Mililani sweeps girls, boys swimming, diving titles again

The sweep is golden and officially back to back for Mililani.

For the second year in a row, the Trojans won the Oahu Interscholastic Association girls’ and boys’ swimming and diving championships on a cool, overcast Saturday afternoon at the Veterans Memorial Aquatic Center in Waipio.

Mililani’s girls won by a margin of 205 points over second-placed Kalani. Mililani (394) and Kalani (189) were followed by Roosevelt (156), Kaiser (130) and Kalaheo (104) in the 17-team field.

The Trojans boys finished the race with 266 points, followed by Kaiser (205), Kalani (134.5), Kalaheo (130) and Moanalua (129) in the field of 13 teams.

“I feel great. It’s been a long season, our first traditional season,” said Mililani coach Grant Bramer. “Last year was anything but wishy-washy with the COVID protocols. This year every team brought their A game .The whole OIA was back in full force so it was great for these kids to win today.They worked very, very hard.I couldn’t be prouder as a coach.I’m always nervous when it comes to league games.The Children did a fantastic job today.”

Elise Swartwood, a junior, won the girls’ 100-yard IM (2:07.50), placed second in the 100-fly, and also won the 200-meter relay and the 200 freestyle relay.

“Elise has hit a future cut or two, really fantastic. A US swim cut at a high level. That’s huge for national teams for them and their club (competition),” Bramer noted.

Swartwood’s low-key approach is a big part of a winning culture.

“We’ve got a really strong team this year so it’s important for us to compete and push each other, but it’s been a really fun season,” Swartwood said. “There’s just a really good group of people who are not only fast, but we’re really tight as a team and that’s really important.”

Shota Ferreira competed for Mililani’s boys with individual wins in the 100m freestyle (48.05) and 200m freestyle (1:46.57), as well as first places in Mililani’s 200m medley relay and 400m relay.

“Shota has gone insane,” Bramer said.

“I was very nervous for the 200 free. I wasn’t the top seed. There were people I knew, famous guys, very quickly,” Ferreira said. “I just had to tell myself, it’s just a race. No matter what happens, you have to go through with it or you will regret it later.”

Mililani took 1-2-3 in the boys’ diving competition and her girls also placed high, Bramer added.

Two individual records fell, one set by Kalani’s Hailey Takai and the other by Kalaheo’s Tehani Kong. Takai set the tone for Kalani by breaking the OIA record in the 1 meter jump. The junior broke a mark that had existed since 2014 at 510.88. The previous record was held by Nikki Imanaka (448.40). She also swam in the 50 freestyle, 200 medley relay and 400 freestyle relay.

“This year has been tough for me because I haven’t had much board time. The drills here at VMAC have been difficult,” said Takai. “But I got the reps on board and it paid off. I also do Club (Tropic Lightning) so that helped too.”

Takai also won the OIA and States event last year. The state championships are named for her uncle, K. Mark Takai, the congressman and former state representative who died in 2016. Her father, Ross, has coached her since a very young age. Her aunt Nadine (Takai) Day is President of the US Masters Swimming and still holds the 1988 200 freestyle record of 1:52.35.

Kong won the 100 fly in 55.50, breaking the previous 55.63 mark set by Leilehua’s Kaya Takashige in 2019. Her time in the prelims on Friday was 56.37.

“It’s a pretty big record. I remember racing with Kaya in 2019 and she gave me a big goal to achieve and get close to. She killed me when I was a newbie riding her,” Kong said. “She set a crazy time. It wasn’t the best of times for me, but it was just fun to get up and race and try.”

The K. Mark Takai/HHSAA Swimming and Diving State Championships will be held February 10-11 at the University of Hawaii Aquatics Complex.

“In the States I compete against all the private school swimmers and we’re just getting momentum for this meetup,” Kong said. “I love this pool (at UH). Good walls, good turns.”