Competitive, fundamentally sound and kind: it’s the perfect recipe for the
greatest water polo coach Hawaii has ever known. For more than 50
years, Ken Smith has been a mainstay at Punahou School building the
boys’ and girls’ teams into the most dominant water polo programs in
the 50th state.
Before he was a coach, Smith was a standout player at UCLA in the late
1960s. The two-time All-American started every game during his four
years in Westwood when the team went 65-0. He stayed with the Bruins
to launch his coaching career under the UCLA legend Bob Horn, and
helped UCLA win the first NCAA Championship title in water polo, in
1969. From there, he ventured to Hawaii where he took over Punahou
Aquatics, later known as Hawaiian Islands Water Polo. At the same time,
he took on head coaching responsibilities for the Punahou boys’ team
and started a run that included 39 league championships and 359 wins.
In 1996, he launched the Punahou girls’ water polo program, amplifying
the school’s dominance all the way to 15 state championships between
2006 and 2023 as well as 292 victories. Under Smith, both Punahou
squads set the standard for excellence in Hawaii.
Smith’s influence radiated even further, however. From 1988 to 2008,
every US Olympic men’s water polo team featured at least one player
that Smith had coached, including Chris Duplanty (1988, ’92, ’96), Sean
Kern (2000) and Brandon Brooks (2004, ’08). Smith also mentored
Olympic and Hall of Fame referee Aaron Chaney (2004, ’08). Many
more of his proteges have become coaches, like Brooks (UCLA), Chaney
(UC Santa Barbara), Maureen Cole (University of Hawaii) and Ikaika Aki
(Loyola Marymount University), and Duplanty (assistant US coach at the
2000 Sydney Olympics).