WAIKOLOA — There was no better place to be on Saturday than Anaeho‘omalu Bay, as more than 230 swimmers left behind the comforts of the pool and dove into the crystal-clear blue for the Anaeho‘omalu Splash, the first of three open water 1-mile swims that make up the prestigious Triple Crown Swim Race Series.
Hosted by the Kona Aquatics Club, the Triple Crown series includes three 1-mile ocean swims: the Anaeho‘omalu Splash, the upcoming Hapuna Rough Water Swim on June 7, and the Kamakahonu Swim on July 5. Each race crowns individual male and female winners, but the ultimate prize goes to the swimmer with the fastest combined time across all three — earning the title of Triple Crown Champion and bragging rights as the island’s top open water swimmer.
Race Director and Kona Aquatics Club head coach, Dave Gibson, was all smiles on the beach as he busily made final preparations for the morning ahead.
“This is our fourth time that we’ve run all three races in the Triple Crown series,” Gibson said. “This is our big swim series and we have a lot of swag to give out and a lot of prizes. We are about 230 registrants this year, it’s a pretty typical year other than we had a lot of late signups compared to past years. Conditions are about as good as you can get in the ocean. There’s not a ripple out on the ocean, no waves, so it’s really good for open water swimming.”
When asked about his pre-race winning predictions, Gibson said there were three male swimmers and two females that stood out to take podium spots.
“I would say Zane Imonen, Ethan Ng, who are both swimming for Kona Aquatics, and Kelan Kennedy with Academy Swim Club, are three of our top kids that are swimming distance ocean races on the island,” Gibson said. “On the women’s side, Kinsey Oka, this would be her third year in a row that she will try to win the Triple Crown series and Merica Miller, who is also training with the Kona Aquatics, she’s right up there with Kinsey. But one of the things is that you never know who will show up to race. It’s always a wildcard to see who’s going to be out there so, it should be a fun race today.”
Kiliheamaikalani “Kinsey” Oka, a 15-year old freshman at Kealakehe High School and two-time defending Triple Crown champion, shared how nervous she felt as she scanned the picture-perfect waters of Anaeho‘omalu Bay.
“I have a lot of butterflies,” Oka said. “It’s every race. I try to take my mind off of things and go talk to people, and talking to coach Dave helps a lot. I’m nervous about the whole aspect of the race, how it’s structured, and then thinking of not doing well, but I think I’ll be okay. The conditions are super nice, and I just can’t wait to go out and swim as we never see conditions like this.”
The race began with a sudden burst of energy and within seconds, a wall of churning arms and kicking legs sent whitewater flying as swimmers surged toward the first orange buoy on the out-and-back course. It quickly became clear that the battle for the top three podium spots would come down to three swimmers locked in a tight race, matching each other stroke for stroke. Gibson was right — it was Ng, Imonen, and Kennedy — and it would come down to a sprint finish up the beach.
As the three reached the shore, Ng and Imonen popped up almost simultaneously with Ng having an edge over Imomen and Kennedy as they sprinted up the beach. Every swim coach will tell their athletes to, “Keep sprinting hard because it not over until you cross the finish line.” In the final steps, Imonen surged ahead of Ng to capture first place in an exciting finish and a time of 21 minutes and 30 seconds. Ng and Kennedy claimed second and third with the same finishing time of 21:31.
“It feels really good!” Imonen said of winning his first Anaeho‘omalu title. “I was kind of surprised. At the beginning I was in the front, but then at the second orange buoy, it was kind of scary because Kelan and Ethan both crept up on me, and then they started passing me, so then I knew I just had to keep pushing. It was a relief because I finally got to draft off of them. On the way in, one of us would go fast, then the others would catch up, so we kept going back and forth all the way till the end.”
For those who follow swimming and triathlons, Imonen’s name may ring a bell. Imonen, a 16-year old sophomore at Hawaii Preparatory Academy and whose favorite subject is chemistry, is the younger brother of the 2023 Triple Crown male champion, Brock Imonen. His dad, Brent, is a former professional triathlete and the current race director for the upcoming Kona Marathon in June. Brent finished the swim in a time of 23:34.
“It feels so good to beat my dad,” Imonen said with a wide smile. “We’re both competitive but he likes to trash-talk me a lot. So, I basically told him he was going down today.”
In the women’s division, it was a picture-perfect fairytale ending for Noelani Vargas, who not only crossed the line first in a great time of 23:05 but also headed straight to her wedding ceremony later that afternoon.
“It feels really good because, I’m getting married today!” said the 34-year old physical therapist at Kaiser. “I actually trained for this and usually I’m kind of out of shape, but today I felt super good and it was like, the cleanest conditions I think we’ve almost ever had here.”
Vargas said her plan was to sprint out hard and stay with the younger kids.
“I got into a good group with some of the boys that swim for the Kona Aquatics and I just stuck with them,” she said. “I had no idea I was leading, I just knew I had a good draft. When I heard my named called (as the women’s winner), I just couldn’t believe it, that was wild! I was hoping to at least get third because the girls are getting so much faster.”
Rounding out the women’s podium spots in second and third were Merica Miller and Morgan Kearney with their times of 23:12 and 23:27 respectively. Defending women’s Triple Crown champion, Oka, was notably absent from the final standings. Oka started the race and looked strong out of the gate but ultimately made the tough call to withdraw mid-course due to a nagging shoulder injury.
With the first swim race now in the books, competitors have their eyes set on the next challenge in the series, the Hapuna Rough Water Swim on June 7th.
Gibson added, “We are looking forward to a lot of fast swims but we are also looking for people to have fun.”
