Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 25, Number 6, 1 May 2008 — Beijing bound [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Beijing bound

One of a trio of Hawaiian friends

heads tor the Olympics By Lisa Asatū Public lnfurmatiūn Specialist Swiniming brought three Hawaiian boys from different islands together as competitors and best friends. Now one of them, Daniel-Zane Kailikoa Coakley, is heading to the Beijing 01ympics, and they couldn't be prouder. "He deserves it 100 percent, and as for him being Hawaiian, it makes me even prouder. I wish we had the opportuni- 1 ty to send an All-Hawaiian M team to the 01ympics!" says Davis Kane, who grew up in Wailuku, Maui, and first met Coakley about eight years ago at a swim meet in California. "We never raced eaeh other then, but I remember him being faster than me," Kane says. Kane, 20, is a member of the University of Hawai'i swim team

with their other friend, 19-year-old Ilia Reyes of Kaunakakai, Moloka'i. Reyes said he and

Coakley saw eaeh

other as competitors at first - "at the time in my life, he was the only person I was afraid of ' - but "somehow over the years Daniel and I became best of friends. And it wasn't about so mueh winning

or losing, but more of racing your best friend." Coakley, who is Hawaiian, Filipino, Irish, Chinese and Iapanese, will be competing for the Philippines in the 50-meter

freestyle. He qualified for

the event at the South East Asian Games in Thailand, where he breached the 01ympic qualifying mark of 23.13 seconds - with a record-setting SEA Games time of 22.8 seconds.

"I just love breaking records," says Coakley, by phone from Iacksonville, Florida, where his six-day-a-week training includes hfting weights and swiimning some 4,000 yards in the morning and 6,000 more in the afternoon. "It's just great motivation. I know someone out there or someone younger than

I am will be motivated to break my record or to train harder." His goal at the 01ympics? "To break (the record of) 21.2 (seconds)," says Coakley, whose father, Jeffrey, coached him since he was 9. "But I have lots of 01ympics

to attend - not only this one. Probably the next 01ympics I'll be able to break it, but I don't want to jinx myself." Speaking of Reyes and Kane, Coakley, says it was their Hawaiianness that made them become friends. "We always shake hands before we swam," he says. "(It was) really respectful and really positive. I really like them because

they share the same values as I do, raised under the same culture." Kane and Reyes compare Coakley to Hawai'i's most famous Hawaiian01ympian, swiimnerDuke Kahanamoku, for his combination of skill, attitude and all-around good nature. "Even though he's representing the Philippines, I know he's what I eall a true Hawaiian - so show the world what Hawaiians are made of," says Reyes. But the friends' competitive days aren't over. With Reyes and Kane swiimning for UH, and Coakley weighing his options - about eight colleges have expressed interest in him (he's leaning toward the University of California, Irvine, Arizona State University or the University of Arizona), the day will eome when the trio will find themselves racing against eaeh other onee more, giving his friends back home something to look forward to. "I'm going to be more intimidated now because he's an 01ympian," says Kane. And Reyes? "Let's just say if I lose to him," he says with a laugh, "I'll be like, 'Ah I lost to an 01ympian.' " Watch Coakley ' s 01ympic -qualifying SEAGames50freestyle swim at www.danielcoakley.com. I

PĀ'ANI - SPŪ RTS

IN THE WATER: Daniel Coaljj£y is headed for the Olympics. - Courtesy photo. Inset: His best friends and former competitors, Davis Kane and llia Reyes, shown at an all-ag« meet April 26 in Mōnoa, will be cheering Coakley on from Hawai'i. - Photo: LisaAsato