To truly appreciate what Pearl City High School rising senior Shanelle Choi has accomplished this summer, you have to let your imagination wander.

Imagine, for example, how Lance Armstrong would do in a mountain bike race. Imagine how 100-meter record holder Usain Bolt might fare in a marathon (or Honolulu Marathon winner Jimmy Muindi in a quarter-mile dash). Imagine extreme speed eater Kobayashi sitting down to a 12-course Chinese dinner.

Local swimming afficionados are already well aware of Choi's mastery in the pool. A gifted sprinter, Choi is the defending OIA champion in the 50-meter and 100-meter freestyle. She also placed third overall in the state championships for the 100-meter butterfly.

But Choi has been turning heads in and out of the water this summer with her dominance at much longer distances — in a decidedly different venue.

Swapping chlorine and black lines for salt water and churning ocean, Choi, 16, has placed first in the elite women's division in three out of three events so far in the North Shore Swim Series.

She finished 19th overall in the series-opening Raging Isle Sprint, a one-mile open-ocean race, with a time of 20 minutes, 31.3 seconds.

She cracked the top 10 overall in the 1.2-mile Cholos 2000, then recorded her best finish so far — sixth overall — in the 1.6-mile Surf 'n' Sea Chuns to Waimea Swim.

She'll go for the series sweep in tomorrow's Surf 'n' Sea North Shore Challenge, a grueling 2.3-mile race from Pipeline to Waimea.

"It's like two different races," Choi says, contrasting the intense sprint work she does for Pearl City and the high-endurance rough water competition of the North Shore series. "Even now, I have to try and mentally prepare (the differences) between long and short."

HER OWN LITTLE WORLD

Choi trains for two hours a day, six days a week.

"She's a very dedicated swimmer and she excels because she works very, very hard," says Pearl City swim coach Ken Suenaga.

Charger teammate and best friend Sarah Billiamosa echoes the sentiment: "She's very humble and very dedicated. She's really focused on reaching her goals in swimming. She might not want to say so, but she is."

Still, her priorities are never in question: Academics first, then swimming.

Choi is more than equipped to handle herself in the classroom. In the pool, she's benefitted from her first coaches at the Hawai'i Swim Club, for whom she first started competing at age 7, and by the wealth of experience shared by Suenaga, one of Hawai'i's most successful and respected prep and club coaches.

Since transferring to the Kamehameha Swim Club last year, Choi has also gained from the eagle-eye attentions of former Punahou standouts and Olympic candidates John and Kevin Flanagan.

"I feel so honored," Choi said of working under the Flanagans. "They give swimmers their undivided attention. They know my stroke and what I'm capable of. They also work with me individually on my stroke, tempo, how much I'm pulling, and my kick."

Younger than most of her senior classmates, Choi, 16, is used to the expectations and demands that come with being a precociously talented student-athlete — and how to deal with them.

"Swimming has been my life but sometimes it's a love-hate thing," she says. "Sometimes I get so frustrated with myself. Sometimes I can get so caught up in swimming that I almost burn out. That's when I have to step back."

Still, when it's time to compete for Pearl City, Choi has been able to gather her energies for consistently impressive performances. Her routine is simple but effective: Sit to the side, fire up some Chris Brown on the iPod, and think about the mechanics of her stroke."

"I just go off in my own little world," she says, laughing.

REMARKABLE VERSATILITY

There is no faster, more intense pool event than the 50-meter freestyle. It takes ferocious effort and concentration and then it's over. Open-ocean distance swimming requires an entirely different mentality and approach. Yet, Choi has excelled at both.

Chris Moore, himself a dominant swimmer, likens Choi's all-around abilities to that of local swimmer and coach Joe Likeikis.

"There are some swimmers who are just good all around," he said. "You could speculate that if she competed in long-distance in the pool, she might be right at the top there, too.

Moore said he's eager to see whether Choi can complete the sweep of series events tomorrow.

"It's very much a rarity," he said. "It's probably been done only once or twice in the last 25 years, but she's shown that she can do well. It'll be exciting."