Kona Race Week traditionally starts with the Ho’ala Swim on a course that is very similar to the swim course for the race next Saturday. There used to be only small changes towards the end: The finish is on the small beach at the King Kam hotel instead of back on “Dig Me Beach”. In the past this has often made the Ho’ala swim a bit faster than the times for race day. This year, the start was also on the beach of the King Cam hotel, probably making the swim quite a bit longer – at least the swim times were significantly slower this year. (Typically, times were on average between one and three minutes quicker, this year they were four minutes slower.)
Here’s a look at the Pros racing who are also qualified to race on Saturday, compared to my seed times for them and the times they have swum in 2022:
| Athlete |
Ho’ala Swim |
Seed tim |
Diff |
2022 Swim |
| Menno Koolhaas |
50:57 |
47:51 |
03:06 |
n/a |
| Ben Kanute |
51:00 |
48:18 |
02:42 |
n/a |
| Finn Große-Freese |
51:04 |
48:26 |
02:38 |
n/a |
| Sam Laidlow |
51:05 |
48:10 |
02:55 |
48:15 |
| Antonio Benito Lopez |
51:09 |
48:45 |
02:24 |
n/a |
| Mathias Petersen |
51:11 |
49:13 |
01:58 |
48:24 |
| Nick Thompson |
51:48 |
50:32 |
01:16 |
n/a |
| Kristian Hogenhaug |
52:10 |
49:34 |
02:36 |
49:50 |
| Clement Mignon |
52:17 |
49:58 |
02:19 |
49:49 |
| David McNamee |
53:44 |
48:41 |
05:03 |
51:45 |
| Paul Schuster |
54:18 |
48:51 |
05:27 |
n/a |
| Patrick Lange |
54:19 |
49:12 |
05:07 |
49:41 |
| Igor Amorelli |
54:21 |
48:18 |
06:03 |
48:26 |
| Robert Kallin |
54:46 |
49:02 |
05:44 |
51:47 |
| Matt Hanson |
55:17 |
52:04 |
03:13 |
52:39 |
| Stenn Goetstouwers |
55:25 |
51:22 |
04:03 |
n/a |
| Ben Hamilton |
55:27 |
52:46 |
02:41 |
n/a |
| Thor Bendix Madsen |
55:30 |
51:10 |
04:20 |
n/a |
| Tristan Olij |
55:32 |
51:22 |
04:10 |
n/a |
| Chris Leiferman |
55:43 |
52:55 |
02:48 |
52:46 |
| Mike Phillips |
55:45 |
51:02 |
04:43 |
n/a |
| Jackson Laundry |
55:51 |
52:34 |
03:17 |
n/a |
| Cameron Wurf |
55:57 |
51:31 |
04:26 |
52:50 |
| Andre Lopes |
56:28 |
49:49 |
06:39 |
48:27 |
| Jason Pohl |
58:37 |
53:09 |
05:28 |
n/a |
| Matt Burton |
01:00:49 |
52:11 |
08:38 |
56:04 |
| Michael Weiss |
01:01:50 |
55:12 |
06:38 |
58:48 |
Have some fun speculating what this could mean for Saturday’s Pro race!