2025 INDUCTION CEREMONY & DINNER
The Hawai'i Swimming Hall of Fame's Class of 2025 was inducted at a dinner ceremony on Saturday, October 18, 2025, at the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai'i, honoring 13 people. The special guest presenter was House Speaker Nadine Nakamura, and emcee, Catherine Cruz. A slideshow of the event can be viewed below the bios, or click on the Photos & Progam button below to go to that section now.
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Swimming:
Daniel Zane Kailikoa Coakley Sandie Easton Lillie Elizabeth Bowmer MacKenzie Christel Simms |
Ocean & Channel Swimming:
Ian Emberson Gail Leanne Grabowsky Ryan Leong Steven Minaglia Diving: Rui Wang |
Coaching:
Bruce Kennard Mark Noetzel Lincoln Yamashita Water Safety: Mark Cunningham |
CLASS OF 2025
(Listed alphabetically)
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DANIEL ZANE KAILIKOA COAKLEY, Competitive Swimming
2008 Beijing Olympian & "Southeast Asian Sprint King" Daniel Coakley was born on December 13, 1990, and raised in Kohala, Hawai'i. Daniel began swimming at the age of five, competing in novice swim meets before advancing to USA Swimming meets, where he shattered records in every age division. By age 18, Daniel had joined the ranks of the fastest 50-meter freestyle sprinters, a list that included legends like Matt Biondi and Gary Hall, Jr. He did this wearing a pair of jammers, before the introduction of high-tech fast suits. READ MORE
Representing his grandfather's homeland, Daniel swam exclusively for the philippines. He dominated the Southeast Asian Games, winning gold in the 50-meter freestyle and setting new records in both Thailand and Laos. His incredible speed and dominance in the event earned him the title "Southeast Asian Sprint King" from this fellow competitors. A promise made as a child became a reality when, at 17, Daniel swam an Olympic-qualifying tie of 22.8 seconds at the Thailand SEA Games, breaking the previous record and defeating top swimmers from Singapore, Malaysia, and Indoneisa. Daniel has remained connected to his community coaching novice, age group, and high school swimmers, passing on his knowledge to the next generation. As a professional lifeguard stationed at Hapuna Beach, Hawai'i, he has risked his own life to save others from treacherous rip currents. Additionally, he has led the Junio Lifeguard Program at Hapuna Beach, where he continues to serve and protect to this day. |
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MARK CUNNINGHAM, Water Safety
Swimming, Art-Sculptor Mark R. Cunningham was born in 1955, raised in Honolulu, and graduated from Punahou High School in 1974. He attended the University of California Santa Barbara for two years where he swam and played water polo. Mark started lifeguarding for the City of Santa Barbara in 1975, returned to Hawai'i and began his lifeguard career with the City and County of Honolulu in 1976. He worked on Oahu’s North Shore for 18 years at Ehukai Beach Park, home of the Banzai Pipeline. READ MORE
He was promoted to the Ocean Safety Training Lieutenant position where he served for 10 years training and recertifying some of the best lifeguards in the world. He was instrumental in starting the statewide Junior Lifeguard Program in the early 1990’s and retired from the City and County in 2004. In addition to his professional lifeguarding career, Mark was a co-founder of the original North Shore Swim series, the founder of the Hui o He’e Nalu Independence Day Paddleboard Race, a founding member of the Hawaiian Water Patrol, and a member of the Board of Directors of the Hawaiian Lifeguard Association. He has competed in and won national and international bodysurfing competitions around the world and is a regular medal winner at the annual United States Lifesaving Association National Lifeguard Championships. Mark was named the Quiksilver Eddie Aikau Waterman of the Year in 1994, and was inducted into the Outrigger Duke Kahanamoku Foundation Waterman Hall of Fame in 2014. |
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SANDIE EASTON, Competitive Swimming
Open Water Swimmer, Masters Swimmer, Contributor Sandie Easton was born in New Jersey in 1969, and grew up around Phoenix, Arizona. She earned her BA in Computational and Applied Mathematics/Economics from Rice University on an academic/swimming scholarship. She is a technology professional and has worked in diverse fields for companies like Federal Express, IBM, Wells Fargo and HMSA. She currently works for SAS Institute, an analytic software company, as a Senior Data Architect. read more
