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!