Kamehameha’s latest state swimming championship was 369 days in the making.
Two days after the Warriors celebrated their 2012 boys title on Maui, they were already working toward a repeat. They completed that task on Saturday at the Duke Kahanamoku Aquatic Complex in the OC 16/HHSAA State Swimming and Diving Championships.
"Five minutes after they won they were already talking about this year, that was to me the most impressive part," Kamehameha coach Kevin Flanagan said. "Most teams, they’re satisfied; our boys weren’t. That’s what will stick with me the most about this team, and I think their performance kind of showed that.
"We won last year on a Saturday and we were back in the water on Monday."
Kamehameha swept the relays, highlighted by two record-breaking performances, and captured the boys program’s third state championship. The Warriors posted 60 points to finish 13 ahead of runner-up Punahou.
Kamehameha junior Ryan Stack won the 200-yard freestyle and senior Kale Ai claimed the 500 freestyle title and both contributed to record performances in the 200 and 400 freestyle relays.
Ai swam the anchor leg on the 200 relay and the Warriors set the meet record with a time of 1 minute, 24.56 seconds, surpassing the mark of 1:25.22 set by ‘Iolani in 2002.
"People say swimming is an individual sport, but relays like that show it’s as much of a team sport as you can find," Ai said.
The Warriors closed the meet by finishing the 400 freestyle relay in 3:06.69 to break another record, previously held by ‘Iolani since 2003.
"We try not to focus too much on records and things like that," Flanagan said. "We try to get the kids to focus on optimizing their potential and that stuff happens. If they’ve prepared well all year and focused on all the little things, then those things will come."
Austin Hirstein of Island Pacific Academy won two events and broke the meet’s longest standing record with his victory in the 100 breaststroke.
Punahou’s Chris Woo had owned the mark since posting a time of 55.99 seconds in the 1976 state meet. Hirstein finished in 55.91 in an event he’d considered his weakest before devoting more focus to it in December.
"I started dropping time really fast in the breaststroke and I didn’t realize the record was 55.99," said Hirstein, who also won the 200 individual medley. "I figured I might as well give it a shot and everything came together perfectly."
Punahou’s Noah Deer did his part to help the Buffanblu push Kamehameha for the title in winning the 50 and 100 freestyle. In the 100, Deer trailed Stack by half a body length before an explosive final turn propelled him to a comeback win.
"Me and Ryan are pretty equal in speed in the swimming portion of the race; the turns were really what it was going to come down to," Deer said.
Seabury Hall senior Renny Richmond completed a perfect run in the 100 butterfly, winning the event for the fourth straight year. He fell short of the record he set last year, but took satisfaction in owning the event throughout his high school career.
"The record was good and all …but having the title for all four years, it’s good to know that," Richmond said.