Deep Dive Into Water Safety
Deep Dive Into Water Safety is a podcast dedicated to to one powerful truth: Drowning is preventable. Hosted by Kauaʻi waterperson Margaret Wright, the show features conversations with experts and community leaders from around the world who are working to save lives in and around the water. Together, we explore practical strategies to prevent drownings, educate swimmers, keiki, and parents, and create clear, culturally grounded messaging that makes a difference. Deep Dive is guided by Hawaiʻiʻs first statewide Water Safety Plan, a plan built on the realities that Hawaiʻi has the second highest drowning rate in the...
Deep Dive: An Interview with Dr Laura Trapani
Episode Notes
Dr Laura Trapani
The Safety Risks of Full-Face Snorkeling Masks, particularly for Children
This interview is based on research presented by Dr. Laura Trapani a pediatrician and clinical researcher affiliated with the IRCCS Burlo Garofolo children’s Hospital and the University of Trieste in Italy. Where her work is helping to reshape how we think about child safety in the water. Full-Face Snorkeling Masks Carry a Risk of Hypercapnia and Drowning in Younger Children: A Case Series 2025.
Dr. Trapani’s research has gotten the attention of the Italian Ministry who...
Deep Dive: An Interview with Colleen Saunders
Episode Notes
“Drowning Isn’t Inevitable It is Preventable.” - Dr. Colleen Saunders
Dr. Colleen Saunders is a leading researcher in drowning prevention whose work is helping to reshape how we understand water safety on a global scale.
Her journey into this field didn’t begin in a laboratory it began in the ocean. She spent nearly two decades as a voluntary lifeguard at Big Bay in Cape Town, where lifesaving became part of who she is. What started as a passion and a commitment to protecting others in the water would eventually evolve in...
Deep Dive: An Interview with Rob Brander
Episode Notes
2.15.26
Professor Rob Brander is an internationally recognized coastal geomorphologist and one of the world’s leading experts on rip currents and beach safety. His research has played a major role in reshaping scientific understanding of rip current behavior and how people respond when caught in them.
Professor Brander is based at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Sydney, Australia, where he serves in the School of Biological, Earth & Environmental Sciences. He holds undergraduate and master’s degrees from the University of Toronto and earned his Ph.D. from the Univ...
Deep Dive: Taishi Otono
Episode Notes
2.19.26
Taishi Otono is a respected leader in ocean safety and lifesaving in Okinawa, Japan, and an emerging international voice in collaborative drowning prevention. Through his work with the Okinawan lifesaving community, Otono has helped strengthen professional guard training, rescue operations, and cross-cultural partnerships aimed at improving coastal safety.
Okinawa shares many similarities with Hawaiʻi—both are island regions with strong ocean cultures, heavy tourism, and complex coastal environments shaped by reef systems, powerful currents, and seasonal weather patterns. Like Hawaiʻi, Okinawa faces the dual challenge of protecting residents while also...
Deep Dive: An Interview with ILCIRA
Episode Notes
Why aren’t lifeguards first responders? This interview is focusing on a part of aquatic safety that is often overlooked but critically important the psychological impact of critical incidents on lifeguards and aquatic professionals. This conversation is about evidence, responsibility, and the people who protect lives in and around the water and what it takes to protect them in return.
Lifeguards are routinely exposed to high-stress events: rescues, near-drownings, fatalities, and repeated exposure to trauma. Yet unlike many other first-responder professions, the mental health and wellbeing of lifeguards has historically been under-studied and un...
Deep Dive: An Interview with Jamie MacMahan
Episode Notes
2.14.26: Jamie McMahan, a leading researcher whose work focuses on how people experience and survive rip currents in real-world ocean conditions.
Jamie is a professor of oceanography at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. His research has helped reshape how scientists, lifeguards, and safety professionals understand rip currents not just as physical ocean processes, but as human survival events.
With coastal drowning remaining a critical issue worldwide and here in Hawaiʻi this conversation is especially timely.
We explore what research tells us about how rip currents actually work, w...
Deep Dive: An Interview with Ian Couch
Episode Notes
July 18, 2025 Extra Interview: Margaret talks in studio with Ian Couch, the water safety expert for Worldʻs Toughest Row. The Toughest Row folks were on Kauaʻi receiving teams of rowers who traveled from Monterey, CA to Hanalei Bay. Ian talks about making safety a culture and how athletes take on this grueling and amazing trip.
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Deep Dive: An Interview with John Kalei Clarke
Episode Notes
September 16, 2025 John Kaleimakaliʻi Thornton Clarke, who happens to be the grand nephew of Duke Kahanamoku, is an accomplished waterman in his own right and a researcher with the Hawaii Department of Health. He epically swam around Maui to bring awareness to the fact that native Hawaiians are drowning at a higher rate than other population groups.
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Deep Dive: An Interview with Nicki Roderick
Episode Notes
August 15, 2025 Niki Roderick is the founder and CEO of Free Dive Safe and is the NZ record holder for free diving. A dedicated ocean woman, she is also a strong advocate for water safety in schools. But not only for children, for adults and all ocean lovers. Her work supports free divers, paddlers, spear-fishers, boaters and more. She is currently working to get water safety as standard curriculum in Hawaii middle schools.
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Deep Dive: An Interview with Chris Pico
Episode Notes
Margaret invites North Shore lifeguard Chris Pico in studio to share about the importance of water safety from the lifeguard’s perspective and to share about the free app Pulse Point. What’s charming is that Chris’ daughter, Harper, was in studio as well, watching her show and petting the dog and you can hear it a bit. Chris said, before we started the show, that he sought out Pulse Point on Kauaʻi for her.
