Duke Paoa Kahinu Mokoe Hulikohola Kahanamoku (August 24, 1890 – January 22, 1968) was an American competition swimmer of ethnic Hawaiian background who was also known as an actor, lawman, early beach volleyball player and businessman credited with spreading the sport of surfing. Kahanamoku was a five-time Olympic medalist in swimming.His birthplace is disputed with many sources stating Haleakalā on Maui or Waikiki on Oahu. According to Kahanamoku, 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 to help support the family.
"Duke" was not a title or a nickname, but a given name. He was named after his father, Duke Halapu Kahanamoku, who was christened by Bernice Pauahi Bishop in honor of Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, who was visiting Hawaii at the time. 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 became a household name due to his swimming feats, many people assumed he was of Hawaiian royalty. It was assumed by many that he was a duke and that it was his title. He was a very modest and unassuming man who got a chuckle of being thought of as royalty and never hesitated to set the record straight about his lineage.
Although not of the Hawaiian Royal Family, his parents were from prominent Hawaiian families; the Kahanamoku and the Paoa clans were considered to be lower-ranking chiefs or nobles, who were of service to the aliʻi nui or royalty. His paternal grandparents were Kahanamoku and grandmother, Kapiolani Kaoeha, a descendant of King Alapainui. They were kahu, retainers and trusted advisors of the Kamehamehas, to whom they were related. His maternal grandparents Paoa, son of Paoa Hoolae and Hiikaalani, and Mele Uliama were also of chiefly descent. Growing up on the outskirts of Waikiki, Kahanamoku spent his youth as a bronzed beach boy. At Waikiki Beach 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 (4.9 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, Kahanamoku was timed at 55.4 seconds in the 100 yards (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 (200 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.
