The Hawai‘i Water Safety Coalition (HWSC) was formed in 2023 to reduce drowning numbers statewide and to increase access to water safety education — results that are needed to create generational change. The HWSC grew out of several years of collaboration initiated by bereaved family advocates, the Outrigger Duke Kahanamoku Foundation, and the Hawaiian Lifeguard Association. Many members have ties to Hawai‘i’s ocean-going legacy; others represent state and county government officials, visitor industry professionals, educators, water safety professionals, public health providers, medical personnel, scientists, first responders, water sports enthusiasts, cultural practitioners, and nonprofits. A few members have lost family to drowning; they work passionately to ensure that no one else in Hawai‘i must carry the drowning burden.
The HWSC members support each other’s advocacy and programming. The 2024 Hawai‘i State Legislature passed a bill (SB 2841) designating May 15th of each year as Water Safety Awareness Day. State legislators also passed a Duke Kahanamoku license plate bill (SB116) in 2024 to raise much-needed funding for water safety and swim education programs. Coalition members watched proudly as Gov. Josh Green signed both bills into law on May 15, 2024, at the Hawai‘i State Capitol.4
Through the HWSC, Hawai‘i stakeholders are working to insert more equity into drowning prevention and water safety education. Hawai‘i is a place where every child should have a right to water safety education so that they may have a lifetime connection with the wai and the kai. No one should be marginalized, especially Native Hawaiians, especially in Hawai‘i — a state where the principles of the aloha spirit dictate that each person is important to every other person for collective existence.
Let these collaborative efforts — which led to the HWSC’s Hawai‘i Water Safety Plan (HWSP) — represent a huliau, a turning point, here in Hawai‘i.