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Soichi Sakamoto
Soichi Sakamoto (Japanese: 坂本 正一, January 23, 1906 – August 2, 1997) was an American swimming coach for the Hawaii Swim Club from 1946 through 1981, the University of Hawaii from 1946 through 1961 and the U.S. Olympic team in 1952 and 1956. He pioneered the use of interval and resistance training for competitive swimmers, methods that have now become standard throughout the sport. He coached several national champions and five Olympic medalists that included Bill Woolsey, Thelma Kalama, Evelyn Kawamoto, Bill Smith, and Burwell Jones.
Sakamoto was born in the coastal town of Lahaina, to Tokuishi and Shika Sakamoto on January 23, 1906. Lahaina is located on the Western coast of the Island of Maui, in Maui County, Hawaii. Maui County consists of the Islands of Maui and four smaller adjacent islands.
He worked as a sixth-grade science teacher at Puunene School in Maui, Hawaii, and initially knew little about swimming, having confined his early coaching to track and field. As a science teacher and track coach, he learned the value of sprint training in developing cardiovascular fitness and speed for his athletes.
Despite having never worked as a swim coach, in 1937 he established the Three-Year Swim Club in Puunene, Maui, largely for the children of poor sugar plantation workers. Using the skills he had acquired as a track coach, he was one of the first coaches to effectively use interval training for competitive swimmers.
Lacking a pool until 1940, when the club's patron, the Hawaiian Commercial and Sugar Company built one at Baldwin Park, Sakamoto had his early students train in the Hawaiian Sugar Cane Company's irrigation ditches, swimming against the current, a form of resistance training, used to build strength without the use of weights. Jose Balmores, Keo Nakama, "Bunny" Nakama, "Halo" Hirose, and Bill Smith, recalled swimming 50-yard sprints against a current as strong as 15 miles per hour (24 km/h). Sakamoto also had his swimmers cross-train on occasion by running track to improve speed, a form of dryland training. The name of the club, which had a membership as large as 100, reflected Sakamoto's goal of getting his pupils on the Olympic team in three years, and most members signed three-year contracts to diligently pursue their training, while refraining from smoking and drinking. While several of his early students did indeed qualify for the Olympics, the 1940 and 1944 Summer Olympics were cancelled due to World War II. His early teams had great success, despite the Olympic cancellations, and won the 1939, 1940 and 1941 Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) national outdoor team championships.
In 1946 he started the Hawaii Swim Club in the greater Honolulu area on the island of Oahu, Northeast of the Island of Maui where he was born and worked as a school teacher. Sakamoto's work days could be grueling, often staying til midnight at the pool after ending his school day teaching around 2:30. He coached the club through 1981, when his wife became ill and he decided to spend time caring for her. It was the club to which he was most dedicated and which he coached for the longest period. He continued coaching the Hawaii Swim Club until the age of 75, when he retired from coaching. By 1958, his Hawaii teams included 14 national AAU titleists. Sakamoto qualified to take twelve teams to the national championships and captured six national AAU team championships. The Hawaii Swim Club still exists, with pool locations in the greater Honolulu area, and continues to host the annual Soichi Sakamoto Invitational swim tournament which began around 1976.
Among numerous championships, as previously mentioned, his women's team with the Hawaii Swim Club won the National Women's AAU Outdoor team championship in August, 1949 in San Antonio, Texas. Individual honors went to future Olympic swimmers Eveleyn Kawamoto who won national titles in breaststroke and IM, and Thelma Kalama, who took titles in the 110 and 440 yard freestyle.
He was the swimming coach at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa in Honolulu from 1946 to 1961, where he also coached diving, and during this period served as an assistant coach for the US Olympic Swim Team from 1952 to 1956. Beginning with the 1948 Summer Olympics, Sakamoto achieved his goal; a number of his pupils not only competed in the Olympics, they were medalists. Sakamoto stayed on at the University of Hawaii as an Associate Professor in the Physical Education Department through 1971.
