Surfing through

The Duke made both surfing and Waikiki famous with his athletic ability

DUKE KAHANAMOKU lives on vin spirit at Waikiki Beach.

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IT'S NOON at Duke's
Canoe Club overlooking
Waikiki Beach, the surf is
up, and you can bet your
baggies that classes at the
University of Hawaii are
second choice today.

Suddenly a large wave throws
up a crest and two, four, eight...
we lose count of the surfers who
ride the foaming water.

They hang in for about 200
yards and flop into the crashing
waves, climb onto their boards,
and swim back for the next one.

“Wow!” said a man at the next
table, “that was some ride.”

“Nat bad,” said another. “but
the Duke had better.”

awalian

66 The sea gives me
life. With my board 1
feel like I own the
ocean, 99

-Duke Kahanamoku

He was referring to Duke
Kahanamoku, revered by locals as
the father of surfing, born here in
1890, and soon nicknamed the
human fish. Duke, about 6 ft. 2 in.
and 190 Lhs., had huge hands and
feet, which propelled him to an

Olympic gold medal in Sweden in
1912,

He won a total of five medals
at four Olympics, finally losing to
Johnny Weismuller. “But it taok
Tarzan to beat me,” Duke said.
Along the way he introduced the
world to surfing, beach boys and
put Waikiki on the map.

In 1914 Duke went to Australia
and showed them how to do it,
starting with a sugar pine log
which he shaped into a surfboard
and took tu Sydney’s Freshwater
Beach.

He paddled out, caught a wave,

and gave the amazed Aussies their
first taste of what became a Down
Under national obsession.

By 1917 Duke was a star on
Waikiki Beach, surfing on a
wooden board 16 ft. long and |
weighing 114 Ibs. He once caught
a monsters wave of 30 ft. and rode
it for more than a mile on to
Waikiki Beach.

He said, “The sea gives me life.

With my board I feel like I own
the ocean, and J am king.” Only
Duke could have said that without
appearing to brag.
~. In 1925 the sporting legend
became a hero when he rade his
surfboard to the rescue of a yacht
sinking off Newport Beach. Duke
brought the occupants ashore one |
by one, and of the 12 who sur-
vived, eight were saved by the big
Hawaiian.

Duke, whose athletic build was
matched by handsome good looks,

Photo David Wishart

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appeared in 28 movies including
the Wake of the Red Witch with
John Wayne. He later became
sheriff, then Hawaii's ambassador
of goodwill, He died in 1968 at
the ave of 77,
In 1990, on the 100th anniver-

sary of his birth, a statue of Duke
was unveiled at Kuhio Beach,
which is actually part of Waikiki
Beach right across fram the Hyatt
Regency Waikiki.

Jt is a good piece of work in
that it shows his commanding
stature with his arms spread wide
as if welcoming visitors to the
beach he made famous.

Unfortunately it’s out of scale
with the Duke — a litde larger
than life and the surfboard a Jot
smaller — and there is no proper
description of the man or his
achievements,

‘Tourists are drawn to the statue
all the same and many hang leis
on his arms. Cameras click inces- -
santly. Many women climb the

See Club page 38

SIDETRACKS

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