Who is Duke Kahanamoku? What did he do? Duke Kahanamoku is well-known worldwide for being a Hawaiian athlete who has competed in the Olympics for 22 years. Duke A Great Hawaiian is a biography by Sandra Kimberley Hall about Duke Kahanamoku’s life and achievements. Duke Kahanamoku was an Olympian, Hollywood actor, Honolulu’s official greeter, and sheriff. He always showed aloha to everyone, despite how different they were from him. Duke Kahanamoku is known internationally because he reformed swimming, shared the art of surfing with the world, and embraced the spirit of aloha towards people of all different backgrounds, ethnicities, and, ideals. Duke Kahanamoku changed how swimming was performed and broke several world records as a result. Growing …show more content…
Duke Kahanamoku is a quiet, lovely, agreeable and easygoing person. He made sure to share his aloha with everyone around him. He embraced aloha in many different ways. He was able to become friends with many different people, like with his friendship with Johnny Weissmuller. In Duke A Great Hawaiian it says, “He and Duke, whose throne he usurped, became lifelong friends, which rarely happens in any sport.” (Hall, 2004 p. 57). Despite them being pitted against each other in competition, they were able to become very close friends. Duke was the embodiment of aloha, to the point where “He was Honolulu’s official greeter, a post he held since 1961.”(Kahn, 2015, p.1). He was recognized for his endless amount of aloha, which he kept on giving. Nevertheless, Duke Kahanamoku changed the way swimming was done, he taught surfing to many people around the world and he embraced aloha in his day-to-day life. He is no longer with us. He will forever be remembered for the impact he had in swimming, surfing, and, his aloha. He set several records in swimming, he taught many people how to surf and he was a good-natured person who shared aloha with all of those he