Today is the 125th anniversary of the birth of Duke Kahanamoku and today’s Google doodle honors him. He was a champion swimmer, in his heyday said to be without equal in the water. He won three Olympic gold medals, one in 1912 and two in 1920. In 1924 he took a silver medal to Johnny Weissmuller’s gold. He was 34 at the time.
He did more than anyone else to popularize the sport of surfing. He used a traditional olo board: 16 feet long, 114 lb. Not a board for weaklings.
He was an extremely handsome man of typically native Hawaiian type and appeared in bit parts in several movies. You can catch a glimpse of Duke in the latest of them Wake of the Red Witch in 1948 and Mr. Roberts in 1955.
