 Duke Kahanamoku c. 1912 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Duke Paoa Kahinu Mokoe Hulikohola Kahanamoku | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1890-08-24)August 24, 1890 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | January 22, 1968(1968-01-22) (aged 77) Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (185 cm)[1][2] | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 190 lb (86 kg)[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Surfing career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Surfing | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Duke Paoa Kahinu Mokoe Hulikohola Kahanamoku (August 24, 1890 – January 22, 1968) was a Hawaiian competition swimmer, lifeguard, and popularizer of the sport ofsurfing. ANative Hawaiian, he was born three years before theoverthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom. He lived to see the territory's admission asa state and became a United States citizen. He was a five-time Olympic medalist inswimming, winning medals in1912,1920 and1924.[3]
Kahanamoku joined fraternal organizations: he was aScottish Rite Freemason in the Honolulu lodge,[4] and aShriner. He worked as alaw enforcement officer, an actor, a beach volleyball player, and a businessman.[5]
According to Kahanamoku, he was born inHonolulu atHaleʻākala, the home ofBernice Pauahi Bishop, which was later converted into the Arlington Hotel.[6]
He was born into a family ofNative Hawaiians headed by Duke Halapu Kahanamoku and Julia Paʻakonia Lonokahikina Paoa. He had five brothers, and three sisters. His brothers wereSargent,Samuel, David, William and Louis, all of whom participated in competitive aquatic sports. His sisters were Bernice, Kapiolani and Maria.[7]
"Duke" was not a title or a nickname, but agiven name. He was named after his father, Duke Halapu Kahanamoku, who was christened by Bernice Pauahi Bishop in honor ofPrince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, who was visiting Hawaii at the time. His father was a policeman. His mother Julia Paʻakonia Lonokahikina Paoa was a deeply religious woman with a strong sense of family ancestry.
His parents were from prominent Hawaiianohana (families). The Kahanamoku and the Paoa ohana were considered to be lower-ranking nobles, who were in service to thealiʻi nui, or royalty.[6] His paternal grandfather was Kahanamoku and his grandmother, Kapiolani Kaoeha (sometimes spelledKahoea), a descendant ofAlapainui. They werekahu, retainers and trusted advisors of the Kamehamehas, to whom they were related. His maternal grandparents Paoa, son of Paoa Hoolae and Hiikaalani, and Mele Uliama, were also of aliʻi descent.[5]: 9 [8]
In 1893, his family moved toKālia, Waikiki (near the present site ofHilton Hawaiian Village), to be closer to his mother's parents and family. Kahanamoku grew up with his siblings and 31 Paoa cousins.[5]: 17 He attended the Waikiki Grammar School, Kaahumanu School, and theKamehameha Schools, although he never graduated because he had to quit to help support the family.[9]
Growing up on the outskirts of Waikiki, Kahanamoku spent much of his youth at the beach, where he developed his surfing and swimming skills. In his youth, Kahanamoku preferred a traditional surf board, which he called his"papa nui", constructed after the fashion of ancient Hawaiianolo boards. Made from the wood of akoa tree, it was 16 feet (4.9 m) long and weighed 114 pounds (52 kg). The board was without askeg, which had yet to be invented. In his later surfing career, he would often use smaller boards but always preferred those made of wood.
Kahanamoku was a powerful swimmer. On August 11, 1911, he was timed at 55.4 seconds in the 100 yards (91 m)freestyle, beating the existing world record by 4.6 seconds, in the salt water of Honolulu Harbor. He broke the record in the 220 yd (200 m) and equaled it in the 50 yd (46 m). But theAmateur Athletic Union (AAU), in disbelief, would not recognize these feats until many years later. The AAU initially claimed that the judges must have been using alarm clocks rather than stopwatches and later claimed that ocean currents aided Kahanamoku.[10]
Kahanamoku easily qualified for the U.S. Olympic swimming team in 1912. At the1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, he won a gold medal in the100-meter freestyle, and a silver medal with the second-place U.S. team in themen's 4×200-meter freestyle relay.
During the1920 Olympics in Antwerp, Kahanamoku won gold medals in both the 100 meters (bettering fellow HawaiianPua Kealoha) and in the relay. He finished the 100 meters with a silver medal during the1924 Olympics in Paris, with the gold going toJohnny Weissmuller and the bronze to Kahanamoku's brother,Samuel. By then age 34, Kahanamoku won no more Olympic medals.[1] But he served as an alternate for the U.S.water polo team at the1932 Summer Olympics.
