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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Sunday, January 20, 2002

Hawai'i massage therapists gear up for Olympic duty

By Michael Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer

As travel offers go, this one didn't sound all that promising: three weeks in Utah with hotel, meals, tickets to Olympic events and incidentals included — on your tab.

Still, Koko Head resident Roy Nakamura couldn't have been more thrilled when he checked his e-mail at Christmas and learned that he was selected to be one of 259 massage therapists at next month's Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.

Nakamura is a former physical education instructor and high school counselor who took up massage after retiring from Kaiser High School in 1989. He'll join two other Hawai'i massage therapists — Geno Ortiz and Larry Packer of Kailua, Kona — at the Games, which take place Feb. 8-24.

"As a PE major and a sports fan, I always watch the games," he said. "So this is pretty exciting."

It's the second time Nakamura and his expert hands have been called on to knead, rub, roll and pound the tired muscles of the world's top athletes. He also served on the Olympic massage team at the 1996 Summer Games in Atlanta, where he was assigned to to the wrestling venue.

It's also the second tour of duty for Ortiz, who was part of the 1984 Olympic massage team in Los Angeles.

"L.A. was one of the highlights of my life," Ortiz said. "Just being able to walk through the Olympic Village was spine-tingling."

One of Ortiz' clients in Los Angeles was U.S. sprinter Alonzo Barbers, who walked into the massage station the night before competing in the finals of the 400-meter dash. Ortiz managed to get tickets to the event and was sitting near the finish line when Barbers broke the tape to win the gold medal.

"I'm not saying I was responsible for him winning," Ortiz said. "But it was amazing just to be part of the process he went through to get to that point."

Ortiz and Packer grew up together in Santa Fe Springs, Calif., where they played football for Santa Fe High School.

"A lot of the things we went though in high school have provided us with the motivation to accomplish things in our adult lives," Ortiz said.

One of their proudest accomplishments is Kona Hawai'i's School of Muscular Massage on the Big Island, where Ortiz and Packer serve as principal and vice-principal, respectively.

Ortiz says of his partner: "The dude is a master or research. He's self-educated like you wouldn't believe."

Nakamura hasn't spoken to his Big Island counterparts yet. They'll likely meet up in Utah next month, provided they make it through the intense security around the Olympic Village.

Before they were confirmed, each of the therapists had to clear an FBI background check. Further security protocols are contained in a 25-page document each was sent.

"At Los Angeles, the village was like a sacred space," Ortiz said. "There were double chain-link fences, barbed wire, a maze of security checks where we had to answer personalized verification questions," Ortiz said. "I'm sure it'll be even more intense in Salt Lake."