Despite a last-second, unexpected earlier start time, Justin Chow was able to shrug off the inconvenience and capture the male division at the Richardson Roughwater Swim on Sunday.
Chow, a 2021 Kamehameha graduate, finished in 23 minutes, 2 seconds, behind Noelani Vargas, who won her fifth women’s title – and first overall – in 21:49 at the one-mile open ocean swim.
Vargas, a 2009 Hawaii Prep graduate who swam at Loyola Marymount University, couldn’t be reached for comment. (The Trib reached Chow by cellphone; there was no advance notice to the media, and by the time the Tribune-Herald’s photographer arrived at the beach, both winners were showered and gone).
Vargas previously won the wahine division three times between 2009-12, and she added a fourth title three years ago. Madison Hauanio, in 2016, was the last female to win the race outright.
Chow thought his 15-19 age division was supposed to start at 9:20 a.m. but when he arrived during the check-in time from 6:45 to 7:30 a.m. he was told his race would start at 8 a.m.
“I thought it was organized,” Chow said. “The race was good. The water was choppy, sort of how Richardson is supposed to be. It felt pretty good. I didn’t know I won until later. It was nice.”
Chow entered the race for the first time in 2019. Last year’s race was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
It was sort of a deja vu for Chow, who seized the BIIF backstroke title as a junior, only to see his senior season canceled by the pandemic.
When the Sparky Kawamoto pool opened on Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays, Chow got in his workouts and swam on his own.
“I wish I had a senior season,” he said. “I started working out and lifting weights to stay active.”
He’ll head to Puget Sound on Aug. 19 and swim backstroke and freestyle for the Loggers, who compete in the Division III Northwest Conference, which is known to have a host of Hawaii products in all sports.
No surprise, Chow has friends at other Northwest schools and visited the Tacoma, Wash., campus and found his collegiate home.
“I like the campus,” he said. “It’s a great place for me going forward.”
Chow will major in exercise science and hopes to become a physical therapist after being influenced by his mom, Michelle, who’s a nurse at Hilo Hospital.
“My mom works in the medical field, and one day she brought me to the hospital and showed me the physical therapy and that made me fall in love and want to do that in the future,” he said.
His dad, Keola Chow, is a heavy equipment operator, and his sister Nia is a Kamehameha freshman, who plays soccer.
When he watched the Olympics, Chow was most impressed with Japanese skate park silver medalist Kokona Hiraki, who’s a fearless 12-year-old. Japan’s Sakura Yosozumi, 19, claimed gold, and Britain’s Sky Brown, 13, grabbed bronze.
“I tried skateboarding at 12 years old, but I wasn’t good at it,” Chow said. “I tried a lot of sports, soccer, basketball, baseball but wasn’t good at any of them. I tried swimming and was pretty good at it and stuck with it.”
Chow had the typical Hilo swimming background story. He started at 9 years old and joined Jon Hayashida’s Hilo Aquatic Club.
What he learned helped him win his first Richardson Roughwater Swim title.
“Hard work and patience,” he said.
Chow might add setting an early alarm clock, too.
