442: How Soichi Sakamoto mentored Olympians in irrigation ditches

Soichi Sakamoto (1906-97) never formally learned to swim, and had limited athletic training and coaching experience. But against all odds, the schoolteacher became one of swimming’s most influential coaches, developing science-based training methods that are still used today.

Born in Maui to Issei parents, Sakamoto was a rebellious, free-spirited child who struggled with their strict, traditional expectations. He believed he was destined for something greater and approached life with restless curiosity. An average student with little athletic talent in high school, Sakamoto later attended Territorial Normal School in Oahu to pursue a career in teaching.

After graduating in 1927, he returned to Maui and began teaching at a school located within Puʻunēnē Plantation. Owned by Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar, it was one of the largest plantations in the world during the 1930s, employing more than 4,000 workers and housing more than 7,000 people. The workforce was overwhelmingly Japanese but also included Filipino, Portuguese, Native Hawaiian, Puerto Rican, and Korean laborers.

Conditions at Puʻunēnē Plantation have been described as a step above slavery. Laborers endured long days of grueling work in the sugar fields. They earned very little pay and were closely watched by lunas, or overseers. To prevent collective resistance and potential uprisings, lunas attempted to enforce racial segregation on the plantation.

Against the current

Sakamoto taught sixth-grade science to the children of plantation workers, who grew up in poverty. They had little to eat, no shoes, and no supervision. One way the kids entertained themselves was swimming in the irrigation ditches near the sugar fields. The closest beach was miles away, and pool facilities were segregated by race and class. However, the water in the ditches was unsanitary with strong currents, causing several local children to drown.

Instead of banning swimming, Sakamoto organized structured practices in the ditches. In 1937, he founded the Three-Year Swim Club with an ambitious goal: to train the plantation children to compete in the 1940 Summer Olympics. He required his students to commit to discipline in and out of the water, clean living, and a code of character as rigorous as their training. Nearly 100 students joined the club, swimming in the irrigation ditches nearly every day.

Sakamoto developed an innovative coaching style that combined science and intuition. The swimmers used the ditches’ current for resistance and recovery to build endurance and efficiency. Sakamoto carefully analyzed his students’ techniques and used a stopwatch to refine their rhythm and pacing. He also emphasized land training, incorporating weights, pulleys, and resistance drills. A public swimming pool was later built to support the Three-Year Swim Club, where he continued coaching his students.

Sakamoto was more than a coach, he was a mentor. He treated the plantation kids as future Olympians, helping them see their potential in an era marked by discrimination. His former swimmers later described him as a father figure.

The rise of the Maui ditch kids

Several of Sakamoto’s swimmers qualified for the Olympics, but due to World War II, the 1940 and 1944 Summer Games were cancelled. Despite this setback, his teams were remarkably successful, winning the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) national team championships each year from 1939-41. Their meteoric rise validated Sakamoto’s coaching methods while casting a national spotlight on the “Maui ditch kids.”

Sakamoto achieved his goal in 1948, when two of his students, Thelma Kalama and Bill Smith, captured gold medals in swimming at the Summer Olympics. More of his students went on to medal at the 1952 and 1956 Games, where Sakamoto worked as an assistant coach for the U.S. Olympic Swim Team.

Beyond the ditches

After the war, Sakamoto founded the Hawaii Swim Club in the greater Honolulu area, while continuing his work as a teacher. He also served as the swimming coach at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa for 15 years.

Over the course of his career, he led 12 teams to national championships and won six AAU national team titles. He has been inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame, the Hawaii Sports Hall of Fame, and the American Swimming Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

Legacy

Sakamoto retired from coaching in 1981, but the Hawaii Swim Club remains active and continues to host its annual Soichi Sakamoto Invitational Swim Tournament.

Sakamoto died at the age of 90. He is credited with inventing interval training for competitive swimmers, a method that is now considered standard. From an irrigation ditch, Sakamoto defied the odds to develop world-class swimmers who broke racial barriers in the sport of swimming.