2018 INDUCTION CEREMONY & DINNER
The 7th Induction Ceremony and Dinner took place on Saturday, September 8, 2018, at the Hale Koa Hotel in Waikiki. Keahi Tucker emceed the event that honored the following 15 people. To view a slideshow of the event and the program booklet, scroll down to the bottom of the page or click HERE.
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Swimming:
Catherine Kleinschmidt William Neunzig Charles Oda Ken Walsh Ocean Swimming: Ulrich KlinKe Shigeru Pabilla |
Masters Swimming:
Karlyn Pipes Diving: Anita Rossing Masters Diving: Dr. Dennis Rowe Water Safety: Robert Via |
Coaching:
Orlando Anaya Willem Sakovich Contributors: Sui Lan Ellsworth Alton Motobu K. Mark Takai |
CLASS OF 2018
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ORLANDO ANAYA
Orlando Anaya was born (1961) and raised in Honolulu, and moved to Kauai in 1979, where he currently lives. He started work as a county lifeguard and retired as Aquatics Administrator for the County of Kauai. In 1976, Anaya became the youngest certified Water Safety Instructor (WSI) nationally for the American Red Cross (ARC). Trained in Kaneohe by his mentor Bob Via, he became the youngest certified WSI Trainer nationally for ARC in 1981. Anaywa coached high school swimming at four high schools on Kauai, later becoming manager for high school swim programs for Kauai Interscholastic Federation. He started the USA Swimming Age Group swimming program in Kapaa in 1981 (Kapaa Swim Club), coach and founder of Mokihaha Aquatics Club in 1984 and Mokihana Aquatics High School Swimming Invitational meet in 1989. He was the founder of the Hawaii Chapter of the American Swimming Coaches Association in 1984, later became State President, then served on the National Executive Committee of the Board of Directors. Anaya coached Special Olympics, and is the second longest tenured Head Coach in Hawaii (next to HOF-er Ken Suenaga of Pearl City Aquatics). |
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SUI-LAN ELLSWORTH
Sui-lan Ellsworth was born (1947) in Lima, Peru, and graduated from the University of California – Berkeley (BA) and University of Hawaii (M. Ed.). She worked and retired as a teacher in Hawaii. Ellsworth has been the Vice President of Race Operations for Waikiki Swim Club (WSC) since 2005, responsible for administering all aspects of WSC-sponsored races (11 per year). This is the single most important function in a race-oriented organization and must be accomplished well to have successful races. She helped develop free swim clinics with UH Swim Team and Coaches as instructors, and ocean swim strategy clinics, to improve the swim technique and ability of ocean swimmers that will enter WSC races. Ellsworth also initiated fundraising events to benefit WSC members with serious health conditions, and the Swim with Mike benefit to help the UH Swim Team. She is a board member of the Achievement Rewards for College Scientists (ARCS), Honolulu Chapter, working in Scholar Relations to raise money for Alumni awards, and in Friends of ARCS to help boost membership. She is an accomplished ocean swim racer, having swum Waikiki Roughwater Swim 22 times with 17 podium (top 3) finishes, and North Shore Swim Series 18 times with 53 individual-race podium finishes. |
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CATHERINE KLEINSCHMIDT (Deceased)
Catherine Kleinschmidt was born (1935) and raised in Honolulu, and graduated from Punahou High School. She died in 2006 in Hawai'i. She was a member of Hawaii Swim Club. Died in 2006 in Hawaii. Kleinschmidt was 800m Freestyle Champion and 800m Freestyle Relay Champion (with Julia Murakami, Evelyn Kawamoto, and Thelma Kalama), also 2nd at 400m Freestyle and 2nd at 1500m Freestyle, at 1949 AAU National Women’s Outdoor Championship. She was a member of Women’s National AAU Outdoor Team Champion in 1949 with Hawaii Swim Club. |
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ULRICH KLINKE
Ulrich Klinke was born (1944) and raised in Krefeld, Germany. He is a member of Waikiki Swim Club, Outrigger Canoe Club, and Porsche Club of America. Kilnke has been ocean racing in Hawaii since 1976 (Waikiki Roughwater Swim) and continues to actively race in all the local ocean swim races 42 years later, has placed on the podium (top 3) in his age group 6 times in the Waikiki Roughwater Swim, 47 times in individual races in the North Shore Swim Series, and 16 times in the Double Roughwater Invitational Swim, as well as in most of the other ocean swim races on Oahu. He won the prestigious Outstanding Male Swimmer of the Year award from the Waikiki Swim Club in 1997, has completed 4 Hawaii Channel crossings (including 1st crossing of Alalakeiki Channel), has won ocean regattas in outrigger canoe racing, and has mountain climbed 2 of the highest mountains in the world in the Himalayas and many of the biggest mountains in the European Alps. |
