WAIKOLOA — Anaehoomalu Bay was the place to be on Saturday as the Triple Crown Swim Race Series kicked off with the Anaehoomalu Splash. The Triple Crown is hosted by the Kona Aquatics Club and is a challenging series of three open water 1-mile swims that includes the Hapuna Rough Water swim on June 11, and the Kamakahonu Swim on July 1.
Saturday witnessed 250 participants dive into the crystal-clear waters of the bay to compete in the 1-mile open water swim — all eager to test their endurance and skill while vying for the prestigious Anaehoomalu Splash title.
“This is our second year hosting all three races of the Triple Crown and it’s exciting,” said Triple Crown series race director Dave Gibson. “It’s perfect conditions this morning. The ocean is nice and flat and we are currently getting all of the buoys in place so we are looking forward to a fast race. We have 250 entries this year. Last year we were at 175 so it’s great to see the growth. We are outside of the COVID window and people are out and active so we are actually looking forward to a fast and big race this year. It’s great to see it all come together.”
Back to defend his title was last year’s Triple Crown champion Nathaniel “X” Rose, as well as Brock Imonen, who placed second last year. On the women’s side, the title was up for grabs as last year’s Triple Crown women’s champion Michelle Axelson didn’t compete. Gibson said that the swimmers to watch were Jayden Hall, Susan Groff and Brenda Avery.
With the strong Waikoloa winds settling down into a gentle breeze, conditions in Anaehoomalu Bay looked nearly picture perfect before the 8 a.m. start of the 1-mile swim.
The competition immediately heated up as a whitewash of arms and legs charged toward the first yellow buoy with many spotting curious green sea turtles along the way.
In a thrilling finish, Kamuela’s swimming powerhouse, Imonen, emerged victorious in the men’s division with a stellar time of 20 minutes and 9 seconds. California’s Alex Kostich followed closely behind in a time of 20:13, with New Zealand swimmer Hugo Batchelor taking third in 20:15.
Imonen, who is currently a junior at UH Manoa and competes on the men’s swim team, attributed his win to having a renewed motivation to swim, and new coaching staff at UH Manoa who have been supportive of his training.
“I did a lot better!” Imonen said. “I feel like I have more motivation so I’ve been swimming a lot more. Last year after college season I had to take a break and figure out what I wanted to do. This year we have a new coaching staff (at UH Manoa) so I’ve been swimming a lot more. The UH coaching staff has been really supportive of this so it’s nice to be able to get away to swim today.”
The 21-year old Kamuela resident said the game plan was to take it out hard, then see where everyone else was, and then proceed from there.
“We started out in three little groups,” Imonen said. “Myself and Hugo were together when we started, X was kind of towards the middle, and the other guy, Alex, started on the far side. Then at the turn buoy, we all grouped up and tried to race each other to see if we could drop someone. But that didn’t happen. So, we came around the turn and started lining up shoulder to shoulder and drafted each other on the way in and just hoped someone would drop.”
On the final stretch, Imonen said he put his head down and went as hard as he could, knowing that if he didn’t, he would get caught at some point. “It was now or never.”
Imonen said he felt really good to win Saturday’s swim race which was his third overall win at the 1-mile distance. He previously won the event when it was called the Cinco de Mayo Splash in 2018 and 2019.
“It’s been awhile since I’ve felt good,” he said. “It’s not my first win but it’s been a while since I had a race where I’m really happy with the result and not be in my own head about it. So, it was definitely nice to come into it and feel like whatever happens, happens. Then to finish having the race that the three of us had, and to finish the way I did was really nice.”
For Kiliheamaikalani Oka, winning was not on her radar. The 13-year old Kealakehe Intermediate School 7th grader surprised herself when she sprinted out of the water as the first female in a time of 22:31. Her victory was certainly an improvement from last year’s event where she placed 35th overall and was the 14th female out of the water.
“I thought I was like, last place,” laughed Oka . “Every time I looked up, I saw a bunch of whitewater which made me think there were a lot of people in front of me. But I felt I started off really good. I kicked a lot of people at the beginning (laughs). Yes, it was part of the plan to kick hard and get a good start but there were also people in front. People think that by being in the front they will go faster, but they kind of don’t.”
Oka said that her strong start worked as she found open space to swim on the way out. After hitting the turn buoy, she noticed there were a few swimmers bridging back so she had to pull and kick a lot harder than usual. Once she hit the sandy beach of Anaehoomalu Bay, she was all by herself.
“I feel happy to win,” Oka said. I’m pretty sure my mom knows I won but what’s really funny is my dad does not want to believe me. I’m trying to tell him it’s true but he thinks that I’m making it up! I really like this event at A-Bay. Out of the three swims in the series, I like this one best because it is usually the calmest one.”
Following Oka in the women’s division were Jayden Hall and Colleen Wahlstrom with their times of 22:41 and 22:56 respectively.
The Anaehoomalu Splash marked the first leg of the Triple Crown Swim Race, a series of three open water 1-mile swims that includes the Hapuna Rough Water swim on June 11 and the Kamakahonu Swim on July 1. With the success of Saturday’s Anaehoomalu Splash, you can be sure the upcoming legs of the Triple Crown Swim Race will be just as thrilling and exciting!