Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California.
Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote in his Journal in 1838: “Be not the slave of your own past. Plunge into the sublime seas, dive deep and swim far, so you shall come back with self-respect, with new power, with an advanced experience that shall explain and overlook the old.”
Since 1987, the Ali’i Challenge Swim on the Big Island of Hawaii has offered a 6-mile ocean swim from Keauhou Bay to the Kailua Pier.
Hawaiian Ironman triathlete Randy Wrighthouse [shown above] recalls his own 2009 10 km swim, “[It is] 6 miles of open ocean. Deep open ocean. But I have to admit it was beautiful. An amazing blue you just have to see. It’s like lying on your back and looking up at the darkest blue sky you’ve ever seen. At the Ali’i Challenge, you can swim the entire 6 miles solo or team up with a partner and trade off at whatever intervals you want. One person swims and one kayaks. My partner was Rob ‘The Extreme’ Van Geen.
When we swam by the Coast Guard buoy, which is about 1.2 miles from the finish, we had a pod of dolphins swim past us. What a way to welcome us into Kailua Bay. Rob and I finished the 6 miles in 2 hours 58 minutes. Like Ironman, the goal wasn’t time, but to just finish.”
The duo relays include one member who swims and the other who kayaks, the original Yak Swimmers.
2015 Ali’i Challenge Swim results:
Boy’s 19 & Under Individual
1 Ryan Cohen (15) 3:02:50 15th
Girl’s 19 & Under Individual
1 Madison-Gail K. Hauanio (19) 2:22:44 2nd
Women’s Open Individual
1 Kristin Old (35) 2:57:43 11th
2 Stacy Studer (42) 3:02:05 12th
3 Catherine Spina (35) 3:17:15 21st
4 Janna Cummings (54) 3:34:13 25th
Women’s Open Finned Individual
1 Jennifer Stabrylla (Monofin) (54) 2:26:08 5th
Men’s Open & Masters Individual
1 Jim McCleery (69) 2:29:10 6th
2 Keolalani Oka (34) 3:02:08 13th
3 Charles Bittenbring (63) 3:30:50 23rd
4 Bruce Wacker (69) 4:26:08 30th
5 Todd Weinmann (51) 4:27:09 31st
Boy’s Relay 19 & Under
1 Daniel Manzo & Nolan Grossman (18/16) 2:08:34 1st [shown above]
Girl’s Relay 19 & Under
1 Tori Oshiro & Kassie Kometani (18/15) 2:33:15 8th
2 Alana Grossman & Loea Andrade (12/13) 3:21:20 22nd
Father & Son Relay
1 Derek Monell & Gared Sarubbi-Monell (54/10) 3:05:50 17th
2 Danny Becker & Duke Becker (45/11) 3:33:05 24th
3 Roy Dolluret, Anthony Dolluret & Kailani Leyva (51/19) 3:35:30 26th
Women’s Open Relay
1 Aimee Kolman & Glee Jewell (45/57) 2:29:50 7th
2 Jenny Decker & Emily Moore (31/41) 2:46:20 9th
3 Braylene Jones & Lindsay Perkins (37/28) 2:52:20 10th
Women’s Masters Relay
1 Robin Reif-Alterman & Bobbie Reif-Acheson (56/57) 3:03:27 16th
2 Anna Sim & Lucie Leanard (60/54) 3:04:30 17th
3 Denise Boatwright & Kate Shannon (59/51) 3:09:06 19th
4 Pam Miller & Linda Pollack (58/61) 4:04:10 29th
Mixed Open Relay
1 Dan Kniseley & Robin Parisi (54/61) 2:22:54 3rd
2 Lori Oka & Keolalani Oka 3:02:12 14th
3 Rich Ritter & Pam Harlow (60/51) 3:09:30 20th
4 Christine O’Gorman & Rob Van Geen (63/53) 3:39:35 27th
5 Katie Rice & Chuck Wood (31/52) 4:27:11 32nd
Men’s Open Relay
1 Ed Doherty & Brent Imonen (47/46) 2:25:33 4th
2 Rick Rubio & Larry Derber (57/56) 3:46:55 28th
Copyright © 2015 by World Open Water Swimming Association