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ALTON MOTOBU
Alton Motobu was born (1950) in Chicago, Illinois, and grew up in Hawaii. He graduated from University of Hawaii at Manoa (BA), and is employed as an Information Technology Analyst at the State of Hawaii Department of Accounting and General Services. He is a member of Waikiki Swim Club (WSC), and on the Board of Directors of the Hawaii Swimming Legacy Project. For WSC, he has served as Vice President for Race Operations, as Race Director, and since 2002 has been Finish Area Facility Coordinator for WSC-sponsored ocean races (11 per year). He has won the WSC Spirit of the Humu award (for volunteerism) twice, and the Humu Cup (most points scored in WSC races) four times. For the Hawaii Swimming Legacy Project, he has served as member and as Chairman of the Ocean and Channel Swimming Advisory Board; and as Legacy Project Secretary to the present. He is a Water Safety Instructor for the Hawaii Red Cross, was a member of the Aloha Council of the Boy Scouts of America and a Scoutmaster, where he taught swimming, lifeguarding, and personal fitness. Motobu has completed 6 Hawaii Channel Crossings (including the first crossing of Alalakeiki Channel), has swum the Waikiki Roughwater Swim 35 times, the Double Roughwater 26 times, and continues to compete regularly in all the Oahu ocean swim and biathlon races. |
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BILL NEUNZIG (Deceased)
William Neaunzig was born (1916) and raised in New York City, and moved to Maui in 1938, then to Oahu in 1946. He died in Melbourne. Florida in 2002 at age 85. Neunzig was a member of Soichi Sakamoto’s 3 Year Swim Club in Puunene, and coached Iolani and Punahou School swim teams. He was on Ohio State University swim team from 1934-1938, was National NCAA 300y Medley Relay Champion in 1937, Western Conference and National NCAA 150y Backstroke Champion in 1937 and 1938, and was on the AAU All American Team that competed in Europe in 1938. He was National AAU 800y Freestyle Relay Champion in 1940. He started the Ohio State University Alumni Club in Honolulu, guiding many local swimmers to go to Ohio State to swim for famed Coach Mike Peppe. Neunzig was inducted into the Ohio State University Swimming Hall of Fame in 1999, and was a member of the Barbershop Singers of America. |
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CHARLIE ODA (Deceased)
Charles I. Oda was born (1923) and raised in Maui, and graduated from University of Hawaii in Honolulu (BA in Sociology). He worked for and retired from Pan American World Airways and was a swim coach at Nuuanu YMCA in Honolulu. Oda died in Colorado in 2017. He started swimming in Puunene, Maui with Soichi Sakamoto and the 3 Year Swim Club in 1937. He received a swimming scholarship to the University of Hawaii in 1941, and when war broke out he enlisted in the US Army. Serving in Europe, Oda represented USA in the Tri-Theater Allied Games in Rome, Italy, in 1944, and competing against teams from European and Mediterranean Armies, he won 200m, 400m, and 1500m Freestyle, and anchored 400m Relay and 800m Relay, to win Team Championship for USA, as well as the Outstanding Performer Award. After the war, Oda returned to UH swimming as Captain of the UH swim team. He was the 800m Relay Champion at the AAU Nationals in 1940, was on the Championship Teams at the AAU Nationals in 1939, 1940, and 1941 with the 3-Year Swim Club, and on the Championship Team at the 1946 AAU Nationals with the Hawaii Swim Club. He also competed in the 1948 Olympic Trials in Detroit, Michigan. |
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SHIGERU PABILA
