Back in the pool
Swim teams return to training
KAHULUI — Tuesday was a big day for age-group swimmers on Maui, but perhaps even more so for Kysha Altura and Austin DeCambra.
Altura and DeCambra were part of a group of seven swimmers at Sakamoto Pool working out with Hawaii Swim Club coach Reid Yamamoto on the first day that swim teams were allowed back in Maui County pools since March due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Both are a little more than a month away from scheduled returns to their college swim teams — Altura is a rising junior at Fordham University in New York City and DeCambra will be a sophomore at Midland University in Fremont, Neb.
“I think it’s really great because I just get so bored swimming by myself,” said Altura, a Maui Preparatory Academy graduate. “I literally start singing to myself sometimes, so it’s really embarrassing. So, like, I think it’s just nice to swim with other people that you know.”
Altura said that at this point, her scheduled return to Fordham “is normal, we’re returning back at the same time. Move-in day is kind of unknown at this point, but it’s the 23rd to the 26th of August. We have hybrid learning, so it’s online and in-person. They’re still figuring out which classes need to be online and in person.”
Like Altura, DeCambra was happy to have the chance to get in the pool with his longtime coach guiding the way. He has been finding as many ways as possible to stay in shape — Tuesday evening’s workout was his third of the day, after a swim session at the Maui Family YMCA and a dry-land workout with his college teammates via Zoom.
“Like Kysha said, we go back around the same time,” DeCambra said. “My swim season, as of right now, is currently open. Practicewise, because of NAIA special rules and because of the CDC and all this COVID happening, it’s going to be interesting to see how the season will play out.
“We cannot have so many kids in the water and we’re going to have about 50 kids this year — we signed another, like, 20 and we have no one graduating. This is the fourth year of the program existing at my school, so it’s going to be really big this year. It’ll be really tough to see how the season plays out with this many kids and the rules with COVID.”
DeCambra, a King Kekaulike graduate, was at home for spring break in March when his school began to shut down due to coronavirus cases.
“There was an outbreak in our town and a lot of the students were at a basketball game where the outbreak started. A student three doors down started showing symptoms,” he said. “I left early for spring break. Three days later I got a call from the school, the school was completely shut down and they said, ‘You have until April 15th to move out or we will seize all your possessions.’ I had to fly all the way back to Nebraska to pack up and move out.”
DeCambra said that with the opportunity to work with Yamamoto will be crucial to help him be in shape for his return to school.
“For me, this is extremely crucial because my state, Nebraska, they didn’t really shut down,” DeCambra said. “So a lot of my teammates up there were training this whole time that I have been stuck in the house because of quarantine. So for me to have this valuable training with
coach Reid, you know, coming back with the family here, it’s crucial because when I get back up there I want to be one of those top dogs in the pool.”
Altura spent a few weeks in the hospital for an injury she did not wish to disclose in December, so the workouts with Yamamoto take on an extra importance for her as she works to be in shape for her return to New York.
“I think it’s really important for me, at least, because I was out for about six to seven months because I was in the hospital,” Altura said. “I was sick in the hospital for almost a month, so I missed half of my season in my sophomore year. This is like my first official practice back, so it was kind of hard for me.
“I feel fine, but there’s still a few kinks in my body that I still need to get used to it. … It took a while to kind of recover.”
Yamamoto said he had “chicken skin” when he got to the pool for the first of three separate workout hours earlier Tuesday morning.
“Just one word: Exciting,” Yamamoto said. “Two words: Ecstatic. I had chicken skin. I was, like, a little bit out of control. My kids were laughing because I was just so happy. It was like, ‘We’re back to where we should be.’ ”
It took several versions of the permits for the collective group of five Maui swim clubs to finally get approval from the county on Friday.
“I understand everything,” Yamamoto said. “I want to just thank everyone who helped to get us back in the pool again, but today was awesome.”
Robert Collias is at rcollias @mauinews.com