Fred Albers Blog: The Duke of Hawaii

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Ask someone from the U.S. mainland to name a famous "Duke" and they might come up with John Wayne or Jed Clampett's dog. Ask that same person to name a famous Hawaiian athlete and they might say Dean Wilson or Colt Brennan.

But ask any islander for a famous Duke or native athlete, and there is only one response: Duke Kahanamoku. He was both an athlete and a movie star.

His story began at the turn of the century on Waikiki Beach, very close to where the Hilton now stands. Kahanamoku learned to swim and surf in the those spectacular waters, astounding natives with his athletic ability.

When his best times for 100-meter races were sent to the Amateur Athletic Union, officials did not believe anyone could swim that fast. They wrote back, "What are you using for stopwatches? Alarm clocks?"

The entire world soon believed, when Kahanamoku won two gold medals at the Stockholm Olympics -- the same games in which Jim Thorpe was proclaimed as the world's greatest athlete.

Duke would go on to win a total of five medals in four Olympic games.

He achieved fame by traveling the world, and giving swimming and surfing exhibitions. His legend grew even more when, during one exhibition, he rescued eight drowning men whose boat had capsized. Duke also achieved fame in Hollywood as an actor, and appeared with the other "Duke" -- John Wayne -- in "The Wake of the Red Witch."

In 1936 he was elected Sheriff of Honolulu, and went on to serve an amazing 13 consecutive terms.

In January of 1968, Kahanamoku died of a heart attack at the age of 77.

There is a large statue in his honor on Waikiki Beach, in which his arms are outstretched forever welcoming visitors to Hawaii:

" I have never seen snow and do not know what winter means. I have never coasted down a hill of frozen rain, but every day of the year where the water is 76, day and night, and the waves roll high, I take my sled, without runners, and coast down the face of the big waves that roll in at Waikiki. How would you like to stand like a god before the crest of a monster billow, always rushing to the bottom of a hill and never reaching its base, and to come rushing in for a half of a mile at express speed, in graceful attitude, of course, until you reach the beach and step easily from the wave to the strand?"

Duke Kahanamoku, 1890-1968