Between Olympic competitions, and after retiring from the Olympics, Kahanamoku traveled internationally to give swimming exhibitions. It was during this period that he popularized the sport of surfing, previously known only in Hawaii, by incorporating surfing exhibitions into his touring exhibitions as well. He attracted people to surfing in mainland America first in 1912 while inSouthern California. He trained and loaned equipment to new surfers, such asDorothy Becker.
His surfing exhibition atSydney, Australia'sFreshwater Beach on December 24, 1914, is widely regarded as a seminal event in the development of surfing in Australia.[11] The board that Kahanamoku built from a piece of pine from a local hardware store is retained by theFreshwater Surf Life Saving Club. A statue of Kahanamoku was erected in his honor on the Northern headland of Freshwater Lake,New South Wales.[12]
During his time living in Southern California, Kahanamoku performed in Hollywood as a background actor and a character actor in several films. He made connections in this way with people who could further publicize the sport of surfing. Kahanamoku was involved with theLos Angeles Athletic Club, acting as a lifeguard and competing in both swimming and water polo teams.
While living inNewport Beach, California, on June 14, 1925, Kahanamoku rescued eight men from a fishing vessel that capsized in heavy surf while it was attempting to enter the city's harbor.[13] Using his surfboard, Kahanamoku made repeated trips from shore to the capsized ship, and helped rescue several people.[14] Two other surfers saved four more fishermen, while five succumbed to the seas before they could be rescued. At the time the Newport Beach police chief called Kahanamoku's efforts "The most superhuman surfboard rescue act the world has ever seen." The widespread publicity surrounding the rescue influenced lifeguards across the US to begin the use of surfboards as standard equipment for water rescues.[2]
Kahanamoku was the first person to be inducted into both theSwimming Hall of Fame and theSurfing Hall of Fame. TheDuke Kahanamoku Invitational Surfing Championships in Hawaii, the first major professional surfing contest event ever held in the huge surf on the North Shore of Oahu, was named in his honor. He is a member of theU.S. Olympic Hall of Fame.
Later Kahanamoku was elected to serve as the Sheriff ofHonolulu, Hawaii from 1935[15] to 1961, completing 13 consecutive terms. During World War II, he served as amilitary police officer for the United States; Hawai'i was not yet a state and was administered.
In the postwar period, Kahanamoku appeared in a number of television programs and films, includingMister Roberts (1955). He was well-liked throughout the Hollywood community.
Kahanamoku became a friend and surfing companion of heiressDoris Duke. She built a home (now a museum) onOahu namedShangri-la. Kahanamoku gave private surfing lessons toFranklin D. Roosevelt Jr. andJohn Aspinwall Roosevelt, the children ofFranklin D. Roosevelt.[16]
In 1946, Kahanamoku was thepro forma defendant in the landmarkSupreme Court caseDuncan v. Kahanamoku. While Kahanamoku was amilitary police officer duringWorld War II, he arrested Duncan, a civilianshipfitter, for public intoxication.
At the time, Hawaii, not yet a state, was being administered by the United States under theHawaiian Organic Act. This effectively institutedmartial law on the island. After Duncan was tried by a military tribunal, he appealed to the Supreme Court. In apost hoc ruling, the court ruled that trial by military tribunal for the civilian was, in this case,unconstitutional.[17]
On August 2, 1940, Kahanamoku married dance instructor Nadine Alexander, who had relocated to Hawaii fromCleveland, Ohio, after she had been hired to teach at theRoyal Hawaiian Hotel. Duke was 50 years old, Nadine was 35.[18]
He was initiated, passed and raised to the degree of Master Mason in Hawaiian LodgeMasonic Lodge No 21[19][20][21] and was also a Noble (member) of theShriners fraternal organization.[22] He was aRepublican.[23]
Kahanamoku died of a heart attack on January 22, 1968, at age 77.[24] For hisburial at sea, a long motorcade of mourners, accompanied by a 30-man police escort, traveled in procession across town toWaikiki Beach. ReverendAbraham Akaka, the pastor ofKawaiahao Church, performed the service. A group of beach boys sang Hawaiian songs, including "Aloha Oe", and Kahanamoku's ashes were scattered into the ocean.
