Iron sharpens iron and Aukai Lileikis sharpens Kanoa Kaleoaloha.
And vice versa.
An afternoon filled with highlights in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu swimming and diving championships at ‘Iolani School included the two rivals going at each other with titles and records at stake.
One day after Lileikis, a Punahou junior, set an ILH record in the 100 freestyle, his nemesis — more like frenemy — bested him. Lileikis’ mark lasted just one day before Kaleoaloha, a Kamehameha senior, took the record. Kaleoaloha covered four laps in just 45 seconds flat, edging Lileikis in Saturday’s final by 15 one-hundredths of a second.
Lileikis’ mark set in Friday’s preliminary round was 46.29.
The 100 freestyle record was just one half of a sterling Saturday for Kaleoaloha, who also broke the mark in the 50 freestyle with a time of 20.35. That shattered the previous mark of 20.92 held by another Warrior, Davis Kane, in 2006.
Lileikis didn’t go home empty-handed, though. He broke the record in the 200 individual medley with a time of 1 minute, 49.86 seconds. The previous mark was held by Kacy Johnson of ‘Iolani (1:53.24).
The fury of their battles was simply mesmerizing for onlookers, but the two laughed a lot after the meet. Their rivalry is good natured.
"It’s an opportunity for us to get better. It’s kind of fun competing with each other," Kaleoaloha said.
"Yeah, I think it’s really fun because we push each other and get better at the same time," Lileikis said. "I probably wouldn’t be here without him."
Lileikis credited his teammates for giving him a big boost in his record-breaking 200 IM.
"A lot of my teammates were yelling for me, which helped me a lot," he said. "I was, ‘All right!’ "
Punahou took the boys team title with 64 points, well ahead of Mid-Pacific (47), Kamehameha (38), ‘Iolani (34), Pac-Five (31) and Le Jardin (26).
The Buffanblu girls made it a sweep in team competition with 71 points. ‘Iolani (60), Kamehameha (52), Mid-Pacific (26), Pac-Five (23) and Le Jardin (8) followed.
Though Le Jardin didn’t get far in the team standings, the Bulldogs girls were superb individually with two ILH titles, the first female champs in the program’s history.
Junior Clancy Doyle followed up her 24.22 time in the 50 freestyle on Friday with a winning time of 24.56 in the final on Saturday. She was seeded third coming into the weekend, and suddenly was seeded first going into the finals.
"She was a little nervous," coach Joseph Glenn said. "She’s never been a first seed."
Doyle admitted that it felt different not being an underdog.
"Yeah, there’s definitely a lot more pressure being seeded first and your whole school watching you, too. I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to it, but it’s definitely a great feeling," said Doyle, who also competed in two other events, including a relay.
"I’ve heard of so many great swimmers from our school. To know that I was the first girl champion was great, actually."
She had never swum before competitively. In fact, Doyle is a water polo player who converted to swimming for her school team only recently. Swimming two fast laps in the 50 freestyle is no trouble for her.
"Fifty is so short, I just go for it and don’t think about (the time)," she said.
Minutes after Doyle won her title, Abbey Mitchell got hers in the 100 breaststroke.
"I’m so proud of her," Doyle said.
Mitchell, just a freshman, wasn’t quite so nervous. She was seeded second entering the league championships, then posted the best time on Friday in the trials.
"I kind of went in with more confidence. I was not nervous," said Mitchell, who swims for Aulea Swim Club year-round. "I think it’s pretty cool. I think (Coach) Joe is trying to develop something here at Le Jardin and I’m excited to be part of it."
"For our school, it’s a pretty big deal," Glenn added.
Mid-Pacific had its own unique twosome with senior Lena Hayakawa and her brother, freshman Allen Hayakawa. Lena won the girls 200 and 500 freestyle, and Allen won the boys 200 and 500. Their aggressive, muscular style in the water belied their stature out of the water. Lena stands around 5 feet 4, and Allen is a slender 5-10 or so.
"With these events, it was pretty much a leftover. My coach and I made sure everybody qualified and got points for the team, and I got the leftover (events) because I really like swimming a lot of events," Lena said, noting that she normally swims breaststroke and other events.
Despite their natural rivalry as siblings, Lena is proud of her brother.
"Awhile ago, he was around 8, he wasn’t fast at all. He was in one of the lower groups and no one really paid attention to him. He was actually kind of mad about it. He was aggressive about it and tried super hard. It paid off a lot," she said.
Allen was 12 when he began to match — and beat — her times.
"The whole time I told him, ‘I’m faster than you, you’ll never beat me, not ’til you’re 13.’ Once he surpassed me, I was pretty mad about it, but pretty happy at the same time," Lena said.
Allen normally does long-distance events, which makes a day in the 200 and 500 relatively light.
"She takes it out really good. I look up to her," he said. "She’s a fast swimmer."
