Soichi Sakamoto holding stopwatch

Object Details

Artist

Mitsuo "Pipi" Wakayama, 6 Sep 1918 - 1 Sep 2007

Sitter

Soichi Sakamoto, 23 Jan 1906 - 2 Aug 1997

Exhibition Label

Born in Pu?une¯ne¯,Maui, Hawai?i

The Japanese Hawaiian swim coach Soichi Sakamoto spearheaded Pacific Islander integration into the sport. While teaching elementary school, Sakamoto created a structured after-school program for the children of Pu?une¯ne¯ plantation workers on the island of Maui. In June 1937, he officially founded the Three-Year Swim Club, with the goal of competing in the 1940 Olympic Games (cancelled due to war). Sakamoto designed the highly successful “interval training,” which required the athletes to repeatedly swim against the current of the plantation’s irrigation ditch, and then float back to the start. In just three years, Sakamoto’s swimmers began competing nationally. Later, Sakamoto coached swimming at the University of Hawai‘i for twenty-one years, until his retirement in 1981.

During his career, Sakamoto trained many athletes who would go on to compete in the Olympics, including Evelyn Kawamoto. Another former student remembered that Sakamoto believed that swimming taught “reverence, respect, and good citizenship.”

Nacido en Pu?une¯ne¯, Maui, Hawái

El entrenador de natación japonés-hawaiano Soichi Sakamoto encabezó la integración de los isleños del Pacífico a dicho deporte. Siendo maestro de escuela elemental, creó un programa extraescolar para los niños de los obreros de la hacienda de Pu?une¯ne¯, en la isla de Maui. En junio de 1937 fundó el Club de Natación de Tres Años con la meta de competir en las Olimpiadas de 1940 (canceladas por la guerra). Sakamoto diseñó el exitoso “entrenamiento por intervalos”, en el cual los atletas nadaban varias veces contra la corriente del canal de irrigación de la hacienda y luego flotaban hacia el punto de inicio. En solo tres años, sus nadadores empezaron a competir a nivel nacional. Más tarde pasó a entrenar a los nadadores de Universidad de Hawái durante 20 años, hasta su retiro en 1981.

Sakamoto entrenó a muchos atletas que llegaron a las Olimpiadas, incluida Evelyn Kawamoto. Otro de sus discípulos recordó su convencimiento de que la natación enseña “reverencia, respeto y buenos valores ciudadanos”.

Credit Line

National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of the Soichi Sakamoto Family

c. 1939

Object number

NPG.2017.70

Restrictions & Rights

Usage conditions apply

Type

Photograph

Medium

Gelatin silver print

Dimensions

Image/Sheet: 25.2 × 20.3 cm (9 15/16 × 8")

See more items in

National Portrait Gallery Collection

Location

Currently not on view

National Portrait Gallery

Topic

Costume\Jewelry

Exterior

Architecture\Pool

Soichi Sakamoto: Male

Soichi Sakamoto: Sports\Coach

Portrait

Record ID

npg_NPG.2017.70

Metadata Usage (text)

Not determined

GUID (Link to Original Record)

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sm4a129eef3-7c83-4e6c-9ab6-ee13f008b40c