Keo Nakama (May 21, 1920 – September 8, 2011) was an American swimmer. Nakama was born in the town of

Puʻunene, Hawaii Puʻunēnē ( haw, Puunēnē) is an unincorporated community in the central part of Maui, Hawaii, United States, near Kahului with a population of around 50. Although the land is fairly level, the Hawaiian language name means " goose hill". Back ...

, on the island of

Maui The island of Maui (; Hawaiian: ) is the second-largest of the islands of the state of Hawaii at 727.2 square miles (1,883 km2) and is the 17th largest island in the United States. Maui is the largest of Maui County's four islands, whic ...

. He was one of a group taught by Soichi Sakamoto at the Puʻunene School His swimming career included a world record 20:29 in the mile swim,

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

titles at

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

, and numerous national and international victories. The outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

prevented his competing in an

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a multi ...

: Nakama was at his peak from 1940 to 1944. He was inducted into the

International Swimming Hall of Fame The International Swimming Hall of Fame and Museum (ISHOF) is a history museum and hall of fame, located at One Hall of Fame Drive, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States, operated by private interests and serving as the central point for the stu ...

in 1975. Nakama is best known for swimming from the island of

Molokai Molokai , or Molokai (), is the fifth most populated of the eight major islands that make up the Hawaiian Islands archipelago in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It is 38 by 10 miles (61 by 16 km) at its greatest length and width with a us ...

Oahu Oahu () ( Hawaiian: ''Oʻahu'' ()), also known as "The Gathering Place", is the third-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is home to roughly one million people—over two-thirds of the population of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The island of O ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

, at 40 years of age. In September 1961, he crossed the dangerous 27-mile Ka Iwi Channel in 15 ½ hours; he was the first person to verifiably accomplish this feat. Nakama was later elected to the Hawaii State House of Representatives, where he served for five terms until 1974. He died in

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the isla ...

at the age of 91.

References

External links

Honolulu Star-Bulletin: "They don't make them like Keo no more"

*http://www.swimnews.com/news/view/8901 1920 births 2011 deaths American athlete-politicians American male swimmers Hawaii politicians of Japanese descent Members of the Hawaii House of Representatives Ohio State Buckeyes baseball players American sportspeople of Japanese descent Swimmers from Hawaii {{Hawaii-politician-stub

See also

References

External links