A Very Brief History Of Duke Kahanamoku In Hawaii

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Duke Kahanamoku was an Olympic surfer from Hawaii, he was born August 24, 1890 in the Kalia District of Honolulu. Kahanamoku introduced surfing to the world after it almost died out with other local Hawaiian traditions in the nineteenth century. European people came to Hawaii around 1778 and adored the traditions of the native people and quickly joined in riding the waves on flat boards. Christian missionaries later had the local Hawaiians believe that surfing was uncivilized and tried to ban the sport. Disease it the island with great power, taking the population rom 300,000 to 40,000 in 1893. “That year the islands were plunged into upheaval when pineapple grower Sanford Dole used American military forces to overthrow the governing Hawaiian monarchy under Queen Liliuokalani. Dole established a republic on the islands in 1894 and in 1900 all Hawaiians were made United States citizens.” (Encyclopedia) …show more content…

Even though he came from a privilege family, his life was untouched by the political issues during that time. Kahanamoku focused on surfing and swimming while in high school. In 1991 the amateur he the 100 yard freestyle with 55.4 seconds. The previous record was 50 seconds. AAU officials could not believe how fast of a swimmer he was, they claimed that the courses irregularities must have helped it set all of his records. He quickly set his sights on the Us Men’s Swimming Team. Kahanamoku was an Olympic medalist 4 times.

Here is a list of his awards and accomplishments:

1911 Gold medal, Amateur Athletic Union, 100-yard freestyle swimming
1912 Olympic gold medal, 100-meter freestyle swimming; silver medal,
Freestyle relay swimming
1920 Olympic gold medal, 100-meter freestyle swimming; gold medal,
800-meter freestyle relay swimming
1924 Olympic silver medal, 100-meter freestyle swimming
1965 Inducted into International Swimming Hall of Fame
1966 Inducted into Surfing Hall of

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