Cody Hamane grew up loving the water in Hilo, but he never entered the Richardson Roughwater Swim before leaving for college.
It was understandable Sunday morning when the buzz on the beach wasn’t about his first attempt at the race, but rather the return of former champion Madison Hauanio.
When the water got too deep to detect coral along the 1-mile course, Hamane picked a landmark to make sure he was on the straight and narrow, but being in front of Hauanio was as good an indicator as any. He won 28th edition of the open-ocean swim in 20 minutes, 30 seconds.