The WDSS swim team and their families enjoyed “the trip of a lifetime” over the holiday break in Honolulu, Hawaii.
The team had the opportunity to participate in the 40th annual Kalani High School Swimming Invitational, and they also took full advantage of the adventure.
“The team visited landmarks such as the Polynesian Cultural Centre and were lucky enough to visit Pearl Harbor on the 75th anniversary year,” said Nancy Schinkelshoek, coach of the team.
“They enjoyed fireworks, a sunrise, snorkeling and surfing on Waikiki beach. The team got to swim with giant turtles and snorkel in the protected ecosystem of the beautiful Hanauma Bay. All had the opportunity to hike Diamond Head volcano at sunrise and up to the Makapuu Lighthouse to whale watch.”
Schinkelshoek the team rang in the New Year on the beach at a traditional Luau.
“The group also travelled to the North Shore to enjoy giant shrimp, shaved ice and witness some amazing surfing on the famous pipeline beaches,” she said.
All of this was possible because of successful fundraising efforts over the summer, Schinkelshoek said.
“The WDSS swim team and their families would like to thank every member of the community that purchased a taco dinner, got their car washed, bought an auction item or came to our yard sale,” she said.
“Over 800 members of the community bought a lottery calendar and several of the 91 winners donated their winnings back to the team. Many local businesses and organizations were too kind with very generous donations. We can’t express how much we appreciate your support and express our most sincere thanks.”
In the pool the Tartan swimmers showed off their speed in Hawaii.
There were 22 schools and over 400 swimmers at the meet.
The Tartans held their own, clocking personal best times and truly making WDSS proud, Schinkelshoek said.
The relay teams saw great success with all three teams making a second day final swim by placing in the top 16.
The senior girls medley, with Chelsey Johnson swimming back, Alyssa Wadsworth swimming breast, Megan Maxim swimming fly and Tallie Laprise swimming free, were seeded 10th after day 1. They bettered their best time, shaving off two seconds in the final, with the 9th fastest time of the day.
The 400m freestyle relay team brought their ‘A-game’ as well. The team Lindsay Hussey, Sara Park, Alyssaa Wadsworth, Amanda Metayer and Emily Tapp took a whopping 19 seconds off their preliminary time to place 13th overall.
The 200m freestyle relay team of Metayer, Megan Maxim, Laprise and Johnson took one second off their preliminary time to win the ‘B’ final.
Individually, Tapp and Metayer bettered half the field in the 200m freestyle to place 27th and 30th out of 47 swimmers.
Laprise clocked two personal best times in the 50m freestyle, 29.13 seconds, and 100m freestyle, 1:03.94.
Laprise missed an individual final swim by only 0.3sec. in the 100m free.
Kris Chauvin posted a time of 25.21 seconds in the 50m freestyle and a 57.86 seconds in the 100m freestyle. Chauvin missed both finals by just one second in an extremely fast field.
Maxim also broke the 30 second mark with a 29.85 second finish in the 50m freestyle and narrowly missed a final swim in the 100m fly with a 1:18.66 clip.
Park, Wadsworth and Zac Nicholson clocked their season’s personal best times in 50m freestyle and 100m breast stroke.
Hussey clocked her personal best times in 50m freestyle and 100m back stroke.
Johnson was the lone WDSS swimmer to make an individual final by placing in the top 16.
She missed the 100n back final by just one place and 0.5 seconds to place 17th of 41 swimmers.
Johnson had an outstanding preliminary swim in the 100m freestyle to clock a 1:02.14.
This got her into the final where she improved her ranking by two places for 13th of 54 swimmers.
Here are some photos of the team in Hawaii:
– Submitted photos
