Swim for Safer Keiki at Kaimana: Guess Your Time to Support Hawaiʻi Water Safety Education
On Sunday, October 18, swimmers from across Oʻahu will gather at Kaimana Beach in Honolulu for the Waikīkī Swim Club’s 2026 Guess Your Time Swim — a fun open-water swimming event with an important purpose. This year’s event benefits Palekana Aquatics Academy (PAA), a Hawaiʻi 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to reducing drownings and other aquatic injuries by expanding access to water safety and swim skill education.
Participants can choose a 1-mile or 2-mile swim, predict their finish time in advance, and see how close they come — without using a watch. But you don’t have to be in the water at Kaimana Beach to participate. Supporters can also register for the Virtual Swim and make a Guess Your Time entry on behalf of someone else, creating another way for friends, ʻohana, colleagues, and supporters near and far to join the fun while supporting water safety education for Hawaiʻi’s keiki.
Swim it. Guess it. Or support someone from the sidelines. Every registration helps support a safer Hawaiʻi.
Waikiki Swim Club Members Participate in a Recent Race
Why We’re Swimming for Safer Keiki
For families in Hawaiʻi, being around the water is part of everyday life. Yet not every child has equal access to formal swim lessons or aquatic safety education.
That gap is why Palekana Aquatics Academy exists. Statewide discussions on aquatic safety education — including the Keiki Water Safety Initiative — identified a need to provide more Hawaiʻi students with essential water safety instruction. PAA was created as a direct response, bringing classroom and in-water aquatic safety education directly into elementary schools during the school day.
By integrating instruction into the school day, PAA helps reduce barriers related to cost, transportation, and access. Students learn how to recognize risks, make safer choices in aquatic environments, and develop practical skills through supervised in-water instruction.
The need is significant. Drowning remains a major public health concern in Hawaiʻi, particularly for children. Building a safer Hawaiʻi means giving more keiki opportunities to develop water awareness, sound decision-making, and practical aquatic safety skills before an emergency happens. That makes Waikīkī Swim Club a natural partner. Founded in 1971, the club has spent decades building community around safe and enjoyable ocean swimming. Through Guess Your Time, that community can now help introduce the next generation to the knowledge and skills needed to interact more safely with Hawaiʻi’s aquatic environments.
Waikiki Swim Club Members Participate in the Guess Your Time Swim at Kaimana Beach
Join Us — In the Water or Virtually
The 2026 Guess Your Time Swim takes place Sunday, October 18 at Kaimana Beach
Event Details
Date: Sunday, October 18, 2026
Location: Kaimana Beach, Honolulu, Hawaiʻi
Check-In: 6:45–7:30 a.m.
Start: 8:00 a.m.
Distances: 1 Mile or 2 Miles
Virtual Registration: Available for supporters who want to participate without swimming the course
For swimmers, the idea is simple: choose your distance, predict your finishing time, leave the watch behind, and enjoy the swim.
Not Swimming? You Can Still Guess for a Good Cause.
You don’t need to complete the 1- or 2-mile course to support PAA.
Register for the Virtual Swim, choose someone to support, and make your Guess Your Time prediction on their behalf. It’s an easy way for spouses, parents, friends, coworkers, former swimmers, neighbor-island supporters, and anyone outside Hawaiʻi to take part in the event and help advance PAA’s mission.
Funds raised through Guess Your Time will support Palekana Aquatics Academy’s work to expand aquatic safety education for Hawaiʻi students, helping provide the instructors, equipment, teaching materials, training, pool access, and program delivery required to bring these lessons into local schools.
Whether you swim one mile, swim two, or make your guess from the sidelines, your participation supports the same goal to help more Hawaiʻi keiki learn how to be safer in and around the water.
Mahalo to Waikīkī Swim Club, its members, volunteers, event organizers, swimmers, virtual participants, and supporters for helping us build a safer Hawaiʻi — one student, one lesson, and one swim at a time.