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Soichi Sakamoto
Soichi Sakamoto (Japanese: 坂本 正一, January 23, 1906 – August 2, 1997) was an American swimming coach for the Hawaii Swim Club from 1946 through 1981, the University of Hawaii from 1946 through 1961 and the U.S. Olympic team in 1952 and 1956. He pioneered the use of interval and resistance training for competitive swimmers, methods that have now become standard throughout the sport. He coached several national champions and five Olympic medalists that included Bill Woolsey, Thelma Kalama, Evelyn Kawamoto, Bill Smith, and Burwell Jones.
Sakamoto was born in the coastal town of Lahaina, to Tokuishi and Shika Sakamoto on January 23, 1906. Lahaina is located on the Western coast of the Island of Maui, in Maui County, Hawaii. Maui County consists of the Islands of Maui and four smaller adjacent islands.
He worked as a sixth-grade science teacher at Puunene School in Maui, Hawaii, and initially knew little about swimming, having confined his early coaching to track and field. As a science teacher and track coach, he learned the value of sprint training in developing cardiovascular fitness and speed for his athletes.
Despite having never worked as a swim coach, in 1937 he established the Three-Year Swim Club in Puunene, Maui, largely for the children of poor sugar plantation workers. Using the skills he had acquired as a track coach, he was one of the first coaches to effectively use interval training for competitive swimmers.
Lacking a pool until 1940, when the club's patron, the Hawaiian Commercial and Sugar Company built one at Baldwin Park, Sakamoto had his early students train in the Hawaiian Sugar Cane Company's irrigation ditches, swimming against the current, a form of resistance training, used to build strength without the use of weights. Jose Balmores, Keo Nakama, "Bunny" Nakama, "Halo" Hirose, and Bill Smith, recalled swimming 50-yard sprints against a current as strong as 15 miles per hour (24 km/h). Sakamoto also had his swimmers cross-train on occasion by running track to improve speed, a form of dryland training. The name of the club, which had a membership as large as 100, reflected Sakamoto's goal of getting his pupils on the Olympic team in three years, and most members signed three-year contracts to diligently pursue their training, while refraining from smoking and drinking. While several of his early students did indeed qualify for the Olympics, the 1940 and 1944 Summer Olympics were cancelled due to World War II. His early teams had great success, despite the Olympic cancellations, and won the 1939, 1940 and 1941 Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) national outdoor team championships.
In 1946 he started the Hawaii Swim Club in the greater Honolulu area on the island of Oahu, Northeast of the Island of Maui where he was born and worked as a school teacher. Sakamoto's work days could be grueling, often staying til midnight at the pool after ending his school day teaching around 2:30. He coached the club through 1981, when his wife became ill and he decided to spend time caring for her. It was the club to which he was most dedicated and which he coached for the longest period. He continued coaching the Hawaii Swim Club until the age of 75, when he retired from coaching. By 1958, his Hawaii teams included 14 national AAU titleists. Sakamoto qualified to take twelve teams to the national championships and captured six national AAU team championships. The Hawaii Swim Club still exists, with pool locations in the greater Honolulu area, and continues to host the annual Soichi Sakamoto Invitational swim tournament which began around 1976.
Among numerous championships, as previously mentioned, his women's team with the Hawaii Swim Club won the National Women's AAU Outdoor team championship in August, 1949 in San Antonio, Texas. Individual honors went to future Olympic swimmers Eveleyn Kawamoto who won national titles in breaststroke and IM, and Thelma Kalama, who took titles in the 110 and 440 yard freestyle.
He was the swimming coach at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa in Honolulu from 1946 to 1961, where he also coached diving, and during this period served as an assistant coach for the US Olympic Swim Team from 1952 to 1956. Beginning with the 1948 Summer Olympics, Sakamoto achieved his goal; a number of his pupils not only competed in the Olympics, they were medalists. Sakamoto stayed on at the University of Hawaii as an Associate Professor in the Physical Education Department through 1971.