Congratulations to Lahaina Swim Club for finishing in second place at the recent Hawaii Short Course Age Group State Swimming Championships on the Big Island (see story on page 9). The 19-member team achieved its best results at a state competition in the history of the program.

LAHAINA — In a stirring display of determination and dedication, Lahaina Swim Club finished in second place at the Hawaii Short Course Age Group State Swimming Championships held Feb. 24-27 at the Pahoa Community Center Pool on the Big Island of Hawaii.

Guided by veteran Head Coach Tom Popdan, the Lahaina team swam to its best finish at a state competition in the history of the program. The 19-member LSC team totaled 1,648 points in finishing second only to Aloha State behemoth Kamehameha Swim Club.

After the washed out 2021 season due to COVID-19 restrictions, Coach Tom, a physical education teacher at Sacred Hearts School, had been concerned over the condition of LSC team members after the lost year of competition.

No need to worry, Coach.

“The kids couldn’t compete for a year and had to learn how to train on their own,” Popdan explained last week. “They learned how to train at several different practice sites, as the Lahaina Aquatic Center was off-limits and coaches were restricted in contact, and they practiced every day. This effort enabled them to understand what it takes to compete on a higher level to achieve success. The results of the meet is a testament to their effort.”

He added that the LSC relay teams were the main driver to the remarkable finish. Competing in 13 relay events, top placements were achieved in all of them, highlighted by the gold medal in the Boys 800-yard Freestyle race and second place finishes in eight others.

The lineup for the Boys 880 Free team included Eli Hazlet, Jake McGill, TJ Hehemann and Noah Caiserman.

The 11-12 Boys Relay team of Tristan Richard, Levi Stoddart, Cruz Storer and Kaina Yamada earned silver medals in four relay events to add to the points total.

For the LSC girls, the 11-12 team of Emily Gorokhovsky, Jersea Borneman, Abi Rogers and Halia Caiserman captured silver medals in four relay events.

Individually, Gorokhovsky swam to first place finishes in the 100 Individual Medley and 200 Backstroke races, and earned medals in five events and relays.

Sacha Salem was outstanding in the 500 Free, 1,000 Free, and 1,650 Free distance events to stand at the top of the podium for those presentations.

Both girls were in the top five for individual top scorers in the meet.

On the boys’ side, Noah Caiserman won gold medals in the 500 Free and 100 Back, while finishing in second place in four other events. He was also the runner-up in the individual overall points competition.

Noah Richard was the long distance star with first place efforts in the 1,000 Free and 1,650 Free races.

Three LSC records were broken at the event. Jake McGill sprinted to a 22.80 time in the Boys 13-14 50 Free to eclipse the old mark of 23.45 set by Renny Richmond in 2008; Cruz Storer stroked to a 29.80 in the Boys 11-12 Back to break Noah Caiserman’s club mark of 30.77 set in 2019; and then Caiserman came right back to set a new record for the 13-14 Back standard with a time of 27.45 to erase Jordan Yip’s mark of 27.84 set in 2017.

To be sure, the club’s performance was a breakthrough highlight in Coach Popdan’s 25-year tenure with LSC.

“This all points to the outstanding support of parents and families of the kids, and to the hard work of the assistant coaches to produce such a team effort. We saw 90 percent improvement across the board for the entire team. They learned how to train on their own and with coaches on deck, received positive influential support in nutrition, rest and training schedules.”

The LSC coaching staff includes Jen Wiseman, Erica Gaastra and Gabby Lindblad; and the parent group was led by Dave Wintermeyer, Jane Gorokhovsky and Kari Alexander.