For Napoleon, life’s been one big ride

It’s been a life in and on the water, riding waves of success in surfing, paddling and kayaking. 

That Anona Naone Napoleon recovered from a paralyzing diving accident at Waimea Falls to win the Makaha International Surfing Championships a year later surprised only her doctors. Those who knew the teen-ager knew well her competitive drive and spiritual nature, a combination where obstacles were like some surf breaks, challenging but able to be conquered.

The Hawaii Waterman Hall of Fame will recognize all her accomplishments Thursday night at Outrigger Canoe Club. 

She, Mark Cunningham, Randy Rarick, Richard "Sonny" Tanabe and late George "Dad" Center comprise the fifth class to be inducted into the HWHF, established in 2010 to honor those who have contributed to Hawaii’s rich water sports tradition.

"It is such an honor, really quite special," the 72-year-old Napoleon said. "I’m very grateful and feel blessed with the life I’ve had and my family."

Napoleon is the fifth woman to be inducted, joining Rell Sunn (2010), Ethel Kukea (2011), Aileen Riggin Soule (2011) and Linda Kaiser (2013). She and husband Joseph "Nappy" Napoleon (2010) also become the first spouses to be enshrined; they will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary on Oct. 3.

Anona Naone grew up playing in the water. Among her first memories is that of fishing with her dad Alan, another well-known waterman, and surfing with her brothers, usually off Queen’s Beach. She met her future husband while both were paddling for Waikiki Surf Club. 

Naone and Karen Knudsen represented Hawaii at the 1960 Olympic Trials in kayaking, the K-2 pair missing out on the team by fractions of a second. Naone returned home and to the surf, the lack of which led to her accident.

"We had gone up to the North Shore but there was no surf," she said. "So we went to Waimea Falls. I jumped … and compressed the L11 and L12. 

"One doctor told me that maybe by the grace of God I would walk again. And even if I did, I’d be bent over. Of course, at the time I don’t listen. My dad sent me to someone who put me in a brace. My dad sent me to a healer. I just kept going."

The next year, the Star of the Sea graduate won the women’s division at Makaha. She went on to finish her degree work in education, with a B.A. from the University of Hawaii, a master’s from San Francisco and her doctorate from UH.

In 1964, there was another quest for the Olympic trials. She missed making the team, again by a fraction of a second, but feels she won gold when, months later, she married her husband.

The couple raised five sons, all outstanding watermen in their own right, and the ‘ohana has grown to include 16 great-grandchildren. Nappy is seeking to compete in his 57th consecutive Molokai Hoe, the men’s Molokai to Oahu race, on Oct. 12.

Anona was part of the first women’s outrigger canoe crossing of the Molokai Channel in 1975 and also the inaugural Na Wahine O Ke Kai, the first official women’s channel race. She also was part of the historic paddling journey taken by Waikiki Surf Club in 1970 that retraced the route taken by Kamehameha the Great from the Big Island to Oahu when conquering the Hawaiian Islands.

("We didn’t get to Kauai but, then, Kamehameha didn’t either," she said in a 2001 interview with the Honolulu Star-Bulletin).

In 1991, Anona was inducted into the International Surf Museum in Huntington Beach, Calif., in the pioneer division. Last year, the Duke’s Waikiki restaurant honored the couple with its Ho’okahiko Award for contributions to Hawaii’s water sports and "exemplifying the Aloha Spirit."

OTHER INDUCTEES

DAD CENTER

Coach of the 1920 U.S. Olympic swim team, which included Duke Kahanamoku. An accomplished athlete, coach and mentor in swimming, surfing, paddling, volleyball and track. The women’s distance paddling race sponsored by Outrigger Canoe Club is named in his honor and continues its decades-old run this Sunday.

 MARK CUNNINGHAM

Champion bodyboarder; 30 years as a City & County of Honolulu’s Ocean Safety and Lifeguard Services Division, 20 of which were spent at Pipeline; founder of the Oahu Junior Lifeguard Program.

RANDY RARICK

Surf contest promotor. Co-founder of the International Professional Surfers (now the Association of Surfing Professionals) and the Triple Crown of Surfing. Hawaii state junior surfing champion.

SONNY TANABE

1956 U.S. Olympic swimmer, NCAA and AAU All-American. Swimming and water polo coach at Kamehameha Schools for 33 years. Author of two books on spear fishing and diving, two of his areas of expertise.