September 30, 2015 – The Aulea Swim Club in Kailua, Hawaii, celebrated its 60th anniversary September 25-27 with a weekend of festivities including a ceremony naming its pool after the club’s founder, Coach Albert Minn. U.S. Representative Mark Takai (an Aulea alumnus) and Honolulu City Councilman Ikaika Anderson were among the dignitaries attending the ceremony that kicked off the 44th Annual Al Minn Invitational Meet.
Coach Minn founded Aulea Swim Club in 1955. Since then, Aulea has been an important member of the Hawaiian swimming community and has seen thousands of swimmers participate in its program, including several who have competed at elite levels. To celebrate Coach Minn’s contributions to Hawaiian swimming and the local community, the Hawaii state legislature voted to rename the Kailua District Park pool, an outdoor Olympic-sized pool where Aulea practices, the Albert Minn Aquatic Center.
After coaching Aulea for 48 years, Coach Minn, retired in 2003. He is now 90. At the dedication ceremony prior to the meet, his former swimmers recalled the influence he had on them throughout their lives. Representative Takai said, “He taught me to dig deeper and try harder.”
At the invitational meet named in his honor, Coach Minn provided some sage words of advice for success in and out of the pool. “Improve your time. Improve yourself. Never mind about anybody else,” he said.
In addition to coaching Aulea Swim Club, Coach Minn also served as an assistant coach for the U.S. National and Olympic teams and was the Athletic Director at Hawaii Loa College where he coached 12 all-Americans His name is one of the first listed in the Hawaii Swimming Hall of Fame.
Aulea Swim Club is a parent governed club based in Kailua, Hawaii, on the island of Oahu. The word Aulea means “swimming together harmoniously” in Hawaiian – a fitting name because the club continually seeks to blend its competitive approach with a fun, community-oriented environment.
Coach Joe Glenn has served as Aulea’s Head Coach since 2014. Since then, the club has doubled its members to 200 and achieved USA Swimming Level 1 status. Also, multiple swimmers have qualified for the USA Swimming Senior National and Junior National competitions and one swimmer qualified for USA swimming’s national junior team and 2016 Olympic trials.
Swimming news courtesy of Aulea Swim Club.
I started swimming in 1955 at the age of 8 with Aulea. I lived 3 doors down from Al on Makua St. I swam until I moved to Punahou’s swim team my junior year in high school. I rode to swimming practice everyday with Al, not that that was easy, as I and others got extra commentary on our performance at practice. I credit him with being such a positive and driving force in my continuing life. I switched to diving, which I was able to do, because of all the trampoline work I did at his summer camps and I carried that on to the University of Michigan. I am really glad I found this site, to say thank… Read more »
I have been apart of Aulea for 3 1/2, 4 years now, and they have taught me to never give up, be proud of the races you swim, and always… ALWAYS swim for yourself because that’s what’s swimming it about! I have had so much fun being apart of the team, and I hope I have many more years apart of it.
P.S. If your moving to Hawaii in Kailua got to AULEA❤️❤️