ISHOF: REMEMBERING THE

REMEMBERING THE KALILI BROTHERS— 90 YEARS AGO

As kids who preferred to dive for coins rather than race in a swimming pool, brothers Maiola and Manuella Kalili from Hawaii would eventually become national champions and Olympic silver medalists in 1932.

BY BRUCE WIGO | PHOTOS BY INTERNATIONAL SWIMMING HALL OF FAME

There’s a photograph that’s been on the wall in the International Swimming Hall of Fame museum for many years. It’s part of the Larry “Buster” Crabbe exhibit, and it shows him as part of the 1931 U.S. men’s national swimming team.

Crabbe (fourth from the left, shown in the photo at the top of the page) and the coach, Bob Kiphuth (far left), are the only members of that team who have been inducted into the ISHOF. The team is standing on the side of a swimming pool wearing traditional Japanese swimwear known as fundoshi. Almost directly in the center of the line of swimmers (sixth from left) is a dark-skinned man with an outstanding Afro. Farther down the line (11th from left) is another dark-skinned man. They are Manuella and Maiola Kalili, brothers who grew up swimming in Hawaii alongside Buster Crabbe, and this is their story.

Maiola and Manuella Kalili were born on the island of O‘ahu in 1909 and 1912. It was said that their father taught them to swim with the idea that they could become another Duke Kahanamoku, and like all of the native Hawaiian boys, water was their playground. But their early desire was not for competition—it was diving for coins thrown in the harbor of Honolulu by tourists on incoming and outgoing steamships. Their parents’ disappointment ended with the arrival of Harvey Chilton, the coach who started the Hui Makani Swim Club and started recruiting diving boys for his team. TRIPLE THREAT

In the late 1920s and early 1930s, the trio of Crabbe and the Kalili brothers dominated American swimming like no trio from the same club before or after. But at the 1930 AAU Nationals in Long Beach, Calif., it was a two-man show. Buster Crabbe and Maiola Kalili won four of the national championships, and they placed second in five races.

In every event won by Crabbe, Kalili was second. Crabbe was runner-up in the race won by Kalili. In addition, Maiola was second in the backstroke, being barely outtouched by George Kojac, the 1928 Olympic champion and world record holder. But it was Maiola Kalili who was the talk of the meet: for “his style was the most relaxed and easy of any of the competitors, including Crabbe.”

I haven’t been able to find out why Manuella didn’t compete in Long Beach, but the brothers had earlier been invited to compete in the Japanese nationals in Tokyo later that summer. Fatigue from the journey and exhaustion from competing in every event but the breaststroke, the brothers refreshed enough to win two events, bettering Japanese national records: Maiola in the 100 meter backstroke and Manuella in the 100 freestyle.

The 1931 AAU Outdoor Nationals were held in Hawaii’s War Memorial Natatorium. In this meet, the Kalili brothers were swimming under the banner of the Hollywood AC, while Buster

Crabbe represented the Los Angeles AC, coached by Fred Cady, his coach at USC.

Once again, it was the Buster Crabbe and Maiola Kalili Show. The first day started in the afternoon with Crabbe winning the 1500 and Maiola finishing fourth. In the evening, Manuella outtouched his older brother, Maiola, to win the 100 free, while Crabbe watched from the sidelines.

On Day 2, there was a touch of humor in the 400 after Crabbe jumped off to a false start. As he went to the side of the pool to climb out, Maiola rushed over to him and extended his hand to pull him out. “You almost beat the gun,” he said as both walked back to the starting blocks. But it was Buster who got the last laugh, as he pulled away from his rival on the final lap. Later, Maiola revived enough to win the 200 backstroke. On the third day, Crabbe displayed reserve power again to take down Maiola Kalili and win the 300 individual medley, with Manuella placing third.

On the fourth and final day, it was the 800 freestyle that would determine the high-point award winner. Like their other races, it came down to the last individual event on the program. Crabbe went four-for-four and not only nosed out Kalili for the 800 title, but won the high-point trophy by a half-point, 20 to 19-1/2, which included 2-1/2 points for the 800 relay. Manuela was third with 9-1/2 points.

At the luau following the last event, it was learned that after having been training in the States, Manuella couldn’t resist the call of the harbor. Beyond a big smile, he refused to disclose how much he collected each morning of the meet diving for coins.