Shigeru Pabila was born (1936) and raised in Hilo, graduated from Hilo High School, and was employed and retired as a fire fighter for the City and County of Honolulu at the Honolulu Fire Department. He is a former member of Waikiki Swim Club, Hawaii Masters Swim Club, was Co-founder of Hawaii Swim Club Masters. Pabila was also a member of US Armed Forces Long Distance International Swim Team at International Swim Championships in Namur, Belgium in 1957, where he swam the 3 Kilometer breaststroke in the Meuse River and came in 5th overall, and in Berlin, Germany in 1958 where he swam the 200m breastroke. He swam in the Waikiki Roughwater Swim between 1976 and 1992 where he placed in his age group 1st - 8 times, 2nd – 5 times, and 4th once. He also won or placed on podium (top 3) many times at Hapuna Roughwater Swim on Hawaii Island, and Double Roughwater Invitational and North Shore Series on Oahu. He has placed on the podium many times in Biathlon races, won his age group at the first Ironman Triathlon in 1981, and was a podium finisher at the early Tinman Triathlons (early 1980’s). |
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KARLYN PIPES
Karlyn Pipes was born (1962) in Chula Vista, California, graduated from California State University – Bakersfield (BA in Communications and Public Relations). She works as a swim instructor and motivational speaker. She has resided in Kona, Hawaii for the past 14 years. Pipes has set over 200 FINA (International Swimming Federation) Masters World Records, 77 as a Hawaii Resident, is a 611 time US Masters All American (#1 annual rank in event), 5 time World Masters Swimmer of the Year (by Swimming World Magazine), and Top 10 Masters Swimmers of All Time (by Swimming World Magazine, 2012). She was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 2015, and is the author of the book The Do-Over, which won the Buck Dawson Award from the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 2016. |
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ANITA ROSSING
Anita Rossing was born (1960) and raised in Gothenburg, Sweden, and graduated from University of Texas in Austin in 1985 (BS in Education). She moved to Hawaii in 2000 to become the diving coach at University of Hawaii which she continues to be. She is the founder and coach of Sunshine Diving, the largest diving club in Hawaii. Rossing has served as USA Diving’s Hawaii Diving Association (HDA) Vice President since 2008, has been meet director for all HDA Championships, and has been Diving Commissioner for Aloha State Games. She was a member of the Swedish National Diving Team from 1977-1988, and was 16 time National Champion. She competed at 2 FINA (International Swimming Federation) World Championships, 5 European Championships, and one World University Games. At University of Texas, she was 3 time All American in Diving, and 2 times won the AIAW National Team Championships. She was a member of the Swedish Olympic team as a Diver, at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, where she was a Finalist in the 3 meter event, and at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, Korea. As the coach at University of Hawaii, she has been Conference Diving Coach of the Year 10 times, has coached NCAA National Champions, and 20 All Americans. She has also coached high school divers in Sunshine Diving to become Hawaii High School State Champions. |
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DENNIS ROWE
Dennis Rower was born (1948) and raised in San Francisco, California, graduated from University of California at Berkeley, and ontained his MD from University of California San Francisco Medical School. He moved to Maui in 1988 to begin a Cardiology practice, which he has retired from. He coaches diving in high school and at Iao Diving Club where many of his divers have become Hawaii High School State Champions, is Masters Chairman of the Hawaii Diving Association, has been assistant coach for Maui Special Olympics swimmers, and served as Co-Chairman of Hawaii State Special Olympics Med-Fest. Rowe has been 13 time FINA (International Swimming Federation) World Masters Diving Champion and 15 time US Masters National Diving Champion. He is a 5 time Masters World Record holder. He continues to compete at the annual Hawaii Diving Association Championships, usually bringing several young Maui divers with him, and this year won all events (4 gold medals) at the 2017 FINA World Masters Diving Championships in Budapest, Hungary. |
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WILLEM SAKOVICH
