From Competitor to Mentor

Freeth had the idea in the spring of 1909—in the midst of his woes with the AAU—of traveling to Hawai‘i and recruiting the top swimmers to work as lifeguards in Redondo and play on a professional water polo team. He had a lot of friends among the Healanis and Myrtles, and of course the local boys at Waikīkī. This crew would form the nucleus of a professional water polo league in Southern California and help Freeth accomplish two goals: to raise the level of play in the sport and to avoid any further interference from the AAU.¹ Freeth,