WAILUKU — It was a hello-goodbye weekend for Hawaii Swim Club coach Reid Yamamoto at the 47th Coach Soichi Sakamoto Invitational Swim Meet at the pool that carries the same name.

Maui High School’s Karissa Ginoza was at her final competitive swim meet after a stellar career that ended with Maui Interscholastic League Girl Swimmer of the Year honors in 2023 and a qualification time for the USA Swimming Futures Championships.

Ginoza has left competitive swimming in the rearview mirror as she enters a demanding mechanical engineering/pre-med academic program at the University of Southern California, but she is leaving a huge legacy in a younger friend and teammate, Aika Swanson.

Ginoza was also the MHS female scholar athlete and sportsmanship awards winner, and she will take $8,000 per year in merit money with her to USC from five different scholarships she was awarded.

“I’m really excited because I’ve always wanted to try to be more independent,” Ginoza said. “And I think it’s really cool to be able to leave a small island community and be able to venture out to a school like USC. What I’m also really excited about is that USC has that balance of athletics and also a social life.

“I will be able to enjoy myself as a college student and then also excel in academics with the resources that they have. I’m really excited for that.”

Ginoza will miss competitive swimming.

“I’ve pretty much been in the water since I was 3 years old and I started competitive swimming when I was like 5,” Ginoza said. “And just being here, no matter whether I’m competing or not, I love the pool, I love the energy, I love the people. And as fun as it is to compete it’s also really fun to watch all of my friends compete, like Aika. It’s super exciting to always see her kill it.

“It’s pretty bittersweet — as sad as it was to make the decision to not swim in college I’m always going to cherish the memories that I’ve made over these past 12 years, which is a really long time.”

Swanson was also under strong consideration for the MIL Girl Swimmer of the Year nod as a Sabers freshman this year. She has also qualified for the prestigious Futures meet, a national-level competition that takes place at five regional sites July 26-29.

“It’s really great, Karissa is one of my best friends and I honestly didn’t expect to become this close to her coming out of last summer,” Swanson said. “Like I thought we would just be mutuals, but she became one of my best friends I think I could ever have. Having her as a senior was definitely different than having my age friends.

“I just look up to her so much and I love her so much. She helped me a lot because at meets we’ll all be nervous, but she always puts a smile on my face. She eases it up and she makes the meet fun.”

At the Sakamoto meet Saturday and Sunday, Swanson showed remarkable versatility as she won the women’s open 400-meter freestyle (4 minutes, 43.88 seconds), 1,500 free (18:57.75) and 100 free (1:00.96), and the 13-14 age group 200 free (2:14.31), and was third in the 13-14 200 backstroke (2:47.27).

Swanson will be at the Futures meet in Sacramento, Calif., with a little boost from her mentor with Maui High and Hawaii Swim Club.

She joins a short list of Maui competitors to qualify for that meet that includes Jasmine O’Brien, a champion at the Futures and the first female in state history under 5 minutes in the 500-yard freestyle; Kysha Altura, a former standout at Fordham University; Kaimi Cabanilla, a former standout at Indiana State; and Ginoza.

At 14, Swanson is the youngest of that impressive list to qualify for Futures.

“I’m excited, it’s going to be the biggest meet I’ve been to so far,” Swanson said. “I’m anxious, I’m nervous, but I’m looking forward to it.”

When the list she is joining in was rattled off, Swanson said: “That’s really cool. I’m in shock every time I hear that.”

Ginoza blushes when told she is a mentor to Swanson.

“It’s just so much fun, Aika, she is just so amazing,” Ginoza said. “In fact, we really only got close last summer after we went to senior champs, so it’s kind of a newer friendship and without a doubt, she’s one of my best friends. Just training with her every day has been such an honor and a privilege. I’m so sad to leave her behind, but I know absolutely that she is going to succeed in everything that she does.”

Yamamoto was emotional as he said goodbye to Ginoza at her last meet and looked forward to preparing Swanson for her next big step.

“It’s more like a mentor-mentee thing at this point,” Yamamoto said. “Karissa, with all her experience, it’s really good to have a mentor like that. Aika is lucky to have a mentor like Karissa. So, I’m pretty happy of what’s occurring and, yes, they are very close, but I keep reminding Aika that she needs to be the leader this year going forward.”

* Robert Collias is at rcollias@mauinews.com.