Takashi "Halo" Hirose (, 1923–2002) was an American competitive swimmer. In 1937, he joined the famed "Three Year Swim Club" of Soichi Sakamoto. He became the first

Japanese American are Americans of Japanese ancestry. Japanese Americans were among the three largest Asian Americans, Asian American ethnic communities during the 20th century; but, according to the 2000 United States census, 2000 census, they have declined in ...

to represent the United States in any international swimming competition, and the first to set a swimming world record. He set that record in 1938 in Germany as a member of the United States's 4 × 100 m freestyle relay team, and also won the National AAU's 800-meter freestyle relay championship in 1941 in record time. He also won the United States National 100m title in 1941. Hirose was considered a superstar in the 1930s and trained for the

Olympics The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competit ...

in 1940 and 1944, but was unable to participate due to their cancellation during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He fought in World War II as part of the 442nd Infantry Regiment and the 100th Infantry Battalion, and earned five battle stars, the

Combat Infantryman Badge The Combat Infantryman Badge (CIB) is a United States Army military decoration. The badge is awarded to infantrymen and Special Forces (United States Army), Special Forces soldiers in the rank of Colonel (United States), colonel and below, wh ...

and a Presidential Unit Citation. He was paralyzed for a period from the hips down due to trench foot during a deployment to France in the war; it was feared that he would lose his feet. He was able to recover the use of his legs, but he felt the effects of the disease for the rest of his life. After the war ended he attended

Ohio State University The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...

, where he was an All-American three times, was an NCAA champion in the 100 free, and helped Ohio State win Big Ten, NCAA, and AAU team titles. He graduated from Ohio State in 1949. He later became Hawaii's chief probation officer, and eventually retired in 1982. In 1987, he was inducted into Ohio State University's Sports Hall of Fame. He died in 2002 and was survived by his daughter Sono Hirose-Hulbert and his wife Kiyomi. In 2017, 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 ...

as a "Pioneer Swimmer".

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External links

Interview of Hirose by Hiroshi Yamauchi
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hirose, Takashi 1923 births 2002 deaths American male freestyle swimmers American military personnel of Japanese descent American sportspeople of Japanese descent Ohio State Buckeyes men's swimmers Swimmers from Hawaii 20th-century American sportsmen

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