UPSET IN TOKYO

National titles and high-point awards weren’t all that was at stake at the 1931 AAU Nationals, for it also served as the selection meet for a dual meet with the Japanese national team in Tokyo.

When the Americans arrived for the USA vs. Japan Friendship Meet at the immense Meiji Shrine Pool in Tokyo, they were greeted by nearly 20,000 cheering fans. And the Japanese national team gave the home crowd a lot to howl about.

The U.S. swimmers had ruled the pool at the 1928 Olympic Games in Amsterdam, but at this meet, upsets by Japan’s finest became the norm...with the biggest coming in the very first event, the 800 meter freestyle. The Japanese captured the first three places, leaving the American star, Buster Crabbe, in fourth.

The Kalili brothers somewhat silenced the partisan crowd when Maiola won the 200 backstroke and Manuella, the 200 free. But in the last event of the day, Japan’s 300 meter medley relay shattered the unofficial world record of the Hui Makani Club by 8-1/5 seconds...and based on scoring for the top three places, Japan ended the first day of competition with a 13-8 lead.

On the second evening of competition, team captain Crabbe suffered through a second straight night without scoring a point. But James Gilhula of the Detroit AC won the 400 free, and Frank Walton won the 100 back. The surprise of the evening came when Japan won the 400 relay by two meters over the U.S. team of the Kalili brothers, George Fissler and John Howland.

On the third and final night of competition, the Japanese piled up more points, nearly doubling Team USA’s total, 40-23.

The meet was a major disappointment for Crabbe, who had been the high-point winner in practically all of the important meets in the U.S. the previous two years. He had been the favorite in his three featured races—yet finished fourth in each one. The Japanese placed 1-2-3 in the 1500 free and 200 breaststroke. Salvaging some measure of national pride, John Howland won the 100 free, and the team closed out the meet by winning the 800 relay.

NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT?

When the team arrived back in Honolulu, they made no excuses. “I suppose you folks expect us to say something,” was head

>> The Meiji Shrine Pool in Tokyo, filled with 20,000 cheering fans, was the site of the USA vs. Japan Friendship Meet, won by Japan, which nearly doubled Team USA’s total, 40-23. (Pictured: opening ceremonies) coach Kiphuth’s first remark to the press. “The only thing we have to say is that the Japanese swimmers were plenty good.”

Buster Crabbe, who was standing nearby, echoed Kiphuth’s remark and declared that none of the American swimmers were sick. “There was no holding back,” Buster said. “We swam the best we knew how, but it was not good enough.”

However, Kiphuth declared that, in his opinion, American fans had nothing to worry about. “Don’t forget that the Japanese will be the ones to make the long trip for the (next) Olympics,” he said.

In early 1932, with Crabbe and the Kalili brothers in fine form, Kiphuth’s prediction seemed right on. At the AAU Indoor Nationals that year in New Haven, Conn., Maiola won both the 100 and 220 yard freestyle, while adding a third-place finish in the 1500. Manuella took second in the 220, and Buster Crabbe won the 1500 and 300 individual medley. Buster and Maiola were the only double winners of the meet, finishing one-two in points.

When the Hawaiian contingent arrived by steamer in Los Angeles for their flight to Cincinnati for the 1932 Olympic Trials, the Kalili brothers did not care to trust the winds of a plane and decided to make the journey to Ohio by train. They left instead on the Golden State Limited, and their performance suffered.

While Manuella qualified for the L.A. Games in the 100 free, the best Maiola could do was qualify for the 800 free relay. At the Games, Manuella finished fourth in the 100 and teamed up with his brother on the relay to take the silver medal. And as it turned out, Crabbe would be the only American to win a gold medal at the 1932 Olympic Games (400 free). * * *

The brothers retired from competitive swimming after 1933, worked as beach boys and started appearing in films as uncredited South Sea natives and Navy cooks or messmen in war films.

With the rise of a new generation of Hawaiian swimmers as documented by Julie Checkoway’s “Three-Year Swim Club,” the memory of the Kalili brothers faded from history, while Buster Crabbe rose to greater fame as a motion picture star (see “Did You Know?” feature on page 11).

Manuella Kalili passed away in 1969, followed by Maiola three years later, hardly remembered except by family and friends. v

Bruce Wigo, historian and consultant at the International Swimming Hall of Fame, served as president/CEO of ISHOF from 2005-17.