Duplanty representing the U.S. water polo team during a 1995 match. Photo by Al Bello / Allsport
For Olympian Chris Duplanty, water meant opportunity. In fact, it wasn't until after he was cut from Punahou’s high school baseball team as a freshman that he decided to give water polo a go. Even at 5'10" and 160 pounds as a senior, he didn’t fit the mold of a star water polo goalie. But what he lacked in size, he made up for in persistence. When he went on to college, Duplanty was the guy who showed up, day after day, to watch the U.S. national water polo team practice in Newport Beach. Running the shot clock and picking up balls, he quietly soaked in every detail from the sidelines. One day, the coach turned to him and asked, “Duplanty, do you have your suit?” Duplanty grins at the memory. “Of course I had my suit—
I always had my suit.” That moment of readiness launched a remarkable journey. Just six months later, he earned a spot on the team, a path that would lead him to three Olympic Games and a silver medal with his teammates in 1988. Both Seraphin and Duplanty began their journeys buoyed by the communities that believed in their potential. Though their paths were guided by different currents—Seraphin by grassroots passion and Duplanty by relentless persistence—they both flowed toward the same destination: finding support from the Outrigger Duke Kahanamoku Foundation. This support helped fuel their dreams and, years later, led them to induction into the Hawai‘i Waterman Hall of Fame.
18 AMA | MARCH / APRIL 2025
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