Sandie's swimming achievements are numerous, from holding the Arizona State 10 and under 100 fly record to innumerable gold medals as a Masters swimmer in national and world championships. She started open water swimming in a visit to Hawaii in 2003. After continuing to enter ocean races as a part-time resident, she finally moved permanently to Hawaii in 2014. She has come in first overall woman and countless top 3 finishes in her age group in the Waikiki Roughwater Swim, the North Shore Series and other local events. She returned to the pool in 2024 and captured USMS All-Star for most #1 age group rankings. She has been a member of the Waikiki Swim Club volunteering at club events and serves as secretary for the HI LMSC (the USMS Hawaii Masters group). |
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IAN EMBERSON, Ocean Swimming
Swimmer, Race Administrator, Contributor Ian Emberson was born in Caracas, Venezuela, in 1951, educated in England, and graduated from the University of Massachusetts. He moved to Hawai'i as a teenager and worked in the hotel, oil, and banking industries, retiring from the Bank of Hawai'i after nearly 30 years of service. He has been a resident of Hawai'i for 60 years and currently lives on Kaua'i, where he has swum the Napali coast many times. READ MORE
In 1970 he completed the first Waikiki Roughwater Swim, in 1977 he organized and directed the Maui Channel Swim Relay and Solo Swims and has continued every year since; in 1978 he helped organize then completed the Ironman Triathlon on Oahu and completed 4 more Ironmans. In 1979 he swam the Kaiwi Channel (with past inductee Mike Miller) and later swam the Auau Channel. He founded and directed many open water swims on Oahu, such as the North Shore Challenge, the Popoia Swim, and the Outrigger Swim. Out of the water he served as president of the Waikiki Swim Club and chaired the Outrigger Canoe Club swimming committee for over 10 years |
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GAIL LEANNE GRABOWSKY, Ocean Swimming
Open Water Swimmer, Educator-Researcher, Contributor Gail Leanne Grabowsky was born in Los Angeles, California, in 1963. She studied at Duke University and earned a PhD in Zoology in 1993. She first came to Hawai'i as a graduate student researcher in 1992, and returned as a postdoc in 1993. She has taught at Chaminade University from 1997, in fields such as biology, environmental sciences and renewable energy. She is currently Professor of Environmental Studies, the Dean of the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics and the Executive Director of Chaminade’s United Nations CIFAL Honolulu Sustainability Center. READ MORE
Gail has won the female division of the Double Roughwater swim six times, won the North Shore Swim Series elite division, innumerable age-group firsts, 14 time podium age-group finisher at the Waikiki Roughwater Swim, and has first female wins in the King’s Swim, the Wailea Roughwater and the Popoi’a Swim. She served for 20 years on the Papahanaumokuakea Advisory Council, helped draft plans to ameliorate the conflict between fishers and other users of Ala Moana Park, educated and involved her students in hands-on ocean science and policy-making, and she is one of the people who discovered the link between the moon cycle and box jellyfish influxes. |
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BRUCE KENNARD, Coaching
Bruce Kennard was born and raised in Evansville, Indiana, where he attended the University of Evansville and competed for their Varsity Swim Team. After graduation, Bruce moved to Hawai‘i and started coaching at the Windward YMCA Swim Team with HSHOF inductee, Ralph Goto. He returned home for three years where he founded and coached the Evansville Swim Club. Bruce was then hired as the Pearl Harbor Swim Club Head Coach for two years, as he returned to Hawai‘i for good. read more
In 1981, Bruce was hired by the University of Hawai‘i as the Duke Kahanamoku Aquatic Complex Coordinator, a position that he held for thirty years. Bruce worked with the U H Facilities staff to maintain the pools and to schedule a wide variety of user groups such as U H classes, recreational swim, varsity practices and competitions, the UH Christmas Forum, and the Hawai‘i Special Olympics. Bruce Kennard warmly welcomed all visitors and users to the DKAC. As a coach, Bruce worked with a number of swim teams and clubs in Hawai‘i: U H Men’s and Women’s Teams, ‘Iolani Swim Club, and with Aulea Swim Club as their head coach for ten years. Bruce assisted U H head swimming coaches, Al Minn, Jan Prince and Sam Freas. He even stepped in to be U H Interim Varsity Head Swimming Coach in 2000-2001. During Bruce’s 30 + years of working with swimming, he impacted hundreds of swimmers, some of whom became NCAA All Americans and National Junior Olympic Champions. Bruce and his wife Margie continue to live in Kailua and have 3 children – Kristi, Kari and Lucas. |
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RYAN LEONG, Ocean & Channel Swimming