In 1990, a 9-foot bronze statue of Kahanamoku was unveiled in Waikiki, in Honolulu, Hawaii. The statue is not facing the nearby ocean shore, but is facing the street, to welcome tourists and locals, in the spirit ofAloha.[25][26]
In 1994, a statue of Kahanamoku by Barry Donohoo was inaugurated in Freshwater, NSW, Australia. It is the showpiece of the Australian Surfers Walk of Fame.[27]
On February 28, 2015, a monument featuring a replica of Kahanamoku's surfboard was unveiled at New Brighton beach,Christchurch,New Zealand in honor of the 100th anniversary of Kahanamoku's visit to New Brighton.[28]
A statue of Kahanamoku was installed inHuntington Beach, California. A nearby restaurant is named for him and is close to Huntington Beach pier. The City of Huntington Beach identifies with the legacy of surfing, and a museum dedicated to that sport is located here.[29]
In April 2022, NSW Heritage announced that Kahanamoku would be included in the first batch of Blue Plaques to be issued, to recognize his contribution to recreation and surfing.[30]
A sculpture of Kahanamoku flanked by a male knee paddler and a female prone paddler commemorating the Catalina Classic Paddleboard Race was installed on theManhattan Beach Pier in 2023.[31]
Hawaii music promoterKimo Wilder McVay capitalized on Kahanamoku's popularity by naming his Waikiki showroom "Duke Kahanamoku's" at theInternational Market Place[32] and giving Kahanamoku a financial interest in the showroom in exchange for the use of his name. It was a major Waikiki showroom in the 1960s and is remembered as the home ofDon Ho & The Aliis from 1964 through 1969. The showroom continued to be known as Duke Kahanamoku's until Hawaii showman Jack Cione bought it in the mid-1970s and renamed it Le Boom Boom.
The Duke Kahanamoku Aquatic Complex (DKAC) serves as the home for theUniversity of Hawai‘i's swimming and diving and women's water polo teams. The facility, located on the university's lower campus, includes a 50-meter training pool and a separate 25-yard competition and diving pool. The long course pool is four feet at both ends, seven feet in the middle, and an average depth of six feet.
Kahanamoku's name is also used by Duke's Canoe Club & Barefoot Bar, as of 2016[update] known as Duke's Waikiki, a beachfront bar and restaurant in theOutrigger Waikiki on the Beach Hotel. There is a chain of restaurants named after him in California, Florida and Hawaii called Duke's.
On August 24, 2002, the 112th anniversary of Kahanamoku's birth, theU.S. Postal Service issued a first-classcommemorative stamp with Duke's picture on it. The First Day Ceremony was held at the Hilton Hawaiian Village in Waikiki and was attended by thousands. At this ceremony, attendees could attach the Duke stamp to an envelope and get it canceled with a First Day of Issue postmark. Thesefirst day covers are very collectible.[33]
On August 24, 2015, aGoogle Doodle honored the 125th anniversary of Duke Kahanamoku's birthday.[34]
In 2021, a 88-minute feature film was made about Kahanamoku's life.[35][36][37] It was later broadcast byPBS as part of theirAmerican Masters series.[38]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1925 | Adventure | Noah Noa | ||
| The Pony Express | Indian Chief | Uncredited | ||
| No Father to Guide Him | The Lifeguard | Short | ||
| Lord Jim | Tamb Itam | |||
| 1926 | Old Ironsides | Pirate Captain | Uncredited | |
| 1927 | Hula | Hawaiian Boy | Uncredited | |
| Isle of Sunken Gold | Lono | |||
| 1928 | Woman Wise | Guard | ||
| 1929 | The Rescue | Jaffir | ||
| Where East Is East | Wild Animal Trapper | Uncredited | ||
| 1930 | Girl of the Port | Kalita | ||
| Isle of Escape | Manua | |||
| 1931 | Around the World with Douglas Fairbanks | Himself | Documentary | |
| The Black Camel | bit part as surf instructor | at 0:01:36 | ||
| 1948 | Wake of the Red Witch | Ua Nuke | ||
| 1955 | Mister Roberts | Native Chief | (as Duke Kahanamoko) | |
| 1959 | This Is Your Life | Himself | Episode: "Duke Kahanamoku" | |
| 1967 | Free and Easy | Himself | Documentary | |
| Surfari | Himself | Documentary | ||
| Source:[39] | ||||
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)... swimming star, Duke Kahanamoku and his fellow surf-board experts, where the ... of the beach here, credited with saving the lives of thirteen persons. ...
Duke was a member of Hawaii Lodge #22, The Scottish Rite and the Shriners.
Duke Kahanamoku, the Olympic swimming star, whose international sports career spanned 20 years and who became Hawaii's best-known citizen, died today at ...
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