Lahaina Swim Club earns third place finish at state meet

Lahaina Swim Club athletes achieved many top finishes on their way to placing third in the team standings at the Hawaii Age Group Swimming Long Course Championships.

LAHAINA — In the first post- pandemic championship event of the year, Lahaina Swim Club burst out of the blocks to score a top finish at the Hawaii Age Group Swimming Long Course Championships at Kihei Aquatic Center on July 14-17.

Spearheaded by a run of gold medal performances across several boys and girls age groups, LSC earned the overall team bronze medal for third place behind 50th State behemoths Kamehameha Swim Club and Hawaii Swimming Club.

Some 400 young athletes represented the 20 clubs in the championship meet.

Led by coaches Ryan Martines, Alicia Wintermeyer and Silver Aly, the LSC lineup for the state showdown included Kealani Aly, Jersea Borneman, Halia Caiserman, Noah Caiserman, Emily Gorokhovsky, Jacob Gorokhovsky, Eli Hazlet, Knox Heimer, Noah Heimer, Tristan Richard, Sacha Salem, Miranda Somers, Levi Stoddard, Lila Stoddard, Cruz Storer, Legend Storer and Kaina Yamada.

In this top-level competition of the state’s best youth swimmers, Lahaina Swim Club’s gold medal winners and Hawaii Age Group State Champions included Noah Caiserman in the Boys 15-18 Butterfly; Sacha Salem in the Girls 13-14 1,500 Freestyle, 200 Individual Medley, 800 Free and 400 Free; Emily Gorokhovsky in the Girls 13-14 100 Fly; Eli Hazlet in the Boys 13-14 400 Free; Noah Heimer in the Boys 11-12 50 Free; and Kealani Aly in the Girls 10 and Under 100 Backstroke, 200 Free, 50 Back, 100 Free, 400 Free, 200 Individual Medley and 50 Free.

With the multiple gold medals and state titles, Kealani Aly and Sacha Salem were recognized as the Outstanding Performers in their respective age groups. Aly competed in the Girls 10 and Under division, and Salem in the Girls 13-14 competition.

Congratulations to Coach Ryan Martines and assistants Alicia Wintermeyer and Silver Aly for guiding and preparing these young aqua-athletes to this outstanding effort.

Kudos also to the entire team, their families and support groups, volunteers and all who contributed to the success of the 2023 Hawaii Age Group Long Course Swimming Championships.