The Waikiki Roughwater Swim History

The Directors & Their Eras
The Broad Shouldered Heros
    Here we give due credit to those rare "heroes" who stepped forward and volunteered for the full planning and operational responsibility of running and improving this now great swim and serving for years and years.
    
Hundreds Worked
     Many others helped, some hugely, and we hope to mention them all. We welcome additions of others of the many "load carriers" so deserving of recognition.


                    Steve Munatones           Steve Bobko          Gen Iinuma
                            1986-87                       1985                   1983-84



The Creative Era: 1988 to 1995


Tough Job
    This job is serious because there are many legal, insurance and bureaucratic powers to be dealt with in the permittiing and operational process. Also, great numbers of volunteers, a few paid hands and Nautilus, God of the Seas controling the currents, and creatures of the deeps...all must be engaged and mollified before the gun goes off on Labor Day morning at 9:AM, year after year.
Trask - Anderson - Sheppard: Served Major Tours at the Controls  

The Pure Swim
    The Swim has been blessed by a succession of conscientous and talented leaders who built upon their predecessor's work and kept on adding improvements while avoiding the temptation to sell out to commercial interests
as have many swimming and other sporting events.
     The result is now a non-profit, community-wide, just-for-the-joy-of-ocean- swimming event not besmirched by title identity such as Gatorman or Budweiser Swim or big money prizes such as have others have done or entertained.
 
Long-Haul Tours of Leadership
   Foremost in this regard would would be Fred Trask, Jim Anderson and Ted Sheppard who served long tenures of 6, 8 and 15 years respectively...silent mega-gifts to the swimming world.


Enter Kaia Hedlund...Excellence to the Rescue
    In late 2009, Ted Shephard retired, as planned, after 15 years of superb management of the Swim. By extreme good luck, Kaia Hedlund came to the rescue and took over the Directorship of the Swim.
National Class Swim Leader  
     More luck, Kaia had extensive experience with the Roughwater Swim, have swum in it many times over the years, (winning her age group one year), and more importantly having served on the RW Committee for many years as secretary (aka up to her neck in permit and our own special kind of massive paper work) and even more good luck Kaia had escalated her career into major swim management on the Mainland such as National swim meets of many kinds....WOWEE...

Purity Saved for Future Generations
    How lucky could this humble, non-commercial swim be? Nautilus and his co-gods swimming in the air up above the Natatorium smiled on this swim and rewarded it for being so PURE and CLASSIC.

Bottom Line
     If you see Kaia, (a good looking tall blonde in dark glasses & "Director" tee shirt) or any of the other past directors, please say:
"THANK YOU".
Jim Cotton
The Now Era 2010 - Future

Kaia Hedlund

The Efficient & Challenging Era: 1996 - 2009

The Growth Era: 1976 - 1982
The Middle Era: 1983 - 1987

Ted Sheppard

Fred Trask

Jim Anderson

The Pioneering Era: 1970 - 1975
The Special Year 1979
Bruce Clark