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Deep Dive: An Interview with Duane DeSoto
Episode Notes
July 18, 2025 Full On-Air Show: Duane DeSoto called in to the studio. He is instrumental in the Hawaii nonprofit Nā Kama Kai, which focuses on connecting keiki to the ʻāina and the kai. Duane is working hard to promote a safe water culture among the people of Hawaii and his message is broad and applicable for all water people.
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Deep Dive: An Interview with Drasko Bogdanovic
Episode Notes
Drasko Bogdanovic Reframing Water Safety
Drasko Bogdanovic is a California State Parks ocean lifeguard, flight paramedic, educator, and the founder of The Lifeguard Project, a national storytelling and advocacy platform focused on reframing how lifeguarding and drowning prevention are understood. His work aligns closely with Hawaiʻi, widely recognized as the epicenter of water safety, where the ocean demands exceptional expertise, vigilance, and cultural awareness.
Drawing from frontline experience, Drasko approaches drowning prevention not as a series of isolated accidents, but as a predictable and preventable public health issue. Through The Life...
Deep Dive: An Interview with George Centeio
Episode Notes
January 14, 2026. George Centeio works with the Hawaiʻi State Department of Education as an Educational Specialist for Physical Education, supporting schools across the state in helping students build healthy, active lives. His work connects physical education, student well-being, and real-world safety, especially important in a place like Hawaiʻi, where water is part of everyday life.
In this conversation, we talk about how education, particularly physical education, can help keep Hawaiʻi’s keiki safer in and around the water. It’s a discussion grounded in the reality of growing up surrounded by ocean...
Deep Dive: An Interview with Female Lifeguards
Episode Notes
January 13, 2026. This show brings the conversation home to Kauaʻi. Iʻm honored to be joined by four professional female lifeguards who protect our islandʻs beaches every day: Sanoe Hookano, Lei Deguchi, Lemon Holliday, and Aarya DeBaldo. Each of these women brings deep local knowledge, strong ocean skills, and constant vigilance to their work on the tower. They read conditions, watch people, and make decisions that prevent emergencies long before a whistle is blown or a rescue is needed.
Femal lifeguards like Sanoe, Lei, Lemon and Aarya are an essential part of wat...
Deep Dive: An Interview with Adrian Mayhew
Episode Notes
October 23, 2025 Adrian Mayhew brings insight into the latest research and applied physiology in flood rescue, technical rescue, and water safety management. He is deeply involved in bridging operational lifesaving practices with research and evidence-based training across international contexts. Working with Mike Tipton on “lab to lifesaving” has made an impact worldwide. Adrian says Drowning is a global issue; we need legislation, manufacturing, and clear messaging. Drowning data is just the tip of the iceberg. There is a need to collect non-fatal drownings worldwide. His research is insightful, and as he says,” By creating what will be the Int...
Deep Dive: An Interview with Mike Tipton
Episode Notes
July 18, 2025: Professor Mike Tipton MBE is a Professor of Human & Applied Physiology at the Extreme Environments Laboratory, School of Sport, Health & Exercise Science at the University of Portsmouth in the UK. He was kind enough to speak with us about the physiology of drowning. This is a hard interview to hear, but oh so important as we take on the topic of water safety. Check out this video on the Float to Live project.
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Deep Dive: An Interview with Kalani Vierra
Episode Notes
November 21, 2025 Kalani Vierra is the Chief of the Kaua‘i Ocean Safety Bureau and one of Hawai‘i’s most respected and accomplished watermen. Kalani is internationally recognized for his expertise in rescue watercraft (jet ski) operations, and he has trained lifeguards across Hawai‘i and internationally in advanced ocean-rescue techniques. His leadership has shaped how lifeguards respond to emergencies on Kaua‘i’s beaches. Kalani also serves as President of the Hawai‘i Lifeguard Association (HLA), where he helpsguide statewide standards, training, and public-safety initiatives. He was instrumental in the development and growth of the Junior Life...
Deep Dive: An Interview with Dr Angel Yanigahara
Episode Notes
October 5, 2025 Dr. Angel Yanagihara is a leading biochemist and toxinologist internationally recognized for her groundbreaking work on venomous marine invertebrates—particularly the box jellyfish (Alatina alata) and bluebottle (Physalia physalis). Based at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, she is an associate researcher at the Pacific Biosciences Research Center and directs the Pacific Cnidaria Research Laboratory. Her research dispels long-held myths about jellyfish stings and establishes evidence-based first aid protocols grounded in cellular and biochemical science. Working in partnership with the U.S. military, Dr. Yanagihara developed Sting No More®, a first-aid product line tha...
Deep Dive: An Interview with Kaina Makua
Episode Notes
September 23, 2025 Kaina Makua is a kalo farmer, cultural practitioner, educator, and actor from Waimea, Kauaʻi. He is a cofounder and executive director of Kumano I Ke Ala which uplifts Hawaiian youth through ʻāina -based education. He operates Aloha ʻĀina Poi Co. which distributes thousands of poi annually revitalizing kalo farming and strengthening cultural food security. In addition to his farming and education work, Kaina Makua plays King Kamehameha in the Apple TV+ series Chief of War. He has some insightful words about water safety and the strengthening Hawaiian culture.
Deep Dive: An Interview with Bruce Hopkins
Episode Notes
Bruce Hopkins, head lifeguard at Bondi Beach in Australia. A media personality as well as award-winning lifeguard, Bruce has appeared in 18 seasons of the Australian TV show “Bondi Rescue”. He talks to us today about effective swimming, but even more importantly, effective floating. He also brings an interesting perspective to experiencing rip currents.
