Duke Kahanamoku - Early Years

Early Years

The name Duke is not a title, but a given name. He was named after his father, Duke Halapu Kahanamoku, who was christened Duke by Bernice Pauahi Bishop in honor of Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, who was visiting Hawaii at the time of the elder man's birth in 1869. The younger Duke, as eldest son, inherited the name. His father was a policeman. His mother Julia Paʻakonia Lonokahikina Paoa was a deeply religious woman with a strong sense of family ancestry. When Duke's name became a household name due to his swimming feats, many people thought he was of Hawaiian royalty because of his name. It was assumed by many folks that he actually was a Duke and that it was his royal title. Duke who was a very modest and unassuming man, always got a chuckle of being thought of as royalty and never hesitated to set the record straight about his lineage. But both his parents were from prominent Hawaiian families; the Kahanamoku and the Paoa clans were considered to be kaukaualiʻis, lower-ranking chiefs or nobles, who were of service to the aliʻi nui or royalty. His grandfather Kahanamoku and grandmother Kapiolani Kaoeha were kahu, retainers and trusted advisors of the Kamehamehas. His birthplace is disputed with many different sources stating Haleakalā on Maui or Waikiki on Oahu, but according to Kahanamoku himself, he stated he was born at Honolulu at Haleʻākala, the home of Bernice Pauahi Bishop which was later converted into the Arlington Hotel. He had five brothers and three sisters, including Samuel Kahanamoku. In 1893, the family moved to Kālia, Waikiki (near the present site of the Hilton Hawaiian Village), to be closer to his mother's parents and family. Duke grew up with his siblings and 31 Paoa cousins. Duke attended the Waikiki Grammar School, Kaahumanu School, and the Kamehameha Schools, although he never graduated because he had quit school to help support the family.

Growing up on the outskirts of Waikiki, Kahanamoku spent his youth as a bronzed beach boy. It was at Waikiki Beach where he developed his surfing and swimming skills. In his youth, Kahanamoku preferred a traditional surf board, which he called his "papa nui", constructed after the fashion of ancient Hawaiian "olo" boards. Made from the wood of a koa tree, it was 16 feet (4.8 m) long and weighed 114 pounds (52 kg). The board was without a skeg, which had yet to be invented. In his later career, he would often use smaller boards, but always preferred those made of wood.

On August 11, 1911, in an amateur swim meet, Kahanamoku was timed at 55.4 seconds in the 100 yard (91 m) freestyle, beating the existing world record by 4.6 seconds, in the salt water of Honolulu Harbor. He also broke the record in the 220 yd (201 m) and equaled it in the 50 yd (46 m), but the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU), in disbelief, would not recognize these feats until many years later. The AAU initially claimed that the judges must have been using alarm clocks rather than stopwatches, and later claimed that ocean currents aided Kahanamoku.