Everything about Duke Paoa Kahinu Mokoe Hulikohola Kahanamoku went beyond words, and sometimes beyond belief.
The Hawaiian swimmer's talent was so audacious that when the Amateur Athletic Union first sent his times to the Mainland after a 1911 meet in Honolulu Harbor, his records were rejected as unbelievable. Hawai'i was so upset that the community raised money to send Duke to the Mainland.
Kahanamoku, who died in 1968 at age 77, ultimately would make everyone a believer as he continued to win races and slash times.
The man who grew up on Kalia Beach in Waikiki created his own freestyle form after watching swimmers do the Australian crawl in 1910. His Hawaiian crawl was later known as the Kahanamoku kick, and finally, the American crawl.
He won three gold medals and two silvers in swimming at three Olympic Games — Stockholm (1912), Antwerp (1920) and Paris (1924). He added a bronze in water polo at the 1932 Games, at age 42.
But it was Kahanamoku's gentle, charismatic personality and zest for life in the Islands that brought him — and Hawai'i — lasting fame and friendship.
"The Duke" helped revive surfing here with his brothers and shared his passion with the world. He surfed with a 16-foot, 114-pound board made of koa wood. Legend has it that he rode a monster wave more than a mile in 1917. His fearlessness was put to the ultimate test eight years later when he worked his surfboard through rough waters off the California coast three times to rescue eight people from a damaged boat.
By then, Kahanamoku was acting in Hollywood. He had small parts in about 20 films, playing opposite actors such as John Wayne, Buster Crabbe and Johnny Weissmuller — the only man to beat him in an Olympic 100-meter final (1924).
Duke played a prominent part in popularizing Hawai'i and served as Ambassador of Aloha after statehood in 1959. When Britain's Queen Mother Elizabeth danced hula with him, newspapers all over the world ran the photo. When President Kennedy visited, Kahanamoku was the first person he wanted to meet.
Kahanamoku was honored as Sports Champion of the Century at the 1964 World's Fair He was the first person inducted into both the surfing and swimming halls of fame. Here, he will be known as Hawai'i's humble hero long after honors, statues, stamps and sites bearing his name fade.