Swimmer, Race Administrator, Coach, Contributor Ryan Leong, was born in San Luis Obispo, CA, in 1971, and came to Hawai'i to live with family and attend the University of Hawai'i. He graduated in 1994 and has lived in Hawai'i for the past 33 years. He works in the oncology diagnostics field and has coached swimming, water polo and triathlon at all levels from age group to NCAA and the Olympics. He has been race director for the Double Roughwater Swim since 2022, committee member of the Waikiki Roughwater Swim, managing member of the Kaiwi Channel Association and the Ala Moana Beach Swim Club, and a board member of the Outrigger Duke Kahanamoku Foundation. READ MORE
In the water he has finished solo crossings of the Kaiwi Channel and 9 additional Hawaii channels, completed a full swimming circumnavigation of Maui as part of Epic Swim Maui, circumnavigation of Rarotonga, and numerous other open water swims throughout the state, including multiple top-3 age group finishes in the Waikiki Roughwater Swim, the Double Roughwater, the North Shore Swim Series, and the Outrigger Invitational. |
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LILLIE ELIZABETH BOWMER MACKENZIE, Competitive Swimmer
Lillie Bowmer Mackenzie was born in England in 1906. The family moved to Hawai'i in 1919, where she enrolled in Punahou School. She swam for Punahou and the Outrigger Canoe Club beginning in 1920 at age 14, both teams coached by George “Dad” Center. She competed for 10 years in freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, open water events and in diving. She set four world records in her career: 50-yard free (1923), broke her own record in the 50-yard free (1926), 100-yard free (1928), and she swam the anchor when the Outrigger relay team broke the record in an open water relay race. In 1928, as a wife and young mother, she qualified for the Olympic Trials in the 50 and 100 free and the 100 back. She narrowly missed qualifying. She retired from competitive swimming in 1930 but continued swimming, canoe paddling, and surfing. She was given Life Membership in the Outrigger Canoe Club in 1964 and inducted into the Punahou Hall of Fame in 1986. |
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STEVEN MINAGLIA, Ocean & Channel Swimmer
Channel & Open Water Swimmer, Race Organizer, Coach, Contributor Dr. Steven Minaglia and wife Madeleine Young moved back to Hawai'i in 2007 to be closer to family and to raise 4 children. He completed college and medical school at the University of Chicago (1995, 1999), OBG residency and Urogynecology fellowship at USC (2003, 2006), and MBA at UH Shidler (2012). He runs a busy surgical practice at Queen’s Hospital, is Professor of OBG, Urogynecology, and Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgery at UH JABSOM, and is the only person in Hawaiʻi to hold all 3 board certifications. READ MORE
He completed 41 Hawaiian channel crossings (most ever) and 48 other marathon swims, including the first staged complete circumnavigation of Oʻahu, the 120-mile staged Hudson River swim, Manhattan Island Circumnavigation, Messinian Gulf, Strait of Gibraltar and the Kaiwi, Kaulakahi, double ʻAuʻau, double Pailolo, Kalohi, and Catalina Channels. He founded the Maui Nui Swim, a 3-day event across the ʻAuʻau, Kalohi, and Pailolo Channels and completed it 6 times. In total he organized 189 channel crosses for 54 swimmers. He has numerous 1st place age-group finishes in the Double Roughwater, North Shore Swim Series, and WSC Biathlon series winning it overall twice. His published research on cookiecutter sharks led to improvements in swimmer safety. He is the Honorary Secretary of the Hawaiian Channel Swimming Association. |
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MARK NOETZEL, Coaching
Swimmer, Masters Swimmer, Race Director, Coach Mark Noetzel was born in Port Huron, Michigan, in 1962, and graduated from the University of Michigan (1984), where he was an All-American in the 400-yard freestyle. He came to Hawai'i in 1985 to coach at Punahou Aquatics then became head coach of the varsity swim team in 1986, which won the state championship four times. He moved to the Big Island in 1990 to teach and coach at Hawai'i Preparatory Academy, which won the state championship twice. He founded the Academy Swim Club in 1993 which is one of the largest age group swim clubs on the Big Island and continues to coach them today. READ MORE
He is the president of the Hawai'i Island Masters and coaches masters swimmers. He was race director of the Hapuna Rough Water Swim, 2011-2019. In the water he is a former world record holder, a Hawaiian Masters Record Holder, and has numerous Top-10 finishes nationally. He was inducted into the Port Huron Sports Hall of Fame in 2021. |
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CHRISTEL SIMMS, Competitive Swimmer
