Warren Kealoha

Kealoha was born in Kakaako in greater Honolulu on March 3, 1903. Kealoha may have done some of his early training in Honolulu Harbor, but large pools such as the Punahou School "tank" pool, the Elizabeth Waterhouse Memorial Tank opened in 1922, and the Waikīkī War Memorial Natatorium opened in 1927, were available in greater Honolulu for training. 1920 freestyle silver medalist Ludy Langer, who swam for Harvey Chilton's rival Hui Nalu Club, was a contemporary of Kealoha. Education Kealoha attended greater Honolulu's Punahou School, which had one of the area's earliest pools, and greater Honolulu's St. Louis College, now known as St. Louis School. St. Louis College, prior to 1920, when Kealoha likely attended, was more a preparatory school than a degree-granting University. Film star Buster Crabbe, who grew up in Hawaii, and competed during Kealoha's later swimming career, graduated the Punahou School, and won a bronze medal in the 1500 meter swim at the 1928 Olympics. Proficient in the freestyle, Kealoha won the American Athletic Union 50-yard freestyle twice. Best known for his dominance in American backstroke competition, Kealoha retained the record in the 100-meter backstroke for a full six years until losing it to swimming great Johnny Weismuller in 1926. ==1920, 1924 Olympics==

As one of the youngest U.S. Olympic swim team members at 17, Kealoha won the 100-meter backstroke event at the August, 1920 Antwerp Olympics in a world record time of 1:14.8. With his use of the overhead backstroke, Warren later claimed in an interview that he was nearly disqualified in his first Olympic competition, but noted his stroke was later ruled legal, as he remained on his back which was the primary rule requirement. Many European backstrokers of the era used a scissors kick rather than the flutter kick and entered the water with both arms simultaneously, rather than alternately as Warren, and other Hawaiian swimmers did. Warren's backstroke style is now used universally in competition. He won the 100-meter backstroke again at 1924 Paris Olympics with a time of 1:13.2. Kealoha was known for being one of the first backstroke swimmers to use the overhead stroke, and was one of the first backstrokers to win in consecutive Olympics. During his career, Kealoha set four world records, first at the 1920 Olympics and last in Honolulu in 1926, which was beaten the next day by Walter Laufer. Kealoha's best-known Hawaiian Olympic teammate who competed for the U.S. in both the 1920 and 1924 Olympics was Duke Kahanamoku, and film star Johnny Weismuller was a 1924 U.S. Olympic teammate who won three gold medals in freestyle events that year. Kealoha married Eleanor Elvira Ribeiro at 2:00 pm on July 22, 1922 in greater Honolulu, spending their honeymoon at the Volcano of Kilauea in Hilo, Hawaii. The couple had children together, though they divorced and Eleanor later remarried. Post swimming life After retiring from swimming, Kealoha became a rancher. He was known for avoiding publicity and enjoying his privacy, and become less widely known after his swimming retirement. ==See also==