Gail Grabowsky, Ph.D., dean of the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics at Chaminade, executive director of the University’s UN CIFAL Center and a decorated ocean and roughwater swimmer, was inducted into the Hawaiʻi Swimming Hall of Fame in a ceremony on October 18.
Grabowsky was inducted into the Ocean and Channel Swimming category for the Class of 2025.
In an interview before the ceremony, Grabowsky said she was humbled by the honor.
“I’m a distance swimmer and I love swimming,” said Grabowsky, who makes time to swim three mornings a week off Ala Moana Regional Park. She has won the female division of the Double Roughwater swim six times and has also clinched wins and a long list of age-group firsts in the Waikiki Roughwater Swim, King’s Swim, the Wailea Roughwater and the Popoiʻa Swim.
Never miss a post! Follow Chaminade University on Facebook and Instagram.
Grabowsky said she fell in love with ocean swimming as a young girl in California.
That quickly grew into a passion for environmental sciences and marine studies.
One of the biggest highlights of her job, she said, is being able to take students to field experiences in Hawaiʻi waters—from Ala Moana to Hanauma Bay. “That’s where I’m lucky,” she said. “f you create a memory for them that’s tied to Chaminade or them loving science, that’s important.”
Grabowksy, from Los Angeles, studied at Duke University and earned her doctoral degree in Zoology in 1993. She first came to the islands as a graduate student in 1992 and returned a year later for a postdoctoral position. She started teaching at Chaminade in 1997.
The Hawaiʻi Swimming Hall of Fame, founded in 2002, seeks to “promote, preserve, and perpetuate Hawaiian aquatic sports for the future” by celebrating the achievements of island swimmers, divers, and water polo athletes.