Whitworth Stars Plunge Into Nationals Hawaiian Seniors End Careers At Naia Meet

(From Replay, March 4, 1997): Whitworth swimmer Jan Okada has the fastest NAIA time this year in the 200-yard breaststroke. She is not the NAIA record holder. Also, all the Whitworth swimming times were for yards, not meters.

What do Hawaii, Spokane and swimming have in common?

Whitworth College seniors Jan Okada and Guy Mikasa.

Okada and Mikasa came to Spokane from Hawaii to compete for the Whitworth swim team. And now they are facing the last meet of their college careers, the NAIA Championships later this week in Federal Way, Wash.

As Okada nears the end of her four-year career, her goal is to do something memorable for herself. That may take some doing because she’s already in the NAIA record book.

Mikasa transferred from Hawaii Pacific University following his freshman year because Hawaii Pacific dropped its swimming program.

He was attracted to Whitworth by its small size and Northwestern location. It didn’t hurt that his oldest sister Gay was attending Washington State University and Whitworth was interested in his swimming talents.

Mikasa excels in the sprint. His favorite event is the 50-meter freestyle. “It is a short, spontaneous race,” he said. “Once you make a mistake, it is over.”

Mikasa holds the school record for both the 50-meter (21.11) and 100-meter (46.63) freestyle.

“He works very hard every day and gets up and races hard everytime, usually winning,” said assistant coach Steve Flegel.

Mikasa started swimming at age eight because his father was a coach.

“My (three) sisters did it, my dad was the coach, so I did it,” he said.

Swimming for the Pirates has been Mikasa’s first “big team” experience.

“I am going to miss the people the most,” he said. “We all support each other and have a lot of fun. We mess around with each other and help each other bring energy to the team.”

Okada has played a versatile role for the Pirates, competing in a wide range of races. Nonetheless, out of her 24 individual races in dual meets this season, she won 22 of them.

Not surprisingly, her favorite event is the 400 individual medley.

“Everyone has reasons why their event is better than the others, but I like the 400 IM because I like the variety and it is considered a harder event,” Okada said.

Okada started swimming at the age of six, but she was 12 before she began to enjoy it.

Okada credits her older sister Denise for keeping her involved. Now, she is the NAIA record-holder in the 200 breaststroke and Whitworth’s record-holder in the 400 IM. She’s not sure she’s ready to quit.

“It is scary to think about how I will live life without swimming competitively,” she said. “It is too much a part of me to be without.”

At the NAIA Championships, Okada will compete in the 200 and 400 individual medleys along with the 200 breaststroke and the 800 freestyle relay. Mikasa will compete in the 50, 100, and 200 individual freestyle along with the 200 and 400 freestyle relay and the 200 and 400 medley relays.

Whitworth’s men finished second in the Northwest Conference of Independent Colleges championships. The women placed third. University of Puget Sound won both titles.