Swimming coach trained a number of isle legends

In the spring I wrote about Soichi Sakamoto, who coached some of Hawaii’s top swimmers at the Waikiki Natatorium.

Another swim coach will be inducted into the Hawaii Swimming Hall of Fame on Saturday, and I thought I’d write about him. His name was Harvey Porter Chilton. It’s a name that was unfamiliar to me and, I suspect, to many of my readers.

In the first half of the 20th century, Hawaii produced some of the greatest swimmers in the world. Chilton coached them all.

Chilton founded the Hui Makani swim club, and one of its biggest accomplishments was beating Yale in 1921. He coached Duke Kaha­namoku, Buster Crabbe and many other local kids who became Olympic champions.

Yale, which had the top swim team in the country, was on a U.S. tour, and when it arrived in Hawaii, it had lost only once — to the Chicago Aquatics Club. Hawaii was the last stop.

On July 30 the first meet was held at the University of Hawaii pool, says Glen Gillia, Chilton’s grandnephew. “Yale won that meet partly because they had springboard diving events and a 75-foot plunge. Teams from Hawaii had only a few divers.”

They competed again Aug. 1, 1921, at Pier 7 in Hono­lulu Harbor, where Aloha Tower would be built in 1926.

“My grandparents came from Maui to see the swim meet,” Gillia recalls. “It was the biggest attraction in town, in Hawaii as a matter of fact. Pier 7 was standing room only.

“People came from all over to see Hawaii’s finest swimmers compete in this event. Hui Makani had a stacked team with the Kahanamoku brothers, Duke and Sam; Warren Kealoha; Pua Kea­loha; William Kirschbaum; Charles Pung; and Henry Luning. Some were current or future Olympic stars.

“My grandfather remembers the traffic, and Chinatown being nearly empty for this monumental event. Swimming was king in Hawaii back then, and was the only sport that made the Hawaii people proud.

“Knowing that his team was going to face the top collegiate team in the nation, Coach Chilton had intensified his practices at Pier 7 in the weeks leading up to the meet.”

When the final event was complete, the score was Hui Makani 28 points, Outrigger 20 points and Yale 15 points, Gillia says. Hawaii’s swimmers had won.

Yale returned home with a record of 10 victories and two defeats.

“My grand-uncle was called the Godfather of Swimming in Hawaii,” Gillia recalls. “He started coaching in 1908 and was Hui Nalu’s first swim coach. In that swim club, Harvey coached Duke Kahanamoku and his brother Sam, along with another swimmer named Ludy Langer.

“My father told me that Uncle Harvey loved swimming and was a solid swimmer himself. He demanded total commitment and dedication from his swimmers but treated them like his ohana. Chilton was technique-oriented and focused heavily on conditioning. Sunday was the only day off from training.

“Uncle Harvey was a giving man and a great motivator who would invite his swimmers over to his house for lunch or dinner to go over goals and practice sessions. His swimmers practiced in Honolulu Harbor since he didn’t have a pool for his speed workouts. This made training challenging because it was difficult to get accurate times for his swimmers.

“Uncle Harvey would walk up and down the pier to check on his swimmers’ technique and form. His long-distance workouts would be in the front of the Moana hotel. When the cargo ships would come in and dock at the pier, he had his swimmers unload sacks of rice and flour off the ships and onto trucks for upper-body strength. I guess it was his method of cross- training.

“One of Harvey’s greatest challenges was to teach Duke how to reverse his turns in the pool since most of his swimming was in the open ocean. He helped Duke make smooth transitions in and out of the wall, which led to Duke taking valuable seconds off of his times.

“In 1924 four of Porter’s proteges were on the team that represented the United States in the Olympic Games in Paris.

“Harvey Chilton was Bill Smith’s first swimming coach at the Hui Makani Swim Club. Smith would be called ‘The Greatest Swimmer of His Era.’”

Bill Smith Jr., who won gold medals in the men’s 400-meter freestyle and 4 x 200-meter freestyle relay in the 1948 London Olympics, said he doubted that he would have gone on with swimming if it hadn’t been for Chilton’s encouragement.

“My father told me that Uncle Harvey had a way with kids and would stop and talk and try to persuade them to get off the streets and swim for him,” Gillia says. “Because of his reputation and fame with the Olympians he coached, it was fairly easy for them to join the Hui Makani Swim Club.”

A year before he died in 1952, 150 people — virtually a Who’s Who of the local swimming world — gathered at Waikiki Lau Yee Chai to honor Chilton.

George “Dad” Center, who was one of the top watermen in Hawaii 100 years ago, said: “No one has contributed more to swimming in the islands than Harvey Chilton.

“This great man didn’t have a swimming club to start with like other coaches. He had to go and start his own, Hui Makani. And Hui Makani’s great record in local swimming will remain a tribute to Harvey’s hard work and fine coaching.”

Bob Sigall, author of the Companies We Keep books, looks through his collection of old photos to tell stories each Friday of Hawaii people, places and companies. Email him at Sigall@Yahoo.com.