bay itself,” Gibson said. “We have the same winners back (X Rose and Michelle Axelson) but also some different competition. We’ve got about 50 more entries in this race, we are at over 230, which brings a lot more talent out to the race.”
Like most open water swim events, the race began fast and furious with a flutter of arms and legs thrashing causing a whitewash of commotion. After the first turn buoy on the south end, it became clear there was a small group in front leading the field.
“Right now, I see Brock Imonen and X Rose out in front of the group,” Gibson commented spotting the top swimmers who cleared the halfway point. “I can see them and I know their stroke. It’s a beautiful day, and things are going really well.”
However, by the time the top swimmer rounded the third buoy on the North end, it became clear it was neither Rose or Imonen. Gibson was no longer sure who was leading the field by such a large margin.
As the swimmer hit the final buoy and proceeded to sprint up the beach to win in a blistering time of 19 minutes and 36 seconds, it turned out to be none other than FINA World Masters Champion, Ceri Edwards, of Portsmouth, United Kingdom.
“We are on holiday — my partner is also swimming — and we were actively looking for something fun to do while here,” Edwards said after catching her breath. “Just before we came, we were looking for events and Hapuna happens to be my partner’s favorite place in the world — he lives in California and I’m from the UK — and it’s my first time to the Big Island.”
Edwards obliterated the field by nearly a minute leaving last month’s Anaehoomalu Splash Champion, X Rose, finishing second overall and first for the men’s division in a time of 20:33. Kamuela’s Jeff Faiola was next to finish in a time of 20:55, with Brock Imonen rounding out the men’s podium in 21:03.
When Edwards was asked of her swimming background, the humble 44-year old kept the conversation light and not on her world-class resume.
“I was just having fun as I do this for fun, everything was absolutely beautiful. This was just fantastic — it’s absolutely stunning,” she said. “I had no race strategy, only to have fun and enjoy it.”
Edwards, who is employed as a project manager for the oncology department in the UK running clinical trials for cancer research, said she returned to Masters swimming about five years ago after taking a 20-year break due to medical reasons. Googling her name revealed that Edwards won double gold at the 2019 FINA World Masters Championships in Gwangju, South Korea, followed by another gold medal a month later in the Women’s 5K Open Water National Masters Championships in her home country.
“I decided to start swimming open water events for fun, then I met my other half in the Caribbean, and I’ve been swimming since.”
Just then, her boyfriend, Kevin Donlon, finished his race.
“I’m not surprised,” Donlon chuckled when told his girlfriend just won the Hapuna Rough Water Swim.
Donlon’s finishing time of 21:50 also happened to place him right in between the second female finisher, Susan Groff (21:49), and third female finisher, Karlyn Pipes (21:52).
Anaehoomalu Splash female winner, Michelle Axelson, was next in 21:56, with Kailua-Kona’s Brenda Avery in fifth at 22:00.
X Rose said that he was feeling strong and having a good race until getting thrown off-course heading out to the first buoy.
“It started to get bumpy,” Rose said. “A bunch of us kind of got thrown off to the right, and then we tried to get back in and went all the way to the other side before hitting that first buoy. We got back on track but our group had to work harder.
“On the back half, it was good except there was some weird currents that seemed to be throwing everything off. It was more challenging on the back half (the long straightaway parallel to the shoreline), it was choppy, bumpy, and then I started to get arm cramps but I know that happens to everybody. Overall, it was nice, tiring, but it was good.”
Race announcer Eddie-O, a 2015 Kona Ironman World Championship finisher and branding specialist for Nutrex Hawaii makers of BioAstin and Spirulina, who is currently apprenticing at Supercuts to get his barber’s license, summed up the morning with gratitude.
“I would like to get this message out to anyone participating in local sporting events whether they are swimming, cycling, running, or doing triathlons. After the COVID-19 pandemic, we have to look back and remind ourselves that we can’t take these events for granted. Now things are coming back — the local runs, Honu, Ironman, the Triple Crown of Swimming, and the upcoming Ohia Lehua Volcano Runs — it’s so good to be back but I have to remind everyone who is participating, let’s not take this for granted. Lucky we live Hawaii!”
The Triple Crown Swim Race Series will wrap up with its final open water 1-mile swim event, Kamakahonu Swim, on Sunday, July 3. The swimmer with the fastest accumulated time from all three races (Anaehoomalu Splash, Hapuna Rough Water Swim, and Kamakahonu Swim) will be deemed Big Island’s best — the Triple Crown winner.
Registration is open for the Kamakahonu Swim race on the Triple Crown website: www.oceanswimhawaii.com.