The Duke Kahanamoku Statue on Waikiki Beach
Hawaii has plenty of reason to be proud of their “Duke”. In 1912, he achieved international recognition as the world’s fastest swimmer by bringing home the Olympic gold medals in the 100 and 400 meter freestyle events.
After those wins at Stockholm, he traveled throughout Europe and the United States for swim meets and exhibitions. While surfing the California coast in 1925, Duke’s surfboard became a life preserver and the Duke became a hero of another sort. A charter fishing boat named Thelma had capsized, tossing the passengers into the sea. Duke is credited with saving eight of the twelve that survived. Of the twenty-nine on board, seventeen did not make it. Duke is recorded as saying, “Without the boards, we would probably not have been able to rescue a single personâÂ?¦”
In 1915, he took surfing Down Under, and Australia jumped on board. Literally. His performance on January 15, 1915, at Freshwater, is considered legendary. By 1922 the Duke had three gold, two silver, and one bronze medal under his belt. In addition to all that, he made the U.S. swim team in 1924 and the U.S. water polo team in 1932.
When he wasn’t creating legends on the waves, he was very busy with other things. He picked up quite a bit of work in Hollywood as an extra and as a supporting actor. You can find him in various places on screen, including Lord Jim, The Isle of Sunken Gold (serial), John Ford’s Mister Roberts, and of course in his role as Ua Nuka (the Big Rain), in which he played opposite of John “Duke” Wayne in The Wake of the Red Witch. That was the first time he played the part of a Polynesian, despite the fact that he had been in the Hollywood world for over two decades. Prior to that, he filled other ethnic roles, such as a Hindu thief, an Arab prince, and an Aztec chief.
And even with all that, the Duke found time for public service and the woman he loved. He entered and won the race for county sheriff of Honolulu in 1934 and served 13 consecutive terms. In 1940, he was married to Nadine Alexander.
The Duke left this earth on January 22, 1968; he was seventy-seven years old. A thirty-man police escort accompanied the long motorcade of mourners through town and to the beach, where the Reverend Abraham Akaka performed a service. His ashes were scattered in the waters of his beloved Waikiki. The great man was gone, but never forgotten.
If you are visiting the island of Oahu in Hawaii, you are more than likely going to be taking a stroll through Waikiki, taking pictures with landmarks and interesting sites. Don’t forget the Duke Kahanamoku Statue. It’s right on Waikiki Beach, next to the police department on Kalakaua Avenue. The statue is the artwork of sculptor Jan-Michelle Sawyer, and was erected in 1990 on the 100th anniversary of the Duke’s birth. It honors a man known as the Father of International Surfing, and the Hawaiian Ambassador of Aloha. It is often covered in leis (strings of flowers), signifying the love that not only the local people have for the Duke, but also people from all over the world.
And after you snap that shot with Duke, it is imperative that you swing by Duke’s Waikiki, a seafood restaurant named in honor of the surfing legend. Besides the fact that you’ll get great food and service, you’ll see among other memorabilia, framed photographs, old posters, and surfboards. You can sit beneath the palm-thatched roofs and umbrellas, overlooking the spot where Duke caught his biggest wave. Go for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, it’s all great. Of course, if you aren’t hungry, you can stop in and have a tropical drink and watch the sunset. You are, after all, in Paradise.
