Half-Staff Hawaii Flags – Lisa Naito
American Flags and Hawaii Flags to fly at half-staff Friday, September 30th in the state of Hawaii in honor of former state Representative Lisa Naito and former state Representative and swimming legend Keo Nakama.
According to the office of the governor:
Lisa Naito, who was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., was a newspaper correspondent in Paris and jazz singer with a band called the New Yorkers before arriving in Hawaii in 1964 aboard a yacht that was sailing around the world. She was elected state representative of the Kaimuki-Kapahulu district in 1974 and re-elected in 1976. She later worked as a state social worker and was involved with several community organizations, including the Hawaii Death with Dignity Society.
Keo Nakama began his legendary swimming career in the Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Irrigation ditches in Pu’unene, Maui as a child. He attended Ohio State University, where he excelled at swimming and baseball, winning Big Ten and National Collegiate Athletic Association titles. During his swim career, he won 27 U.S. National Championships from 100 yards to 1500 meters and set the world record swim for a mile at 20:29. Nakama was the first person to swim completely across the 27-mile Kaiwi Channel from Moloka’i to O’ahu, an accomplishment completed in 15.5 hours.
Nakama also served as a Hawaii high school swim coach, teacher and athletic director before being elected to the Hawaii State House of Representatives, where he served for five terms until 1974. Nakama was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1975 and into the Hawaii Sports Hall of Fame in 1998.