2008 Beijing Olympian Christel Simms is a distinguished 2008 Olympian, NCAA All-American, and record-breaking swimmer. Beginning her career under Coach Scott Sherwood, she dominated Hawai'i’s swimming scene, securing 16 HHSAA State Championship titles and multiple state records at Punahou School, leading to her HHSAA Hall of Honor induction in 2009. READ MORE
Earning a full-ride scholarship to USC, Simms excelled as a six-time NCAA All-American, USC team captain, and a key contributor to the team’s success at the NCAA Championships. On the international stage, she proudly represented the Philippines at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, competing in the 50m and 100m freestyle while setting national records. Simms also competed at the 2008 FINA Short Course World Championships in Manchester, England, cementing her reputation as a world-class swimmer. Simms was also a USA National Junior Team member and a 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials competitor, competing against the world’s top athletes. Her competitive spirit, relentless work ethic, and global experience have shaped her as a leader both in the pool and beyond. After her athletic career, Simms transitioned into coaching, helping the University of Hawaii Swim Team secure four consecutive MPSF Conference Championships. She graduated with her Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) in May 2025, applying her disciplined approach to healthcare, striving for excellence in both practice and patient care. |
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RUI WANG, Competitive Diving
Rui Wang was born in 1980 and raised in Beijing, China. Rui was a member of the Chinese National Diving Team in the 1990’s. She moved to Hawai‘i in 2004 and graduated from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa in 2007 (Business Administration). At age 13, Rui won the 7th Chinese National Games in 1993, becoming the youngest diver to do so. Representing China at the FINA World Cups in 1995 and 1997, and at FINA Diving Grand Prix events from 1995 to 2001, Rui won a total of nine gold medals, five silvers and one bronze. READ MORE
After Rui Wang represented Tsinghua University and won medals at two FISU World University Games, she transferred to U H Mānoa in 2004. She became a four-time NCAA All American diver for Hawai'i, placing 2nd and 3rd in the platform diving events in the 2005 and 2006 NCAA Division I Championships. In 2006, Rui along with two teammates, were the highest scoring diving team at the NCAA Championships. Well done Rainbow Wahine! Rui Wang became a United States citizen and has lived in Honolulu for over 20 years. She is married and has a son. Rui worked for ten years in clinical research. She has coached diving at ‘Iolani School and Sunshine Diving. Over the years she has generously volunteered as a judge and scoring table official at university, club, and high school events in Honolulu. Rui Wang was coached at U H by two HSHOF inductees, Mike Brown and Anita Rossing. |
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LINCOLN YAMASHITA, Coaching
Lincoln Yamashita was born in Honolulu on February 12, 1943, graduated from Farrington High School in 1961, earned a BS in Physical Education from Idaho State University, and a Masters Degree in Physical Education from the University of Hawai'i at Manoa. He is a retired Hawai'i public school teacher and swim coach, and a retired Lt. Colonel with the Hawai'i Army National Guard. He was a Hawai'i State High School champion in the 100 yd. breaststroke and member of the first place 200 yd. medley relay team in 1960-61. He was a five-time Big Sky Conference champion and a member of Big Sky Conference 400 yd. medley relay team that won conference titles in 1963-65. He was inducted into the Idaho State University Sports Hall of Fame in 2009. READ MORE
Lincoln coached age group swimming in Hawaii with Coach Albert Minn at the Aulea Swim Club, 1970-76, and was named Head Age Group Coach when Coach Minn began coaching at the collegiate level at the University of Hawaii. He also coached high school swim teams at Campbell, Kalaheo, and Kailua High Schools. He continues to coach with the Aulea Swim Club, guiding young swimmers as a volunteer assistant under Head Coach Joe Glenn. With over 60 years of experience as a competitive swimmer, educator, coach, and military officer, Lincoln Yamashita is a proud member of the Hawaii Swimming Hall of Fame Class of 2025. |
PHOTOS & PROGRAM 2025:
Gathering...The Presentations... |
Class of 2025 ProgramMahalo to all who purchased ads in support of the inductees! Scroll to view the program in its entirety, or click HERE to view and download the file.
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Photos: Sybil Nishioka
HAWAI'I SWIMMING HALL OF FAME |
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