For years, Belise and Blaise Swartwood were home schooled by their mother, Weni.
That set the foundation for their prowess at Mililani. Belise, a sophomore who won three OIA girls swimming events recently, has a 4.2 grade-point average. Blaise, a senior, won four first-place medals at the OIA championships and has a 4.4 GPA.
The talented, hard-working sister and brother helped Mililani capture team titles at OIAs, and they are in the mix when the state championships get underway on Friday at Kamehameha-Hawaii.
The Swartwoods are the prep feature story in the Tuesday’s edition of the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.
Lockdown staples
BELISE SWARTWOOD
Top 3 shows/movies
1. “Arcane” (Netflix)
“It’s kind of based off of the video game League of Legends. It has the same characters. It was only nine episodes. It was a good series. They’re making a second season.”
2. “The Avengers” movies
“I like them all. My favorite character might be Iron Man. He’s a famous, billionaire philanthropist.”
3. “Criminal Minds” (Netflix)
“I watch it with my friends sometimes. It’s very interesting.”
Top 3 food/drink/snack
1. Chocolate
“I love chocolate. Ferrero Rocher. I’ve gotten it on Amazon, the 24-piece (box). It was $15. I got it when I got Christmas money. You can get them at Longs, the same type of chocolate, but it only comes in a pack of three.”
2. Poke
“Foodland is pretty good.”
3. Green tea
Top 3 music artists
1. James Arthurwho – “Medicine”
2. Ed Sheeran – “Bad Habits”
3. Dean Lewis – “Falling Up
Favorite teacher/class: Mr. (Blaise) Hanagami
“Mililani, last year. He teaches Computer Science courses. He is very funny and I can kind of banter with him.”
GPA: 4.2.
“This year, I think it’s 4.4, but my brother and sister have higher GPAs. We were actually home-schooled by my mom (Weni) when we were younger, so she made it very clear, the standards. I was home-schooled until fifth grade. She was a good teacher.
“I’m taking three AP classes now. AP Computer Science Principles, AP World History and AP Biology.”
Funniest teammate: Katrina King.
“She’s just very energetic. She’s very hyper. She’ll just screaming a song that’s playing during a meet. When we’re just waiting in the bleachers. Some people sing with her. I’ve sung with her sometimes.”
Smartest teammate: My brother.
“It’s probably him. I think his GPA is 4.4 cumulative. I ask him for advice.”
New life skill: drawing
“I’m not very good at it, but I like it.”
Are you Picasso or Cézanne?
“Definitely Picasso. I tend to be a little bit of a perfectionist, but I have learned that sometimes, I just need to move on with school and swimming.”
Bucket list
“I want to go to Europe. Italy. Backpacking through Europe. And go skydiving.”
Hidden talent
“I play violin. Since I was 4. I take lessons once a week. I’m in the Hawaii Youth Symphony Orchestra. My brother and I both play piano. My sister played piano. I played violin my mom asked me what instrument I wanted to play. She didn’t even know I knew what a violin is. Since I was 11. It’s usually two bigger concerts a year. It’s probably swimming if I have to choose, but they don’t usually conflict. My mom played flute and piano.”
Favorite song: “Right now I’m playing the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto. It’s 30 minutes, three movements. This is with my private teacher.”
Time machine
“I probably would just go to 1999 so I could see the century turn.”
Shout outs
“Mom, coach (Grant) Bramer and my swim club coaches.”
BLAISE SWARTWOOD
Top 3 shows/movies
1. “Arcane” (Netflix)
2. “Crash Landing on You” (Netflix)
3. NONE
Top 3 food/snack/drink
1. Ramen
“Any type is good.”
2. Pasta
“I’m pretty generic with food. I’m not too picky. Usually, my mom makes it.”
Top 3 music artists
1. Paramour – “Misery Business”
2. Twice – “Icon”
3. Foo Fighters – “All My Life”
Favorite class: AP Physics C: Mechanics
“It’s interesting. It’s engaging.”
Favorite teacher: “I don’t have a favorite teacher.”
GPA: 4.4
“If I didn’t swim, it would be higher probably. I would have much more time.”
New life skill: driving
“It was fine, pretty easy.”
Bucket list: visit Japan and Korea
“They have good food. I just want to taste and see. I’d go out to the countrysides.”
Hidden talent: playing piano.
“For piano, just classical. It’s more therapeutic just to see what I can do.”
Time machine
“I’d probably go to the future just to see what type of technology they come up with, maybe 100 years.”
Shout outs
“My friend, Brisco Beaton. I’ve known him a long time.”
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