Lahaina Swim Club achieved an impressive fifth place finish at the Hawaii Age Group Short Course Swimming Championships last month.

LAHAINA — The golden arc of success for Lahaina Swim Club continued two weeks ago with a fifth place team finish at the Hawaii Age Group Short Course Swimming Championships at the R. Mark Takai Veterans Memorial Aquatic Center at Waipahu, Oahu, on Feb. 16-19.

Behind the leadership of stalwart head coach Tom Popdan and a dedicated support group of assistant coaches, board members and parents, LSC charged to several record-setting performances and point scoring efforts to total a remarkable 1,364.50 points in the team standings — behind only the Oahu behemoths Kamehameha, Aulea, Iolani, and Punahou — for the fifth place title and the top Outer Island team finish among the 21 competing teams.

Cruz Storer and Sacha Salem blazed the way for LSC throughout the competition, as both finished the meet as the top scorers and record-setters in the Boys 11-12 and Girls 13-14 divisions.

Storer won seven gold medals and one silver to earn top point recognition in the meet. He also set NINE meet records over the weekend.

Salem piled up big points for LSC with seven gold medals and a first place finish in the Girls 13-14 age group, and she broke the existing record in the 500 Free event.

Youngster Kealani Aly also shone brightly in the U-10 age group with a top finish in that division.

The Boys 11-12 200 Free Relay team of Cruz Storer, Max Dudley, Tristan Richard and Noah Heimer also set a meet record on their way to the top of the podium at the event.

The team effort was completed with points scored across the board by Mia Merrill, Tim Hehemann, Eli Hazlet, Emily Gorokhovsky, Noah Caiserman, Halia Caiserman, Jersea Bormeman and Maison Alexander.

LSC’s successful showing at the championship meet was due to the performances of these swimmers and the relay teams.

Multiple swimmers finished in the top three of the individual events, and the relay teams showcased their teamwork and coordination as they finished in the top three in several highly competitive races.

Coach Popdan is assisted by Jen Wiseman, Erika Gaastra, Gabby Linblad, Jack Pope and Silver Aly (who served as strength and conditioning coach for the West Side team). “We also get a tremendous boost from the organizational help of Dave Wintermeyer, as well as continuing support from Jane Gorokhovsky, Amy McGill, and Kari Alexander,” he added.

“The most important aspect of this is personal improvement throughout the season. And we saw this in 90 percent of the swimmers with individual high marks in the meet. Noah Caiserman is a team leader, as he set a great example for the younger kids to follow. We’ve had some of them in the club since their younger days, and they all accelerate amongst themselves competing against each other in a positive way. They embrace the positive competition to make the whole team better,” the coach explained at a recent “extra” practice on a Sunday evening at Lahaina Aquatic Center.

“Our special thanks goes out to the Sophie DeLoria Foundation and Maui Luxury Real Estate for their support of the program, and to the Lahaina Aquatic Center staff for their continuous topnotch upkeep of the facility,” Coach Popdan concluded.