Huitenga cruises to easy win in Roughwater Swim

Less than 24 hours after completing the Pan Pacific Championships’ 10-kilometer open water course off Ulua Beach, Maui, Simon Huitenga was back racing in the waters off Waikiki Beach for what he called a "sweet swim."

As hundreds of onlookers made their way onto Waikiki Beach on Monday morning to start the Labor Day holiday amidst light, variable winds and sun-soaked sand, the 26-year-old swimmer was hard at work adding to his aquatic accomplishments.

Huitenga, a professional open water swimmer from Perth, Western Australia, held off a pack of talented competitors en route to claiming the 45th Annual Waikiki Roughwater Swim along Oahu’s south shore. Huitenga crossed the finish line in 45 minutes, 36 seconds and edged fellow Perth native and Australian Swim Team member and two-time defending event champion Rhys Mainstone by five seconds.

Yasunari Hirai (45:48), Alexander Studzinski (46:01) and Wallace Eggleton (46:26) rounded out the top five, challenged Huitenga and Mainstone as part of the lead group and all finished more than two minutes ahead of Mainstone’s winning time last year. Colin Happ (54:04) was the first Hawaii finisher at 20th place overall while also winning his 17-18-year-old division.

"It was the first time I’ve done this race, so I followed Rhys," said the resourceful Huitenga, who was spooked briefly when he came across a green sea turtle that popped up in his path. "On the way in I could see the waves coming, so I held back a little bit. I picked up this little runner that spat me out, took me about 200 meters and (gave me) a couple body-lengths’ lead, which was enough to hold them off."

Nearly 1,000 competitors began the competition at San Souci Beach between the Waikiki Natatorium and New Otani Hotel and completed the 2.384-mile event at Duke Kahanamoku Beach fronting the Hilton Hawaiian Village. The course took swimmers 0.42 miles out into open water, 1.44 miles along a path parallel to Waikiki Beach, and 0.52 miles back into shore.

Swimmers enjoyed favorable currents and could, at times, utilize the waist- to head-high swells to their advantage.

"It was a solid race from all the boys. I was really waiting until the final turn to try and catch a wave, but I was too far to the left and Simon was more to the right where (the waves) were breaking a lot more," Mainstone said. "I actually saw a shark and a turtle, so it was pretty nice."

Both Huitenga and Mainstone, who finished fourth (1:52:14) and 10th (1:55:00) in Sunday’s race, both mentioned that they are in the early stages of preparation for next year’s Olympic trials, during which they will compete for spots in the 10-kilometer sprint event at the 2016 Games in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. Mainstone was also racing to raise awareness for the Black Dog Foundation, an Australian not-for-profit facility dedicated to helping men deal with mental health and depression-related issues.

Sixteen-year-old Becca Mann won her second Roughwater Swim in three years, and returned after taking last year off to win in 51:22—13 seconds ahead of runner-up Kareena Lee of Australia. Cherelle Oestringer (54:48) was Hawaii’s top female finisher.

"Yesterday was my focus and this race was kind of for fun; I wanted to see how well I could do," said Mann, who also competed in the Pan Pacific Championships the day prior.

"I really want to come back next year."

Mann trains with the North Baltimore (Md.) Aquatic Club and won the championship at the Open Water Nationals earlier this year.

Mann said she plans on taking a vacation on Lanai before returning to her training and school schedule.

Competitors needed to complete the course in 2 hours and 40 minutes or less, and wear a swim cap throughout the entire race in order to be deemed an official competitor.

Participants were divided into five heats, which took off at five-minute intervals, with the "A" group composed of elite swimmers — prior overall and division winners, the top 100 finishers from last year and current NCAA and high school All-Americans — starting the competition.

As one of the world’s largest and most prestigious roughwater swimming events, the Waikiki Roughwater Swim attracted participants representing countries from Asia to Europe. The diverse field included swimmers of all ages (the youngest competitor was 9 years old) and experience levels, from casual competitors to world-class and Olympic-caliber athletes.

Professional triathlete Timothy Marr of Honolulu used the event as a fun-yet-challenging training segment a day after completing a 100-plus-mile bicycle training run.

Marr (58:30) finished 50th overall and also notched third place within the men’s 35-to-39-year-old division.

"What’s neat about this race is you’re swimming along the shore, and once you make the first right turn, you can see all the buildings and Kapiolani Park — it seemed like it took forever to get to the park," said Marr, who noted that a strong cross current early on gave way to favorable ocean conditions he likened to "swimming in a pool.

"Today, there was basically no chop and that’s unusual for this race. I didn’t have a very good start, and before I knew it, I was way behind. Swimming is a vital part of triathlons, so I had fun with this."

Marr explained that while the event carries great prestige locally, it is perhaps more renowned overseas, including in countries like Australia, from which some of the world’s top athletes hail.

"When you win this as an Australian, it’s probably a bigger deal there," Marr said. "This race has a ton of tradition, brings together some of the world’s best athletes and is by far the highest-quality swimming event in Hawaii."