Senior Swims at State Race

Kahele Naehu-Ramos with his family and coach. Photo by Jane Chang

Molokai High School senior Kahale Naehu-Ramos swam at the state Swimming and Diving Championships on Oahu last weekend. Naehu-Ramos qualified in the 50 meter freestyle and the 100 meter breaststroke, swimming in the preliminary heats on Friday. He finished in 20th in the 50m freestyle with a time of 23.44 and placed 27th in the 100m breaststroke with a time of 1:07.29.

“The state swimming competitions are always a culture shock,” said Naehu-Ramos. “The competition is steep and it inspires me to try harder. Overall the state meet was great but I still missed my team mates.  I’d like to thank my awesome teammates, they make swim practice the highlight of my days.”

Head Coach Amanda Labriola couldn’t be happier for her lone senior who qualified for states.

“Kahale swam fantastic and represented MHS in a way his community and school will be proud of,” she said. “I am so grateful to have been there to experience him swim in this meet.”

As a first year coach, Labriola enjoyed her team this season.

“Coaching the Farmer swim team has been amazing and I got to work with a great group of kids who made extreme improvements both individually and as a team this season,” she said.

Naehu-Ramos credits his coaches for his success.

“I would like to thank my coaches Jesse Ford [previous MHS head coach] and Amanda,” he said. “There is no way in this world that I’d make it to states without them.  They really pushed me these past three years and never stopped believing in me.”

Labriola was thankful for her own past coaches, the parents of her student athletes this year. Athletic Director Lee DeRouin and athletic trainer Eric Scala.

Naehu-Ramos hopes the tradition will continue with the swim team. “I hope that what we accomplished this year sets the bar for all of our future Molokai Farmer swimmers!”