Duke Kahanamoku

by KB

Have you ever heard of Duke Kahanamoku? He was known as The Big Kahuna and the father of modern surfing. Duke Kahanamoku had royalty in his blood, love for the water, and brought modern surfing to the world. Today I’m going to talk about his childhood, then move on to his career, after that I will talk about his later life. I hope that you enjoy hearing about a surfing legend. 

Duke Kahanamoku was born near Waikiki, Hawaii on August 24, 1890. Duke Kahanamoku’s mom and dad were born in Hawaii and have royal lineage, same as his siblings. "Duke" was not a title or a nickname, but a given name. He was named after his father, Duke Halapu Kahanamoku.  Duke had 3 sisters and 5 brothers; he was the oldest child of the 9. Duke and his brothers competed with each other with surfing and swimming before joining the Olympics. Duke was in the Olympics he played for the U.S. and set 3 world records in swimming.  

In the Olympics between 1912 to 1924 he won 3 gold and 2 silver medals in swimming. In between the Olympics he traveled the world and did swimming exhibitions and brought surfing to the world. 

After the Olympics, Duke lived in California and marred Nadine Alexander. He was also a lifeguard and is credited for saving many lives with his surfboard.  He helped establish and make popular surfing and surfing competitions, which is why he is called The Father of Modern Surfing.  He moved back to Hawaii and became the sheriff and military polices. He died on January 22, 1968, from a heart attack and was buried at sea.  Several countries erected statues and monuments of Duke in memory of him. 

Well, I hope you enjoyed hearing about Duke Kahanamoku. I thought he was an amazing person.  

‘My Heart Went Pitty-Pat’ | Images of Old Hawaiʻi ‘My Heart Went Pitty-Pat’, 

Ka’iwakiloumoku’, the Duke Kahanamoku  

Duke Kahanamoku | Biography, Olympics, & Facts | Britannica Britannica 

Duke Kahanamoku one of World's Greatest Athletes 

The Duke Kahanamoku Story – Duke Kahanamoku 

Duke Strikes Olympic Gold - Ka‘iwakīloumoku - Hawaiian Cultural Center 

Eddie Aikau

 

By Joey 

         Your about to find out about the coolest surfer, the man who saved 500 people, the real Poseidon. His name is Eddie Aikau. He was born on May 4th, 1946, in Kahului Maui as the third child of his family. They were living poorly on the streets. As a kid he loved surfing and he surfed anytime he could and sometimes even Dearing school. When he was old enough, he got a job at a pineapple factory and as soon as he could he bought his own surfboard. He lived on Oahu Island, the third largest island in Hawaii. After that he got his first job as a lifeguard, and he covered the whole north side of the island. Eddie saved over 500 people as a lifeguard without letting anyone die at all. He was saving people in 25-foot waves. He died on March 12th at 32 years old. 

 

One day he joined a reenactment crew to go on the journey taken by Polynesian migrants between the Hawaiian and Tahitian islands. They would go in a wooden boat navigating by the sun and stars. Soon they hit a giant storm. The boat flipped over, and they were in the water. Eddie volunteered to swim to shore. Luckily, they had a surfboard, so he used that as a raft, and he took off his life jacket because it was too clunky. The others were rescued. There was a search crew looking for Eddie, but he was never seen again. Scientists think that the waves got up to 50 feet in that storm. 

 

To this day, Hawaii holds a surfing computation called The Eddie every year to celebrate Eddie Aikau. Only the top surfers in the world do it because they only hold it when the waves are about 20 to 40 feet tall. They include Denten Miyamura, Keown Downing, Clyde Aikau, Bruce Irons, Noah Johnsen, Kelly Slater, and Ross Clarke. Eddie could not be stopped and even the greatest people looked up to him.