Joar Berglund’s winter sport of choice came down to diving and wrestling.
Looking back upon the decision, it’s fair to say he made the right choice.
While his Hawaii Prep girls swimming teammates ran into a number’s game in finishing second Saturday, Berglund delivered the BIIF’s only gold, winning the diving competition at the HHSAA championships at Duke Kahanamoku Aquatic Complex.
Berglund, a native of Sweden, has a gymnastics background, but Hawaii Prep swim coach Mark Noetzel said he took quickly to his new sport, reminding Noetzel of successful divers he’s worked with in the past.
“The way he presses down on the board and gets a lot of power,” Noetzel said. “We’re glad he chose diving.”
“Patricia Kassis coaches diving for (HPA), and he’s really latched on to so much of what she he has taught,” he said.
With 448 points, Berglund scored a handy victory, and Keaau’s Keliipono Mendoza took silver, becoming the first Cougar to medal in state swimming and diving.
As luck would have it for Berglund, the Swedish national diving team was visiting Oahu this weekend, allowing the junior to make some connections.
“He can go far if he keeps up with it,” Noetzel said.
The four-time BIIF champion Ka Makani girls swim team went as far as it could go before it ran into state behemoth Punahou, taking runner-up for the second year in a row.
All three HPA relay teams collected silver behind the Buffanblu, who doubled up on HPA 88-43 to win states for the eighth time in the past 12 years. During that span, the only non-ILH team to win was Kealakehe in 2010.
HPA’s Kira Parker collected four medals, with silver in the 100 freestyle and bronze in the backstroke, and Tereza Kanalosova also won four, three in relays as well as silver in the 200-yard individual medley in a school-record time of 2 minutes, 10.42 seconds. Maile Lawson was second in the breaststroke for the second year in a row.
“Everyone performed at their best,” Noetzel said. “It’s always interesting to come over and compete against the Oahu schools at a state setting.”
For the third consecutive year, no BIIF swimmer struck gold.
Noetzel coached Punahou to three consecutive state titles from 1987-89, so he knows better then most how hard it is to tackle the depth and experience of Punahou and the other big Oahu schools.
“You really have to be at your finest all the time when you’re going against that number,” he said. “And that’s fine.”
On the boys side, Hawaii Prep’s Frederik Moller won bronze in the backstroke after winning silver last year. HPA finished eighth as Punahou won for the third consecutive year.
At the BIIF championships last weekend, Hawaii Prep prevailed in 19 off 22 races, with only Hilo’s Shea Tsuha and Kealakehe’s Joshua Bandt winning gold for other schools. On Saturday, Tsuha and Bandt were both fourth in their 50 free finals.
Also swimming on HPA silver-winning relay teams were Karly Noetzel (all three), Taylor Doherty (two) and Frida Berglund.
