Duke Kahanamoku

Swimmer

• Born: August 24, 1890
• Birthplace: Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii (now in Hawaii)
• Died: January 22, 1968
• Place of death: Honolulu, Hawaii

Sport: Swimming

Early Life

Duke Kahanamoku was born on August 24, 1890, close to the shores of Waikiki Beach in Honolulu, then part of the territory of Hawaii. Duke was the eldest of six brothers and one sister. He grew up in the Royal Palace because his grandfather was a Hawaiian high chief. This played a part in his surfing because, traditionally, surfing was the exclusive sport of island royalty. Duke was named after his father, who was named after the Duke of Edinburgh, who visited Hawaii.

Even as a child, Duke was a graceful and strong swimmer. When he was a young boy, he went on a Sunday school excursion. The group had gone sailing and the boat capsized. The Sunday school group and Duke paddled the two miles back to shore and safety. Many say this distance was nothing to Duke because he could swim as easily as walk.

The Road to Excellence

Duke had an inherent swimming ability. His tropical upbringing, natural buoyancy, and physical structure made him a natural swimmer. He took good care of his body, never smoking or drinking and training consistently. Duke’s peculiar method of swimming contributed to his success. He was able to get the maximum push from each stroke and thus wasted no energy. He swam with his head out of the water and was able to keep a close eye on his competitors. He used a typical American“crawl” stroke perfected by the “Kahanamoku kick” he had mastered as a better means of propelling his surfboard. His style made him practically unbeatable in his favorite distances, from 50 to 200 yards.

It seemed that everyone wanted to take credit for Duke’s swimming success—except for Duke himself. Mainland Americans claimed he was “Made in America”—Hawaii was not a state at this time—because he had to be retaught everything significant concerning swimming. In reality, all he did in the United States was fine-tune his style to fit the restraints of the swimming pool. He learned how to start and turn more quickly, because this was where seconds were won or lost in competition.

The Emerging Champion

Duke’s road to excellence led him to victories at the Olympics and subsequent worldwide fame. It all started in his native Hawaii. Swimming in the open water of Honolulu Harbor, he surpassed the 100-yard world record by 4.6 seconds at 55.4 seconds. The swimming world was astounded. Officials on the mainland refused to believe it and would not recognize the effort. He was offered a chance to come to the mainland to compete. In meets in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, he beat records in the 50-, 100-, and 220-yard freestyle events. He was justly awarded the 100-yard open water record and, most important, a spot on the 1912 U.S. Olympic team. The Olympic Games were to be held at Stockholm, Sweden, that year, and United States officials were confident that Duke would take first place, provided the cold water did not slow him down. He won the 100-meter race easily in a time of 1 minute 3.4 seconds and claimed a gold medal.

Duke won the gold medal in the 100 meters at the 1920 Olympic Games and the silver at the 1924 Games. He switched to water polo for the 1932 Olympics because he said he was too slow for competitive swimming. Through those years, he worked on shaving fifths of a second off his world records. His personal bests for the 100 and 50 yards ultimately would be 53 seconds and 24 seconds, respectively.

Continuing the Story

Duke was also the prime catalyst for surfing’s rebirth. He reintroduced surfing to Hawaii, New Zealand, Australia, and the United States. Some of Duke’s surf rides had become so exaggerated that there were no actual statistics to verify them. Duke was instrumental in the development and manufacture of the giant hollow surfboards more than ten feet tall that became popular—especially for lifesaving work—during the 1930’s.

In 1925, Duke started an acting career in Hollywood that lasted fourteen years. He mostly played roles of chiefs—Polynesian, Aztec, and Indian—and he appeared in Gone with the Wind (1939). He was physically well qualified for these chief roles because he was 6 feet 3 inches tall and had a majestic bearing and posture.

In 1932, Duke ran for sheriff in Honolulu as a Democrat and was unopposed. Several years later, he switched to the Republican party. He was the most popular political figure on the island and served as sheriff until 1961. While he was sheriff, he acted as an unofficial greeter for the island. Then, in 1961, he was appointed Hawaii’s official greeter, welcoming film stars, politicians, and royalty. He even had the privilege of teaching Queen Mother Elizabeth of Britain how to do the hula.

Duke was a staff member of the Public Works Department of the Territory of Hawaii. As an inspector of wharf building, he was constantly at the waterfront. This helped him become an expert diver. He used to dive to the bottom of the harbor to inspect piers and other features in connection with wharf construction.

Duke continued to swim and sail almost to the day of his death, even after he suffered several heart attacks and had survived a brain operation. He never actually trained anyone but often gave out advice to young men and women on how to improve their style.

On January 22, 1968, Duke collapsed at the Waikiki Yacht Club and was rushed to Kaiser Foundation Hospital, where he died. He was seventy-seven years old at the time.

Summary

Duke Kahanamoku was a man of many talents. He was an Olympic gold medalist, father of modern surfing, a Hollywood actor, a sheriff, and an official greeter in Honolulu. King Kamehameha once prophesied that Hawaii would be completely run by the white man, but before that happened, one Hawaiian man would bring it fame. Duke fulfilled the prophecy.

Bibliography

Crowe, Ellie, and Richard Waldrep. Surfer of the Century: The Life of Duke Kahanamoku. New York: Lee & Low Books, 2007.

Hall, Sandra Kimberley. Duke: A Great Hawaiian. Honolulu, Hawaii: Bess Press, 2004.

Horwitz, Tony. The Devil May Care: Fifty Intrepid Americans and Their Quest for the Unknown. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.

Osmond, Gary, Murray Phillips, and Mark O’Neill. “’Putting up Your Dukes’: Statues, Social Memory, and Duke Paoa Kahanamoku.” The International Journal of the History of Sport 23, no. 1 (2006): 82-103.