Who knows what would have happened if Jim Mellon, Tom Halford and Mina Poppas had the chance to swim together. Maybe Halford wouldn’t have taken a slight yet rocky and costly detour at the finish, or perhaps the competition would have spurred Mellon to swim even faster.
Who knows what would have happened if Jim Mellon, Tom Halford and Mina Poppas had the chance to swim together. Maybe Halford wouldn’t have taken a slight yet rocky and costly detour at the finish, or perhaps the competition would have spurred Mellon to swim even faster.
As it was, Halford and Poppas battled it out in the first heat at Sunday’s Richardson Roughwater Swim, while Mellon took off minutes later in the second and – supposedly – slower heat.
While Halford endured the bumpy ride at the end in his first attempt at the out-and-back 1-mile course off Richardson Ocean Park, Mellon simply went out and swam here just as he has so many times before.
“I had no idea,” the 54-year-old said of his winning time of 23 minutes, 55 seconds. “I’m surprised.”
He wasn’t the only one. After he finished, a race official called him to double-check on a few matters.
“He asked, “Did you start with the first wave?’” Mellon said. “No”
“He asked, “Did you do the whole course?”’ Mellon said. “Yes.”
He always does, though this was his first victory, and the 30th edition of the race was the first to be divided into two heats.
“I didn’t even know we were doing two waves until a minute before the race and they told me I had to wait,” said Mellon, the director of international student services at the University of Hawaii at Hilo. “It would have been fun to all have been able to swim at the same time.”
Poppas, primed to start her junior year at Waiakea, was third overall and the top wahine finisher in 23:57, 1 second behind Halford. Poppas, Halford and Noe Vargas – a former wahine winner and a Hawaii Prep grad – separated from the pack in the first heat, which was for ages 15-49.
“It was like that way until the last buoy, and then (Tom) and I started battling it out,” Poppas said. “Then (Tom) kind of went to the side, and I was like, “(The finish) is over here.”
She took second last year in her first try at the Richardson swim, but she’s a natural for the event, focusing on long-distance freestyle events in the BIIF and club competitions. Poppas was a member of the Hilo team that recently repeated as the Hawaii Island Junior Lifeguard champions, and she competed on Oahu on Saturday as the Big Island took third at the state finals.
“I love the ocean and being in the water, so swimming competitively is really fun,” she said. “(Tom) and I were slamming against each other and our arms were tangling. It was good.
“Just competing with different people and unfamiliar faces, it was refreshing.”
One unfamiliar face was Halford, who lives in Manhattan Beach, Calif. Vacationing with his wife and two kids, the 37-year-old saw a taste of the islands midway though the race when a turtle swam beneath him. Almost back to the beach, he felt a taste of East Hawaii, turning left instead of right and scraping himself against rocks as he tried to leave the water.
“I don’t know if I want to say spastic,” he said jokingly.
“I thought I was winning, but it’s hard to say,” said Halford, who gave a nod to Mellon. “In my experience in ocean racing, experience trumps fitness, because so much is knowing what the swell is.”
In Southern California, Halford swims in ocean races that are pier to pier.
No rock hazards there, he said, but, “you corner a pier and you want to make sure you don’t get thrown into a barnacle.”
After the race, Mellon was congratulated by a few of his fellow “mature” competitors. The message was clear: Thanks for representing the older set.
“I’ve lived here 20 years, and I’ve been doing this race ever since,” Mellon said. “I’ve done four or five Ironmans, open oceans swimming for many years, I swam in college.
“I like this race because it’s low key and a great place to swim. It’s great they have this for the community.”
