The statue of Hawaii's most famous surfer, Duke Kahanamoku the King of the Waves, is located in the middle of Waikiki, on the famous Waikiki Beach. Since we find that such a statue says little without background information on the person living at the time, we have summarized the most important information about his lifetime for you. With these, the statue looks more impressive and gives the necessary humility for this exceptional athlete.

Olympic champion and surfing legend of Hawaii

Die hawaiianische Legende Duke Kahanamoku verzauberte die Welt mit seinen Taten, lebte das ‚Aloha‘, gilt als Vater des modernen Surfens und ist mehrfacher Olympiasieger im Schwimmen. Ihm zu Ehren wurde eine Bronzestatue am Waikiki Beach errichtet, welche Besucher im wahrsten Sinne des Wortes am Strand Willkommen heißt.

Duke Kahanamoku wurde in Honolulu geboren und ist im Alter von 3 Jahren mit seiner Familie nach Waikiki gezogen. Kahanamoku, bekam über die Jahre die Spitznamen „The Duke“ sowie „The Big Kahuna“ und gilt noch heute als Vater des modernen Surfens. Das Haus von Dukes Familie befand sich damals im Areal des heutigen Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort nur wenige Minuten vom Beach entfernt. Surfen und schwimmen waren seine beiden großen Leidenschaften. Beide Sportarten führte er bereits ab jungen Kindheitsalter aus und qualifizierte sich vor allem im Schwimmen schnell für Wettbewerbe. Duke Kahanamoku brachte im Laufe seines Lebens der Gesellschaft nicht nur das Surfen näher, sondern gewann im Schwimmen auch mehrere olympische Medaillen. Er war die erste Person in der Geschichte, die sowohl wegen seines Talentes im Surfen als auch im Schwimmen in die Hall of Fame aufgenommen wurde.

In the course of his career, he carried the Aloha Spirit out into the world and showed himself in important roles in politics, the film industry or even as a businessman. He became sheriff in Waikiki and still acts as a respected leader for the surfer boys on the beach in Waikiki. The city of Honolulu also does not let deceased legends be forgotten. In his honour, Honolulu had a bronze statue of the Hawaiian hero made, which welcomes visitors to the beach in Waikiki with open arms.

Family and childhood of Duke Kahanamoku

Duke Paoa Kahinu Mokoe Hulikohola Kahanamoku, as he was known by his full name, was born in Honolulu on August 24th, 1890 and he grew up in a family with a total of nine children. He had three sisters and five brothers. The family was not of noble lineage, but nevertheless enjoyed good standing among the Hawaiian people. Duke's mother was a religious woman, and his father worked as a policeman. Even as a child, the young Duke impressed with his swimming abilities. He explored the various underwater areas of the island and participated in competitions, which he won successfully. Nevertheless, he enjoyed the usual Hawaiian school education. As a child, he finished elementary school in Honolulu, then entered Kamehameha School, but never graduated due to the high cost. In order to pay bills, support his family and be able to afford little things in everyday life, he worked as a shoe polisher, newspaper vendor and ice cream vendor, among other things. It was not until the age of 21 that he made his breakthrough with his talent in swimming. All these events are part of the great career of the Hawaiian legend.

Career of the Hawaiian hero Duke Kahanamoku

Towards the end of the 19th century, surfing on the islands of Hawaii was almost completely disregarded. It was more or less an extinct activity and only a few locals enjoyed riding the waves every day. Duke was one of the few who plunged into the waves every day. He practised swimming and continued to build his skills. In addition to his passion for surfing, Duke achieved a breakthrough with his swimming achievements at the age of 21. He set a new world record in the 100-yard freestyle swim, beating the former world record holder by 4.6 seconds. This victory was not recognized for a long time because according to the referee, the stopped time was not correct and was stopped incorrectly. Only one year later, however, Duke proved his skills again and created history for Hawaii.

He participated in the Stockholm Olympics, winning a gold medal in the 100-meter freestyle swim and a silver medal in the 4×200 relay. Thus, the breakthrough was finally made and Hawaii had a hero to celebrate.

