Grants
Advertiser Staff
Hawaiian Swimming, a local swimming committee of USA Swimming Inc., has received a $3,200 grant from the National Trust for Historic Preservation's Hawai'i Preservation Services Fund.
The seed grant money will be used to design an exhibit, Hawai'i's Swimming Legacy, that will trace the history of competitive swimming in Hawai'i, focusing on the construction of the Waikiki War Memorial Natatorium in 1927 and the Natatorium's role in the development of world class swimming in the Islands.
The exhibit will educate the public and foster interest in the memorial and in the indigenous Hawaiian pastime of ocean swimming.
Few people now recall the Natatorium's heyday, when legendary swimmers such as Duke Kahanamoku, Buster Crabbe, Johnny Weissmuller, Ann Curtis and others swam there, to the public's delight. The Natatorium was instrumental in drawing ocean swimming into a modern competitive setting, paving the way for a new generation of swimmers to achieve prominence and recognition as Olympic gold medalists.
• Kai Makana, the nonprofit ocean awareness organization founded by long-distance paddler Donna Kahakui, has received $10,000 from the Law Offices of Ian L. Mattoch. The money was donated in support of Kai Makana's youth leadership program and ocean education projects as well as Kahakui's paddling endeavors aimed at educating the public about the need to care for the ocean.
The money will also enable students to participate in a yearlong mentorship program that will involve stream and plant restoration, water quality testing and community projects lead by these youths.
• Marine ecologist and researcher Dr. Dwayne Meadows has joined Pacific Whale Foundation as director of Research and Marine Sciences.
"We selected Dr. Meadows because he offers a broad base of research experience related to marine ecology," said Greg Kaufman, president and founder of the foundation. "So much of the marine ecosystem is interconnected. To protect whales and dolphins, we need to be able to address research issues relating to all aspects of the marine environment, including water quality and coral-reef health, as well an individual species such as sea turtles, humpback whales and wild dolphins."
Meadows received a bachelor's degree in zoology from the University of California, Berkeley, and a doctorate in zoology from Oregon State University. He is an avid scuba diver who has focused much of his research on coral reefs, aquatic species and reef fish.
He is putting the finishing touches on a five-year research plan for the Pacific Whale Foundation. The plan calls for developing additional programs in reef and sea turtle conservation research and working closely with the foundation's marine education team to develop new opportunities for staff, local students and the community to be involved in marine research.