Willem D. Sakovich was born (1942) in Tacoma, Washington, and graduated from UCLA in 1964 (BA in Geography). He is the coach at Waiakea High School and Assistant Coach at Hilo Aquatics since 2004, and swim instructor at University of Hawaii – Hilo. Sakovich was also the swim coach for Aloha Aquatics in Hilo (1964, 1972), for swim clubs in Bandung, Indonesia (1964-65) and at Bellevue National Sports Center in Rabat, Morocco (1966-67 while in Peace Corps), Schofield Sharks in Honolulu (1968-69), Waialua Swim Club on Oahu (1969-72), and Saipan Swim Club in Micronesia (1974-2004). Sakovich is the co-founder of Waialua Swim Club on Oahu (1969), Coach of the Year in Saipan (2002), in the Northern Marianas Sports Hall of Fame (2003), Coach of the Year at Waiakea High School (2012), was on the Executive Committee and current member of Oceania Swimming Association (OSA), and voted “Father of Swimming” in Micronesia by OSA (2018). |
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MARK TAKAI (Deceased)
K. Mark Takai was born (1967) in Honolulu, and graduated from the University of Hawaii (BA, MPH). He was a Preventive Medical Officer for the Hawaii National Guard (Lt. Col.), State Representative and Vice Speaker for the State of Hawaii House of Representatives, and US Representative to the United States House of Representatives. He died of cancer (in 2016). Takai was a strong supporter of Swimming in Hawaii and at the University of Hawaii. He was the lead legislator for preparing Hawaii Swimming Hall of Fame Legislative Resolutions for inductees in 2012, and prepared Resolutions from the US House of Representatives for inductees in 2015. He attended and helped present his resolutions to each inductee at the Hall of Fame induction banquets in 2012 and 2015. Takai was state swimming champion 4 times, and national high school All American two times at Pearl City High School, where he was also student body President and editor in chief of the school newspaper. He was the first swimmer inducted into the Hawaii High School Hall of Honor (1985). At the University of Hawaii, he was on the WAC swimming and diving team, member of the UH championship swimming relay team, student body president and editor-in-chief of Ka Leo O Hawaii student newspaper. He was awarded the National Guard Meritorious Service Medal, the US Army Distinguished Service Medal, and the Hawaii Distinguished Service Order. The Hawaii High School Athletic Association Swimming and Diving Championships are named in his honor, as is the Aquatic Center at the Central Oahu Regional Park. |
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ROBERT VIA
Robert Via was born (1927), raised, and graduated from high school in Honolulu. He was a career US armed service WW II and Korean War veteran, and retired from City and County of Honolulu as Kaneohe District Park Pool Manager. Via learned and mastered aquatic skills in Army, became a certified Water Safety Instructor and Trainer with Red Cross, was water safety director at various locations for various armed service branches, United Nations, and Red Cross. At Kaneohe Distric Park Pool, he taught hundreds of children to swim, and taught lifesaving techniques to Water Safety Instructors and lifeguards. He has logged in over 13,000 volunteer hours teaching Red Cross aquatic lifesaving skills, and continues to teach Red Cross swim classes, and quarterly lifeguard instructor training. He began volunteering with the Red Cross in 1951, and was honored as 2012 Red Cross Oahu Volunteer of the Year. |
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KENNETH WALSH
Kenneth M. Walsh was born (1945) in Orange, New Jersey, and graduated from Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan. He is a cameraman by profession and came to Hawaii 45 years ago to work at KHON TV News. He worked for ESPN and has run camera on the swimming venue for the last 7 Olympic Games since 1992 in Barcelona, Spain. He is now with the NBC Golf Tour. Walsh was 4x100 m Freestyle Relay Champion and 4x100m Medley Relay Champion at 1967 University Games in Tokyo, Japan, and 4x100 m Freestyle Relay Champion and 4x100m Medley Relay Champion at the 1967 Pan American Games in Winnipeg, Canada. He was also 4x100 m Freestyle Relay Champion and 4x100m Medley Relay Champion at 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City, Mexico and 100m Freestyle Silver Medalist at 1968 Olympic Games. Walsh was 4 times Big Ten Champion, 1966 and 1967 NCAA 100y Freestyle National Champion, and set World Record for 100m Freestyle at 1967 Pan American Games. He is also in the Michigan State University Athletics Hall of Fame. |
HAWAI'I SWIMMING HALL OF FAME |
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