Whenever Nadine Day needed a dose of encouragement, whether it was in the pool as a youth or as an adult community volunteer, she knew where to turn.
Her older brother, K. Mark Takai, would provide matter-of-fact support.
“He had more confidence in me than I had in myself most of the time,” the former Nadine Takai told Spectrum News in a phone interview in the fall. “But he knew I would be a strong leader and he could see that. He trusted me in making good, sound decisions and he knew I would put other people first, like he did.”
Day, a former standout youth swimmer from Waipahu, was inducted into the Masters International Swimming Hall of Fame in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., in October. She was among seven in the 2023 class and gained entry at age 54 on merit of her more than two decades of service at the regional, national and international levels.
“It’s a tremendous honor,” Day said a handful of days after the Hall of Fame ceremony, which was attended by her family, including parents from Hawaii. “I said (while there) I’m not done. I have plenty more years to give and dedicate.”
Her family remains impactful in Hawaii, too. The 2025 edition of the K. Mark Takai/HHSAA Swimming and Diving state championships began on Friday at the Duke Kahanamoku Aquatic Complex and will conclude Saturday.
U.S. Rep. Mark Takai, a former standout swimmer at the University of Hawaii and a fervent supporter of youth sports in the Islands, passed in 2016 at age 49 following a battle with cancer. The HHSAA championships have carried his name since the following year.
His younger sister was accomplished in Hawaii aquatics in her own right. She swam religiously for Aulea Swim Club, the “Little Bows” with Rainbow Aquatics, and Iolani Swim Club, for which the late Brian Lee was her coach and mentor. She later founded the Brian Lee Ohana Club in his honor.
Day recalls many sleepy early mornings as the Takais piled into a car and drove out to the University of Hawaii to train. At the time, there was no available facility at Central Oahu Regional Park (later named the K. Mark Takai Veterans Memorial Aquatic Center).
Competing for Pearl City High, she was the first girls swimmer to sweep four golds in the 100 breaststroke (and only one of two people to date), and was the second person to take four golds in the 200 individual medley. Including a win in the 200 medley relay her senior year, she tallied nine golds.
Day was inducted into the Hawaii High School Hall of Honor in 1988. She also won the Waikiki Roughwater Swim her last four years before leaving for the mainland to attend Northwestern.
She won three events at junior national championships and competed for the U.S. in the 200 individual medley at the 1988 Olympic trials. Her promising college career was cut short by injury, however.
Day, a licensed physical therapist who lives in Oakwood, Ill., with her husband and daughter, got involved with Masters Swimming — an organization for competitive swimming for ages 18 and up — in 2001. She started volunteering at the local level in Illinois, which soon became the Great Lakes regional level, helping injured swimmers ease their way back into activity with her personal experience and career expertise.
She credited Mark, the oldest of she and her three siblings, with encouraging her to run for the presidency of U.S. Masters Swimming in 2011. She became the youngest person to hold that position.
“He was always supportive and taught me to be a servant leader, and (to put) people first,” Day said. “He was always saying, ‘spread aloha, treat people the way you want to be treated.’ He was my inspiration more than anything in regards to what he did.”
Today she is the chair of World Aquatics Masters, responsible for the swimming federations of 209 countries encompassing thousands of swimmers, and will help oversee the championships in Doha, Qatar, from Feb. 23 to March 3.
She tries to come back to Hawaii three or four times a year and helps put on swim group clinics for age group teams and national reserves.
Occasionally, she will fire up her old competitiveness and enter the pool for a race.
“I don’t compete as much because I’m running events and volunteering in some capacity as an official,” Day said. “Being support staff at events, I don’t mind. I like watching, seeing other people swim and how they do. But I do swim to stay in shape, because I’m not very good on land.” She laughed.
Asked what she thought her older brother would say about her recent accolades, Day answered confidently.
“He’d be proud of me but at the same time he’d be like, ‘yeah, I knew you could do it,’” she said.
Day was inducted into the Hawaii Swimming Hall of Fame in masters swimming and open water swimming in 2012. Mark Takai was inducted in 2018 as a contributor.
Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.