This was reason enough for Duke to travel the world. During his travels, he taught his unique surf-derived Kahanamoku Kick swimming technique and taught friends and travellers how to surf. In addition to friends from Hollywood with whom he surfed at the beach in California, he also taught celebrities who travelled to Hawaii. This was a crucial point and the boom of tourism in Waikiki.

Duke managed to change a country permanently and forever during his travels. In 1914, the Hawaiian was the star in Australia. Here, in December, the first surfing exhibition took place at Freshwater Beach in Sydney, and this is where Duke's original surfboard is still kept and treasured today.

Unlike some people, Duke did not distance himself from things that frightened him. So it happened that in 1917 he threw himself into waves that were much larger than usual. He became a worldwide legend when he surfed almost a mile on a wave about 10 meters high off Hawaii.

During his travels, the Hawaiian pursued both of his talents and never lost sight of his passion for swimming. He regularly won medals at the Olympic Games, for example in Antwerp/Belgium in 1920 or in Paris/France in 1924. During these successes, surfing developed into an international water sport in society and became popular worldwide. Because of his talents in both water sports, Duke was the first personality to be inducted into the Hall of Fame for talents in both swimming and surfing.

Duke Kahanamoku - His life apart from surfing and Olympic victories

Becoming known worldwide through his masterful swimming and surfing successes, Duke opened many other doors. Between the ages of 30 and 40, he appeared in 28 Hollywood films. He met his future wife Nadine Alexander from Ohio in 1940 in the USA and married her at the age of 50. It was a childless, but still glamorous marriage. In 1952, Duke took a position as a lifeguard. The right choice as it would turn out. He saved the lives of eight sailors in Corona Del Mar on Newport Beach in California during a shipwreck that occurred on rough seas in high swells. He paddled his surfboard back and forth several times between the beach and the scene of the accident, and the police chief of the region at the time described his actions as a supernatural rescue operation with the surfboard.

Duke was a very diverse personality. He was employed as Sheriff of Honolulu from 1932 to 1961 after his heroic successes in surfing and swimming and he also left his footprints in Hawaiian politics. He became an official ambassador in 1959 with Hawaii's designation as the 50th state of the United States.

Duke hat ein Leben voller ‚Aloha‘ gelebt und starb am 22.01.1968 im Alter von 77 Jahren. Ein schwerer Schlag für die hawaiianische Bevölkerung. Dukes Asche wurde in die Wellen von Waikiki geworfen und um den Helden Hawaiis nicht in Vergessenheit geraten zu lassen, wurde ihm zu Ehren eine Bronzestatue errichtet. Mit offenen Armen heißt die Statue Besucher am Kuhio Beach in Waikiki Willkommen und erinnert an die großartigen Leistungen des Duke Kahanamoku. Ihm zu Ehren gibt es auch die in den 1950er Jahren errichtete Duke Kahanamoku Lagoon. Eine künstliche, wunderschön angelegte Lagune, welche sich auf dem Areal des Hilton Hotels direkt am Meer am Waikiki Beach befindet. Die Lagune ist für alle Besucher zugänglich und kann kostenfrei genutzt werden.

Who would have thought that?

• He danced the hula with the first Queen Elizabeth of England.
• Duke's first surfboard was made from the wood of the kao tree and weighed about 50 kilograms. Even when there were more advanced surfboards in later years, he remained faithful to his usual board.
• He was a gifted ukulele player.
• He survived brain surgery without any consequential damage.

More heroes of surfing from Hawaii

Duke Kahanamoku was a hero of his time and is still a role model in many areas. But over the years there were other surfers who were always looking for the perfect wave and still are.

• Eddie Aikau or Edward Ryon Makuahanai Aikau as his full name was, was also a Hawaiian, he dropped out of school and became the most influential surfer in the world after Duke. In his honour, the Eddie Aikau Invitational Surf Contest is held annually in Hawaii.
• Gerry Lopez aka Mr Pipeline came from Hawaii just like Duke and Eddie and had surfing in his blood from childhood. He scored a win in the Pipeline Masters Contest and is still celebrated as an absolute genius in the Pipeline.