STATE SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS
Iolani sweeps boys, girls state swimming

By Christie Wilson
Neighbor Island Editor

MARK ECKERT JR.

NOA SAKAMOTO

RANDALL TOM

CHELSEA NAGATA

MEREDITH EGLORIA

The event, held at Sakamoto Pool, was consolidated into a single day when stormy weather forced officials to cancel Friday's preliminary heats. That meant swimmers were given only one chance in each event, with the medalists determined by time, not their placing in a final heat.

Iolani's Mark Eckert Jr., who turned in the day's only record-breaking performance, said the one-day format helped push his performance. He blazed to an 8.4-second victory over second-place finisher Andrew Lester of Moanalua in the 200-yard individual medley, and clocked 49.79 in the 100-yard backstroke event, besting the previous meet record of 49.95 set in 2001 by former teammate Hongzhe Sun, who now attends Stanford.

"The mindset that I only had to swim one race got me excited, and the fact that it was my last states," said Eckert, a senior who plans to attend California. "I had wanted to break the record. I've been trying for awhile to break 50 (seconds)."

Eckert holds three individual state high school records and shares in three relay records.

The All-American was also a member of Iolani's winning 200 freestyle relay that beat Punahou, which stayed close in the point total to its ILH rival throughout the overcast and breezy day.

The Buffanblu benefited from Noa Sakamoto's repeat gold medal performances in the 200- and 500-yard freestyle events. Sakamoto, a senior who is headed to Stanford, also was a member of Punahou's winning 200-yard medley relay.

Iolani was leading by only four points heading into the final race, the 400 freestyle relay, and needed to beat Punahou to secure the title. The Raiders led comfortably from start to finish, while Kamehameha placed second and Punahou was third.

Seabury Hall's Randall Tom, another All-American swimmer along with Eckert and Sakamoto, easily won the 100 butterfly and 50 freestyle, but missed his goal of breaking both meet records. Tom said getting only one shot at each event made him more nervous, and he even shaved his body hair to gain speed for only the second time in his swimming career.

"I tried to shave down, but I missed some spots," he said, glancing down at his legs.

Kapolei's Ed Afualo capped his high school swimming career with his fourth consecutive gold in the 100-yard breaststroke.

"It's over and I'm just proud of what I've accomplished and proud to be a part of swimming," said Afualo, who said he felt extra pressure from the consolidated meet format. "It made me determined because I knew I had only one shot. Things can go wrong and you can slip at the start. I needed to have a perfect swim," he said.

Gerald Bolson of Kamehameha was the only competitor to win gold while swimming in a heat of slower qualifiers. The junior took the 100 freestyle event in 47.85, a personal best that was two seconds faster than his qualifying time. He also won three other medals.

All-American swimmer Chelsea Nagata of Maui High narrowly missed setting new marks in two events. She set a personal best and came within .03 of besting a 25-year-old record by Punahou's Kathy Shipman in the 100-yard butterfly. Nagata was the only swimmer in the event to break the one-minute mark, finishing in 55:24.

Nagata, who is headed to UC Irvine, also won the 100-yard backstroke event, her 58:08 finish just off the 1983 record of 57.97 set by Steph Lister of Punahou.

Meredith Egloria, a Kapolei sophomore, won the 50- and 100-yard freestyle for the second straight year.

Kalaheo freshman and All-American Brittany Beauchan's victory in the 100 breaststroke helped her five-member squad finish second behind Iolani in the team standings, the school's best showing in the state meet. Punahou was third.

The Iolani girls did not have any individual winners but won all three relays.

It was Iolani's third girls title. The Raiders won previously in 1998 and 1996.

The victory bodes well for the Raider girls, since half the 12-member team are freshmen, Iolani boys and girls coach Brian Lee said.

Correction: A previous version of this story had the wrong scores.