Sunday at Richarsdon Ocean Park
Place Name Div Finish
1 Noe’ula Lindsey F1-14Fin 23:50
2 Jim Mellon M50-64 23:55
3 Tom Halford M35-49 23:56
4 Mina Poppas F15-19 23:57
5 Noelani Vargas F20-34 24:04
6 Kai Griley M01-14 24:28
7 Leah Decleene F15-19 26:10
8 Joe Kent M20-34 26:16
9 Teagan Rutkowski F15-19 26:18
10 Denise Boatwright F50-64Fin 26:32
11 Xochi Gervais F01-14 26:34
12 Steven Manfredi M15-19 26:43
13 Chris Trimarco M50-64Fin 26:46
14 Catherine Spina F35-49Fin 27:05
15 Grayson Goodale 2 M15-19 27:10
16 Korrie Tengan F01-14 27:15
17 Michael Pipta M50-64 27:23
18 Mary Campbell F15-19 27:25
19 Masau Lee M01-14Fin 27:33
20 Leiana Reyes F35-49Fin 27:47
21 Hunter Wright M20-34 27:49
22 Kanai T. Eckart M01-14 28:00
23 Greg Laliberte M35-49 28:03
24 Kela Vargas F20-34 28:07
25 Sofia (Hillary) Wilt F35-49Fin 28:14
26 Leina’ala Hall F20-34 28:20
27 Sunita Przewlocki 1 F35-49 28:22
28 Jaelyn Estabilio F15-19Fin 28:39
29 Peaman Peaman M50-64 28:46
30 Ellis Kawase M20-34 29:00
31 Alfred Kent M50-64 29:51
32 Helena Brandfors F35-49Fin 29:55
33 Jermaine Estabilio M35-49Fin 30:10
34 Mark Kaetsu M20-34 30:10
35 Demos Manoukis M01-14Fin 30:13
36 Adam Hill M20-34 30:25
37 Melissa Schad F35-49 30:37
38 Liz Laiberte F35-49Fin 30:41
39 Chris Hirayama M65-99Fin 30:48
40 Mike Fairchild M50-64 30:58
41 Daniel Berg M50-64 30:59
42 James Mckeagne M65-99 31:04
43 Jill Dawrs F50-64 31:07
44 Angela Sugar F20-34 31:11
45 Sara Hussey F35-49 31:28
46 Hiro Yanagihara M50-64 31:42
47 Archie Hapai, Iii M65-99 31:43
48 Lainey Eckart F01-14 31:55
49 Steve Sugar M65-99 32:02
50 Tanya-Lee Beirne F50-64 32:20
51 Linda Pollack F50-64Fin 32:21
52 Adam Busek M50-64 32:22
53 Dorien Evans M20-34 32:24
54 Kanoe Malani F20-34Fin 32:26
55 Marty Smith M50-64 32:27
56 Jeream Estabilio F01-14Fin 32:48
57 Matthias Kusch M50-64 32:57
58 Maili Mckeagie F01-14Fin 33:12
59 Mino’aka Carbone F20-34Fin 33:15
60 Griffith Yamaguchi M50-64 33:15
61 Leslie Crawford F50-64 33:17
62 Elisa Junqueira F50-64Fin 33:29
63 Jim Haefner M65-99 33:32
64 Bill Sakovich M65-99 33:35
65 Rey Dollwet M50-64 33:46
66 Christopher Harper M35-49Fin 34:07
67 Easten Tanimoto M20-34 34:10
68 Peter Mott M65-99Fin 34:17
69 Pam Miller F50-64Fin 34:20
70 Bryson Manuel M20-34 34:23
71 Rowan Jack M01-14Fin 34:46
72 Kapua Sawyer F35-49 34:50
73 Donald Jack M50-64 34:50
74 Emi Poppas F35-49Fin 34:54
75 Keith Mackencie M20-34 34:59
76 Nolan Yamaki M35-49 35:13
77 Toby Wilkinson M35-49 35:14
78 Michael Donahoe M65-99Fin 35:27
79 Calvin Serain M35-49Fin 35:37
80 Elliott Parsons M35-49 36:08
81 Norman Uchida M65-99 36:48
82 Chris Owens M50-64 36:49
83 Sean Surkes M35-49 36:56
84 Michael Modos M50-64 37:00
85 Charles Keane M50-64 37:03
86 Sophie Dundovil F20-34 37:03
87 Jean Sakovich F65-99 37:13
88 Lee Otani F50-64 37:14
89 Doug Walker M65-99Fin 37:25
90 Anumunder Delevauvu F35-49 37:25
91 Jeff Girdner M50-64 37:27
92 Pua Kahalioumi F35-49Fin 37:37
93 Malia Hall F35-49 37:53
94 Jan Roberts F50-64 38:32
95 Susanna Lyle F35-49 38:49
96 Claudine Fujii F65-99Fin 38:49
97 Kathy Williamson F50-64 38:59
98 David Mattice M50-64 39:11
99 Sydney Hashiro F15-19 39:14
100 Jonathan Carbone M35-49Fin 39:22
101 Aaron Castillo, Jr. M35-49 39:41
102 Alexander Cyran M50-64 41:20
103 Annette Schlegelmilc F50-64 41:36
104 Richard Oehlman M50-64 42:04
105 Robert Belcher M50-64 42:27
106 Kate Nawahine F35-49 42:30
107 Michael Traub M50-64 42:37
108 Ingrid Hillhouse F35-49 42:48
109 Erik Belcher M65-99 42:59
110 Tamar Elias 8F50-64 43:56
111 Maria Fitzgerald F65-99Fin 44:33
112 Mitchell Noelani F01-14 47:12
113 Margaret Serain F65-99 47:30
114 Jennifer Rovetch F50-64Fin 50:11
115 Chris Williams F35-49 50:11
116 Kj Dionisio F35-49Fin 52:19
117 Stanley H. Roehrig M65-99 53:31
118 Debra Sanbei F50-64Fin 55:18
119 Mariah Bath F50-64 56:55
120 Marina Beebe F65-99Fin 57:23
121 Daniel Belcher M65-99 1:00:38
122 Milton Yafuso M65-99Fin 1:10:21