 Yoshi Oyakawa at the Waikiki Natatorium War Memorial near Kaimana Beach | |||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Yoshinobu Oyakawa | ||||||||||||||
| Nickname | "Yoshi" | ||||||||||||||
| National team | United States | ||||||||||||||
| Born | August 9, 1933 Kona, Hawaii, U.S. | ||||||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) | ||||||||||||||
| Weight | 154 lb (70 kg) | ||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||
| Sport | Swimming | ||||||||||||||
| Strokes | Backstroke | ||||||||||||||
| Club | Hawaii Swim Club | ||||||||||||||
| College team | Ohio State University | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Yoshinobu Oyakawa (Japanese: 親川 義信,[1] born August 9, 1933) is an American former competition swimmer, Olympic champion, and former world record-holder in the 100-meter backstroke. Oyakawa is considered to be the last of the great "straight-arm-pull" backstrokers and still holds the world record in this technique.[citation needed]
Oyakawa was born in Kona, Hawaii to the Rev. and Mrs. Edward Oyakawa and raised in Papaikou.[2] He has an older sister, Dorothy, and an older brother, Ensie Michio.[2]
Oyakawa attended Ohio State University, where he won six Big Ten, seven NCAA, and nine NAAU championships.
Oyakawa represented the United States at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland, where he won the gold medal in the 100-meter backstroke event.[3]
He returned to Olympic competition at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia, where he was elected co-captain along with Ford Konno.[4] He finished 8th in the 100-meter backstroke competition.[5]
Oyakawa became a teacher and coached swimming at Oak Hills High School from 1960 to 1985.[6] He led Oak Hills to 23 conference championships and was named League Coach of the Year 23 times and Southwest Ohio Swimming Coach of the Year 12 times.[7]
