✹ MEMBER PROFILE
“Let us remember that every time we go to it [the ocean], to make it better than when we en- tered, because then it will be a better place for us all,” said Donna Kahakui, during her acceptance speech at Outrigger Duke Kahanamoku Founda- on (ODKF) Hawai‘i Waterman Hall of Fame. The list of Kahakui’s athlec accomplishments is as long as they come. It began when she was just 13 years old: she won the Castle Swim, the longest running sporting event in the Club’s history. She then went on to win it three more times. After her first Castle Swim win, coach Con- nie Macguire convinced her to paddle. Kahakui says that was the moment her life was forever changed—for the better, that is. In her first solo Molokai crossing, she captured first place and set a new record. Over the past 45-plus years, she’s raced in—and won—nearly every major outrigger canoe competition. She’s paddled on countless OCC senior women’s state championship regatta crews and has more than 60 first-place wins under her belt, including team wins at Queen Liliu’okalani
PHOTO BY KELLI HERGERT
Aloha always. In everything she does, Donna Kahakui does it with warmth and aloha. Despite having more than 60 first place wins, Kahakui is truly humble. "I'm grateful every single me I'm allowed to step in a six- man with the next generaon," she says.
22 AMA | march / april 2023
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