Duke Kahanamoku

He is remembered as Hawaii's greatest waterman and the “father of international modern surfing.” Duke Kahanamoku was an Olympic champion, Hollywood actor, and ambassador of aloha.

The “Duke” as he would be called, is not a title, but a given name. His father was named "Duke" in honor of Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, who was visiting Hawaii in 1869. When the younger “Duke” was born in August 24, 1890, he inherited his father's name.
In his teens, Duke dropped out of high school and became a “beach boy” in Waikiki where he and his peers surfed, swam, and shaped surfboards। These years of surfing and swimming molded the young Duke into a superb athlete and a very fast swimmer. In 1911, in an amateur swim meet, Kahanamoku was clocked at 55.4 seconds in the 100-meter freestyle, beating the existing record by 4.6 seconds, in the Honolulu Harbor. He easily qualified for the U.S. Olympic swimming team the following year.

In 1912, he was almost 22 years old when he won his first Olympic gold medal in Stockholm. He set the world record in the 100 meter free-style and won a silver in the 200 meter relay. For the next 20 years, Duke represented the United States in the Olympics and won the hearts of many people all over the world. Although the Olympics was not held in 1916 because of World War I, Kahanamoku broke his own record at the 1920 Antwerp Olympics in the 100-meter freestyle and setting a world record on the free-style relay team. At the 1924 Paris Olympics, he brought home a silver for the 100 meter free-style. His last Olympics was in 1932 in Los Angeles where he won a bronze medal as a member of the U.S. water polo team.

Between his Olympic competitions, and after retiring from the Olympics, Kahanamoku traveled to different parts of the world particularly throughout the United States and Australia to participate in swimming exhibitions and aquatic events. It was during these tours that he demonstrated not only his swimming ability, but his surfing ability as well. Eventually, he popularized the sport of surfing to the world.

Duke's good looks and charm brought him to the attention of Hollywood producers. His movie career spanned almost ten years and he appeared in about 30 movies. Duke's roles included everything from a Sioux Indian to a Hindu thief. His career bridged the old silent movies and the new “talkies.” By nature, he was more suited to the silent movie.

Between 1932 to 1961, Duke was elected as Sheriff of Honolulu for 26 years. At age 50, he married Nadine Alexander in 1940. Together they shared his new world of meeting and greeting people who came to visit Hawaii. He was “Mr. Hawaii, Hawaii's Ambassador to the world.”

In 1965, Duke received many honors and awards for his lifelong achievements. Duke Kahanamoku was the first person to be inducted into both the swimming and surfing Halls of Fame. The August/September issue of International Surfing was dedicated to the Duke who was referred to as, “a surfer who by all standards is king.” He was also honored with the first Duke Kahanamoku Invitational Surfing Championships, held at Sunset Beach, on Oahu.

The world bid Duke aloha on January 22, 1968. He would be remembered as a great swimmer, surfer, and a symbol of Hawaii.