ILH Swimming and Diving Championships
At Kamehameha
x-meet record
GIRLS
1. Punahou 64; 2. Mid-Pacific 47; 3. Kamehameha 38; 4. ‘Iolani 34; 5. Pac-Five 31; 6. Le Jardin 26.
1-meter diving
1. Anna Archibald, MPI, 393.40; 2. Deborah Wen, Pun, 378.65; 3. Kylie Acoba, KS, 370.
200 medley relay
1. Punahou (Katie Woo, Maddie Balish, Lia Foster, Madison Meister) 1:51.22; 2. Pac-Five 1:54.10; 3. Mid-Pacific 1:54.64.
200 freestyle
1. Lena Hayakawa, MPI, 1:52.53; 2. Cagla Brennan, Iol, 1:56.32; 3. Hiilani Hopkins, KS, 1:59.10.
200 individual medley
1. Sydney Kimura, Iol, 2:09.11; 2. Maddie Balish, Pun, 2:10.88; 3. Leia Deer, Pun, 2:14.84.
50 freestyle
1. Clancy Doyle, LeJ, 24.56; 2. Madison Kauahi, KS, 24.75; 3. Lia Foster, Pun, 25.25.
100 butterfly
1. Rebecca Walton, MPI, 58.05; 2. Hiilani Hopkins, KS, 59.27; 3. Maddie Balish, Pun, 1:00.06.
100 freestyle
1. LeGrand Pound, P5, 53.38; 2. Clancy Doyle, LeJ, 53.85; 3. Madison Kauahi, KS, 53.93.
500 freestyle
1. Lena Hayakawa, MPI, 5:01.47; 2. Rebecca Walton, MPI, 5:07.23; 3. Cagla Brennan, Iol, 5:14.71.
200 freestyle relay
1. Kamehameha (Madison Kauahi, Payton Bosque, Hiilani Hopkins, Maliana Kaui) 1:41.32; 2. ‘Iolani 1:41.96; 3. Punahou 1:43.59.
100 backstroke
1. Lia Foster, Pun, 57.38; 2. Sydney Kimura, Iol, 1:00.36; 3. Katie Woo, Pun, 1:01.79.
100 breaststroke
1. Abigail Mitchell, LeJ, 1:09.25; 2. Anna Harder, P5, 1:09.74; 3. Katherine Guevara, P5, 1:12.77.
400 freestyle relay
1. Punahou (Natassia Dunn, Leia Deer, Lia Foster, Maddie Balish) 3:37.13; 2. Mid-Pacific 3:39.56; 3. ‘Iolani 3:41.75.
BOYS
1. Punahou 71; 2. ‘Iolani 60; 3. Kamehameha 52; 4. Mid-Pacific 26; 5. Pac-Five 23; 6. Le Jardin 8.
1-meter diving
1. Jacob Cornish, Pun, 499.50; 2. Ethan Okazaki, MPI, 365.50; 3, Evan Iwanaga, KS, 354.45.
200 medley relay
1. ‘Iolani, 1:39.85 (Chase Nakamura, Albert Lee, Sung Je Lee, Daniel Chae); 2. Punahou, 1:42.16; 3. Pac-Five, 1:42.38.
200 freestyle
1. Allen Hayakawa, MPI, 1:47.05; 2. Kaeo Kruse, KS, 1:48.21; 3. Trevyn Maruyama, Iol, 1:49.45.
200 individual medley
1. Aukai Lileikis, Pun, x-1:49.86; 2. Albert Lee, Iol, 1:58.99; 3. Chase Nakamura, Iol, 2:02.89.
50 freestyle
1. Kanoa Kaleoaloha, KS, x-20.35; 2. Kekoa Vieira, Pun, 23.10; 3. Jake Gaughan, Pun, 23.24.
100 butterfly
1. Sung Je Lee, Iol, 51.64; 2. Bobby Ky, Pun, 55.03; 3. David Kea Jr., KS, 55.59.
100 freestyle
1. Kanoa Kaleoaloha, KS, x-45.00; 2. Aukai Lileikis, Pun, 45.15; 3. Gabriel Hanaoka, P5, 48.92.
500 freestyle
1. Allen Hayakawa, MPI, 4:45.41; 2. Sung Je Lee, Iol, 4:51.84; 3. Kaeo Kruse, KS, 4:52.02.
200 freestyle relay
1. Punahou, 1:29.65 (Aukai Lileikis, Jake Gaughan, Sean Kwon, Bobby Ky); 2. Kamehameha, 1:32.07; 3. Pac-Five, 1:31.53.
100 backstroke
1. Kekoa Viera, Pun, 54.71; 2. Amos Jun, Iol, 57.46; 3. Akira Kanamaru, MPI, 59.15.
100 breaststroke
1. Albert Lee, Iol, 59.01; 2. Chase Nakamura, Iol, 1:01.69; 3. Sam Levin, Pun, 1:01.69.
400 freestyle relay
1. Punahou, 3:16.76 (Kekoa Vieira, Aukai Lileikis, Sean Kwon, Mykah Fujiwara); 2. Kamehameha, 3:17.17; 3. ‘Iolani, 3:20.54.
