Roosevelt swimmer has gained spotlight despite staying out of it

The swimming pool at Roosevelt High School sits directly behind the far end of its football field, beyond the track with a structure that shows the school’s name proudly. But this tall object also blocks the pool from the outside world, making it visible to only the people in it.

Joseph Ahia prefers the arrangement. The reserved Roosevelt senior is constantly honing his craft, always working in silence.

For Ahia, who admits that his sun-lightened hair gives off the look of a surfer instead of one of the top swimmers in the state, the parallels between land and sea are ones that he recognizes and uses to his advantage. When he’s not in the pool, he’s likely to be found grinding away in a weight room.

“Lately, I’ve been really addicted to the gym and seeing progress, helping me improve in the water,” he said. “It’s an everyday thing. I like running and stuff like that. Core, legs, arms — swimming is full body, so it’s really taxing. It’s something you have to manage.”

Ahia is one of many competitive swimmers across the country who compete for a club team in addition to his school. For the past six years, he’s been a member of Makiki-based Splash Aquatics, which is one of the branches of USA Swimming. He trains with the club year-round, typically five times a week.

During the season, Ahia talks to coaches from both sides to organize the best regimen for him. He goes to each at least once a week, and the rest is up to his coaches. If one team is doing sprints the whole week he’ll go there for two days. But if there’s something his coaches want him to key on, he’ll lean toward that team for the week.

To balance out the labor between practices and workouts, Ahia likes to unwind by getting back in the water. Makapu’u is his favorite spot for body surfing, and he likes the concept of not having to race someone when getting wet.

But not for long.

“The daily grind, it’s just something you have to sacrifice a lot for to get to where you want to be,” he said. “If your mind’s not there, then you’re not gonna get there. Eventually you’ll get somewhere, you just have to push through.”

As a 2005 inductee of the Hawaii Swimming Hall of Fame after an accomplished water polo and swimming career, Roosevelt head coach Susan Nishioka understands the club circuit and wants to be accommodating toward Ahia. Part of that is because she knows how rare a talent he is.

“We have someone of his caliber maybe once every 10 or 20 years passing through Roosevelt,” Nishioka said. “It makes me really happy to know that we have this kind of talent in our area. We’ve been very fortunate the past few years.”

Ahia has continued to set and break his own records in the OIA. As a sophomore, his 59.55 in the 100 breaststroke eclipsed the previous record of 59.61 at the OIA East championships. At that same meet, he teamed up with other Rough Riders to break the 200 medley relay record time of 1:43.02 by posting a 1:39.94.

As a junior, Ahia’s 200 individual medley time of 1:55.80, 100 breaststroke time of 57.91 and role in the 200 freestyle relay (1:30.22) were OIA records and earned him gold medals.

In last week’s OIA championships, Ahia’s 21.02 in the 50 freestyle set another conference record, and he improved on his 100 breaststroke with a 56.77. He was also on the winning 200 freestyle relay team.

“It’s a really humbling experience. When you swim and set records, it puts a lot of pressure on you,” he said. “It’s really special, but records are meant to be broken and that’s just how it is.”

Splash Aquatics will lose Ahia’s services this fall when he enrolls at the University of Hawaii, where he has earned a swimming scholarship. He says he didn’t think of any other schools because staying at home was a priority.

Ahia is also approaching the home stretch of his high school swimming career, with the K. Mark Takai/HHSAA Swimming and Diving Championships coming up Friday and Saturday on Kauai. Ahia has yet to win a gold in state competition, with his best finish a silver medal in last year’s 50-yard freestyle.

“There wouldn’t be any other team I’d want to swim for besides Roosevelt because their support here is good. Whether we’re good at a certain event or not, they don’t look at the negative,” Ahia said. “They look at it as an opportunity to get better. I love this team.”

“I just hope he does well at the next level,” Nishioka added. “Although we’ll go for states first.”