Born at the end of the Great Depression, Sonny Tanabe had to make his own fun while growing up in the Waiakea area.
Born at the end of the Great Depression, Sonny Tanabe had to make his own fun while growing up in the Waiakea area.
Tanabe spent most of his time in the water, swimming, spearfishing and freediving. He spoke about these three passions Wednesday evening during his packed presentation at the West Hawaii Civic Center. His talk was part of the free monthly Hanohano O Kona Lecture Series, presented by the county and Kona Historical Society.
Tanabe is a renowned spearfisherman, Olympic swimmer and celebrated mentor to many watermen and educator. A self-described “barefoot boy from Hawaii Island,” Tanabe began his well-known swimming career by freediving and spearfishing with his uncle off the Hilo Coast. His father persuaded him at age 9 to participate in the activities of Hilo Aquatic Club coached by the famous Sparky Kawamoto. Tanabe was an All-American swimmer at Hilo High School and Indiana University, where he earned NCAA and AAU honors. He also won a spot on the U.S. Olympic Swim Team that participated in the 1956 Melbourne Games. He was awarded a silver medal in the free style relay event.
After serving in the military and returning to Indiana University to earn an master’s degree in physical education, he became assistant aquatic director and swim coach for Hinsdale Township High School in Illinois. He then returned to Hawaii to teach and coach for more than 33 years at Kamehameha Schools.
Tanabe, now retired, lives in Honolulu with his wife, Vicki. All his life, he has enjoyed spearfishing and freediving, topics of two books he’s written. He said his newest book, “The Evolution of Freediving,” recently won two out the four biggest awards during the 2012 Pele Awards, which is for advertising and design creative excellence, held at The Royal Hawaiian in Waikiki.
His favorite haunts as a boy were the Ice Pond, Reed’s Bay, Coconut Island, Wailoa River and Suisan fish market. But he could also be found with the other children, and even some adults, lined up along a bridge, amusing the World War II servicemen by diving for their coins.
Tanabe swam in the ocean or the river because there were no public swimming pools until after the war ended. It was then that the U.S. Naval Air Station donated its swimming pool to Hilo residents. He also recalled his delight when the Marine Corps left the island, leaving behind baseball bats, footballs and other recreation equipment for children like him.
His tool of choice during his first fishing attempts were his bare hands. Tanabe told tales of noodling in the river and the first time he saw another fisherman catch an oopu (goby) by scooping the fish out of a 15-inch long, 6-diameter pipe. However, Tanabe said he really learned to fish from his uncle, who would spear uhu (parrotfish) and nenue (chubs) swimming right along the shoreline.
In the beginning, Tanabe said Hawaiians did their spearing from land. Later they dove without fins or goggles, relying purely upon muscle power to thrust their spears carved from wood like kauila or koai to catch fish. They would dive as deep as 30 feet, with more than 6-foot-long spears. From boats, they used oil from roasted kukui nuts, chewed and spat on the ocean surface, to increase visibility.
Tanabe said his first spearfishing equipment consisted of wooden goggles and a Hawaiian sling, an underwater sling shot with the handle acting as the guide for the spear. As materials became more readily available and the times changed, Tanabe would later use and discover spearfishing equipment made with unusual components, such as door hinges, tire tubes, rubber strips cut from vehicles and bicycles, bayonet blades and garden hose. With metal came the hinge guns, South Pacific Islander Gun and homemade trigger guns.
At his presentation, Tanabe displayed old goggles, masks, spears, spear guns, fins and float, all of which fascinated attendees. One spear, used in the 1930s, particularly by Californians, looked like a glorified pitch fork or something Triton, the sea god, would use.
Among the pioneers and innovators Tanabe praised were Hugh Bradner, a physics student and California spearfisherman who developed in 1951 the insulated and stretchable neoprene rubber wetsuit, as well as Frenchman Louis de Corlieu and American Owen Churchill, who were the first to make fins a practical reality. He revealed Churchill, a Olympic sailing champion, was inspired to create fins after seeing a group of natives weaving coconut palm fronds into mats, dipping them into hot tar, later tying these hardened mats to their feet and swimming or diving into the ocean with ease.
Throughout his two-hour-long talk, Tanabe shared memories and historical narratives about spearfishing in attempt to tell the story of sport’s evolution. He also took time to give numerous accolades to many of his spearfishing, freediving and book colleagues in the room.