KAILUA-KONA — Tourist can expect to pay a lot of money for the opportunity to swim with dolphins during their stay in Hawaii. But for visitors and locals on the Big Island competing in the Kukio Blue Water Swim on
KAILUA-KONA — Tourist can expect to pay a lot of money for the opportunity to swim with dolphins during their stay in Hawaii. But for visitors and locals on the Big Island competing in the Kukio Blue Water Swim on Saturday, the experience came included with their race fee.
The Kukio Blue Water Swim returned to the waters off West Hawaii after a two-year hiatus and swimmers took the water for the 11th annual event, which stretched 1.2 miles from Kua Bay to Uluweuweu Bay at Kukio.
“We decided to bring back the race because we wanted to give back to the community and we knew that this race was a favorite with the swimmers,” said one of the swim’s organizers, Jenny Kalmbach. “This was a wonderful first year back and it was a dream start with dolphins, clear water, beautiful blue skies and no breeze. We could not have asked for better conditions.”
With perfect conditions came an exciting race, which featured a photo finish on Kukio Beach.
Darren Phelan managed to edge out Daniel Kniseley — the 2015 Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming champion — by just one second to pick up the victory. Phelan crossed the finish line in 22 minutes and 17 seconds and Kniseley followed at 22:18.
The race was much closer than even that small amount of time indicated. The true out come of the race would have to be broken down to a tenth or even a hundredth of a second.
“Darren is a phenomenal swimmer and it was a close battle,” Kalmbach said. “It was very exciting.”
The first female finisher, Taylor Doherty, was right on the heels of the two male swimmers, placing third with a time of 22:21.
For Phelan, the win was nice, but being able to swim with all five members of his family — including his wife Alicia, his daughters Maggie and Ryan — meant even more. He also had the opportunity to go back out and finish the end of the swim with his 7-year-old son, Zander.
“This was the longest he has every swam in the ocean and I wasn’t sure if he would get scared or tired, but he had this vision, and was actually telling us that he was going to win,” Darren Phelan said. “I am really proud of all of them and this was a good family trip.”
Interestingly enough, Darren Phelan also won the Kukio Blue Water swim the last time it was held in 2013. In that race he finished in a slower time of 24:59.
“I thought I swam pretty well. Contribute my time to the perfect conditions,” Darren Phelan said. “The group putting this together, from the administration to the water safety crew, put on a perfectly run race. Everyone had a wonderful time and this is a beautiful spot. You could not have asked for a better day.”
Doherty also competed in the race in 2013, where she finished seventh overall.
“This was a fun race and I was surprised by my performance, but I have been working hard so it was nice to see it pay off,” she said. “The dolphins were really cool too see and the on-beach start was interesting.”
As for the young Zander Phelan, he spoke for most of the field in summing up the race day and being able to cross the the finish line with his family in one word.
“Amazing.”
