(August 24, 1890-January 22, 1968)
Born in Honolulu, Hawaii
Birth name was Duke Paoa Kahinu Mokoe Hulikohola Kahanamoku
Won Olympic gold medals in the 100 meter freestyle (1912,1920) and 4x200 meter freestyle relay (1920)
Won silver medals in 4x200 meter freestyle relay (1912) and 100 meter freestyle (1924)
Appeared in 28 films
Inducted into the Swimming Hall of Fame, Surfing Hall of Fame and US Olympic Hall of Fame

His full name was extremely long.
He dropped out of high school.
At a meet in Honolulu harbor (August 11, 1911), he set records in the 50-yard, 100-yard and 220-yard freestyle, but the Amateur Athletic Union refused to recognize the records, claiming he must have been aided by ocean currents.
He and the other American swimmers missed the semi-finals at the 1912 Olympics, but were allowed to take part in an extra heat to qualify for the finals.
He was typecast as a native chief in his movies.

At the 1924 Olympics, he told rival Johnny Weissmuller, 'The most important thing in this race is to get the American flag up there three times'; they did it, with Weissmuller winning the gold, Duke the silver and Duke's brother Sam the bronze.
When a yacht capsized in Newport Beach, California, he used his surfboard to rescue eight people (June 14, 1925).
He was called 'the father of modern surfing' and 'Surfer' magazine named him most influential surfer of the 20th century.
He was sheriff of Honolulu for 30 years (1932-61).
He was depicted on a US postage stamp (2002).

Credit: C. Fishel

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