Background
Konno was born in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Konno was born in Honolulu, Hawaii.
He attended McKinley High School in Honolulu, and swam for the McKinley Tigers high school swim team
He later received an athletic scholarship to attend Ohio State University, where he swam for the Ohio State Buckeyes swimming and diving team in National Collegiate Athletic Association (National Collegiate Athletic Association) competition. Konno set world records of 2:03.9 in the 200-meter and 4:26.7 in the 400-meter freestyle during 1954 college meets. His time of 18:30:3 in the 1,500 freestyle was a new Olympic record.
Konno is married to fellow 1952 Olympic medalist Evelyn Kawamoto.
He is a member of the International Swimming Hall of Fame.