It is a long way from his hometown of Bear Creek Township, Pennsylvania, but the island of Oahu is now home to Eric “Woobie” Kupsky (@woobiekupsky).* The rising junior at the University of Hawaii took a short ride to Kaimana Beach at the foot of Diamond Head yesterday and claimed his first victory at the 3.8 km Waikiki Roughwater Swim in Hawaii.
Kupsky won going away – by 10 seconds – over Patrick Ransford and by 30 seconds over Thomas Rathbun.
Allison Arnold finished fifth overall as the first woman. The 34-year-old former Stanford University swimmer ran up Duke Kahanamoku Beach at the Hilton Hawaiian Village 20 seconds over second-place Kathleen Hohwald. Arnold’s top 5 overall finish was a feat only Olympian Ashley Twichell, Nancy Ivy, Kaili Chun, Kathy Shipman, Julia Francisco, and Nadine Takai Day have accomplished in the 55-year history of the event.
Betty Ann “Pua” Barnett finished in 1 hour 31 minutes 51 seconds, an extremely impressive time for the 80-year-old Honolulu native. “Swimming, for me, has always been about the pure joy of being in the water. I love seeing fish, catching waves, being surprised by spinner dolphins, turtles, eagle rays and even sharks.”
Not to be outdone by their octogenarian female colleague, Jim Budde (1:39:07 at the age of 81), Robert Colyar (2:56:53 at 87 years old), Bill Burson (2:57:22 at 81 years old), Victor Hemmy Jr. (3:12:14 at 87 years old) and Jim Mensching (DNF at the age of 80) are also ocean-going 80-year-olds.
Alex Kostich tells the story of his perennial Top 10 finish, “It was one of the hardest starts I’ve ever had – crowded entry salmon run start, elbows and ankles in my face for the first 3 minutes – I couldn’t breathe — and when I finally sighted it looked like 30 people were in front of me and I thought I was out of the race. If you dont get out in the lead pack of 8-10 before the first turn buoy, you are done.
Somehow by the first turn, I found myself in the lead pack again so I was back in the race, but we split in two and I went left drafting off 2 Australians (further offshore) while the majority of the group went right (closer in shore). About halfway I realized the marker buoys were about 30-40 meters to my right so I course corrected and swam a hard right to get closer to the buoys marking the course. As luck would have it, I fell in with the remnants of the lead pack and they started dropping like flies.
I caught three small waves in to shore and passed 1-2 more swimmers allowing me a 7th place finish. I was surprised and very happy.”
2026 Top 25 Waikiki Roughwater Swim Finishers
- Eric Woobie Kupsky 56:03
- Patrick Ransford 56:13
- Thomas Rathbun 56:33
- Evan Pickles 56:53
- Allison Arnold 57:09, first female
- Krishna Clarke 57:12
- Alex Kostich 57:19
- Joby Bernstein 57:26
- Kathleen Hohwald 57:29, second female
- Jake Andrews 57:48
- Riley Clinton 57:54
- Ned Wieland 58:20
- Aldan Johnston 1:00:13
- Kona Flanagan 1:00:24, third female
- Zane Imonen 1:00:33
- Rob Newell 1:00:52
- Suzanne Ryan 1:00:53
- Christopher Ferguson 1:00:57
- Porter O’Neill 1:01:04
- Duke Wieland 1:01:05
- Cameron Whiting 1:01:31
- Miki Dahlke 1:01:35
- Mark Tripp 1:01:40
- Dan Worden 1:01:40
- Brooke Bennett 1:01:45
Full results are posted here.
Chris Chuck crossing the finish line in 1:02:56
Woobie is a nickname that Eric Kupsky’s sisters gave him at the age of 5 – and it has stuck ever since.
© 2026 Daily News of Open Water Swimming
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