Kamehameha surfer becomes first ILH bodyboard champion

‘Iolani senior Ace Arizumi notched another achievement in his stellar two-sport spring season. Arizumi won the ILH boys shortboard championship with a score of 17.26, ahead of Punahou’s Na‘u Shepherd (11.84).

“I was just waiting for the good ones (waves). It’s a left (at Bowls), so my back side snap. The main thing is just completing all my waves, not falling,” Arizumi said. “I’m happy that it’s officially an ILH sport. I’m looking forward to Maui.”

Formalized surfing for your school has its benefits.

“It’s so much fun surfing Bowls with only six people. If there was no contest, there would be 40, 50 people,” Arizumi said.

Arizumi also plays baseball for the Raiders, as did his father, Donn. Surfing as a hobby versus surfing for One Team added some fuel to Arizumi’s tank.

“I’m practicing my turns. It’s more focused, especially if there’s a contest coming up. You try to make all your waves so you can’t fall,” he said. “I do contests year round. I did the Hawaii Surfing Association contest, all amateur for 18-under kids. Now I’m 18, so I’m starting to do QSWSL. The first one I’m doing is in June over here at Bowls.”

Pacific Buddist Academy senior Liam Antipala finished with a 13.26 to outscore Kamehameha’s Rylee Pang (11.6) and ‘Iolani’s Parker Churchill (10.43) for the boys bodyboard title.

“Bodyboarding runs in my blood. My father (Harry) was a national body-boarder,” Antipala said. “It was very challenging conditions. Some heats it was on shore and east wind, and very crumbly. In other heats, it was a big surge and waves all heat. Certain heats, there would be nothing. My strategy was to differentiate myself from the competition. It’s about the size of the maneuver and how you execute it. There’s the El Rollo, a simple barrel. There’s the ARS (air roll spin), kind of Rollo mixed with a 360 in the air. There’s regular back flips and inverts and forward airs and reverse airs. I only used a couple of those today.”

Mid-Pacific junior Kala Kukea won gold in the boys longboard division with a score of 14.93, ahead of Punahou’s Mala‘e McElheny (10.54), Kamehameha’s Paoakalani Topping (9.44) and ‘Iolani’s Arizumi (9.10).

“I feel happy. I’m really grateful we get to surf for school now, for an ILH sport. It’s a beautiful day and the waves are so fun out there,” Kukea said.

Kamehameha won the ILH girls team title and Punahou won the boys team championship.

“We’re fortunate to have a really, really good coach (Jason Shibata) who makes us go out into anything. You have to learn (to score points) in any conditions,” DeFries said. “The key is having a really good wave selection, completing your wave, and being really critical with your skills. Nose rides and turns. Today was pretty good. This is prime time. We got really lucky with the wind. It kind of calmed down today.

Hawaii Prep World

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