UH Sports Report
Sibling Swimmers Make a Splash at Manoa
Andrew and Jessica Affleck
You'd be hard pressed to find prouder parents than Gaye and John Affleck of Townsville, Australia. Their two elder offspring, Andrew and Jessica, are leaving the competition in their wake as members of the University of Hawai'i Manoa men's and women's swim teams.
Both Aussies easily freestyled their way past records while earning their first letters at Manoa, where they came to swim for Assistant Coach Chris Mooney, a fellow Australian.
As only a second-semester freshman, Jessica has already recorded the best times for Rainbow Wahine in the 1,000-yard (10:01.12) and 1,650-yard (16:44.85) freestyle competitions. She placed second in the 1,650-freestyle at the WAC Championships and received the UH Outstanding Performance award.
Older brother Andrew, who has also received the award, broke school, pool and conference records in the 500-yard freestyle at the National Independent Conference Championships (4:23.95). A five-sport athlete at Townsville Grammar School, the sophomore finished third in the 2001 Australian Open Championships in the 1,500-meter freestyle.
All that chlorine must be good for the brain -- both siblings are Honorable-Mention Academic All-Americans with impressive GPAs. Andrew would like to be a sports journalist, but first he and his sister hope to write more sports history, qualifying for the NCAA Championships and eventually the Australian Olympic team.
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The Hilo-Canada-Athens Connection
Kristy Odamura
From life as a Vulcan at the University of Hawai'i at Hilo to an Olympian in Sydney, Kristy Odamura has traveled the world on her softball skills.
Odamura, who started playing at age 8, now covers second base for the Canadian national softball team. Last summer she captained Team Canada as it qualified for the 2004 Olympics in Athens.
No one should be surprised -- while playing for the Vulcans, Odamura was named Rookie of the Year and Female Athlete of the Year. She led the team in batting average three of her four years at UH Hilo and was named first team All-Star in the PacWest conference.
Four academic All-American honors are also telling -- Odamura earned a Hilo degree in biology with a minor in chemistry in 2000 and added a degree in physical education in 2002.
The Canadian team's trip to Japan, where it qualified for the 2000 Olympics is a softball highlight, and Odamura rates representing her country in Sydney as "so far the best experience of my life." But with Athens just a year away, she'll have a good chance to top that.