Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 29, Number 7, 1 July 2012 — Remembering Duke at the 1912 Olympics [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Remembering Duke at the 1912 Olympics

By Kathy Muneno

Acentury ago, a 21-year-old Native Hawaiian boarded a ship on the U.S. east coast, took a transatlantic voyage to Stockholm, Sweden, and within months his name was known the world over. Duke Paoa Kahanamoku eamed the title of the fastest swimmer in the world and became the first Native Hawaiian to win a gold medal at the 01ympics. The year was 1912. Only a year prior he had broken the world record by almost 5 seconds in a 100-yard freestyle amateur swimmeet in Honolulu Harbor. But according to the International Swimming Hall of Fame, no one would believe it. The "times were so unbelievable that the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU), headquartered in New York, refused to recognize them" even though there were reports showing the course was carefully measured before and after the race, there was a registered surveyor present, the swimmers were swimming against the tide and Kahanamoku's nearest competitor was 30 feet behind. The AAU wasn't satisfied until Kahanamoku went to the mainland and proved himself against athletes there. In addition to the gold, Kahanamoku took home a silver medal in 1912 for the men's 4 x 200-meter freestyle relay. That medal is now on display at the Smithsonian's Nahonal Museum of the American Indian, in an ongoing exhibit called "Best in the World: Native Athletes in the 01ympics." Announcing the exhibit, whieh runs through Sept. 3 in Washington, D.C., the Smithsonian said: "A eentury later, the National Museum of the American Indian celebrates the legacy of the 1912 teamand the path they paved for future generations of Native American athletes ... who have provided some of the most dramatic moments in 01ympic history." Dramatic indeed. Because the 1916 01ympic Games were canceled

due to World War I, Kahanamoku was 29 the next time he competed in the 01ympics, in Antwerp, Belgium. There, at the 1920 01ympics Kahanamoku had to win the gold medal in the 100-meter freestyle - twice. "The Australians protested his first win saying their man had been boxed (in by another swimmer), so the Duke had to win it again," says the International Swimming Hall of Fame. "Australia was fourth with Hawaiians first, second and third." That's right, while Kahanamoku took home the gold again, Kamehameha graduate Pua Kealoha took home the silver in that race and William White "Bill" Harris Jr. from Hawai'i took the bronze. Kahanamoku, Kealoha and Kealoha's younger brother Warren were also on the team that won gold for the 4 x 200-meter freestyle relay race in 1920. Warren Kealoha, only 16 at the time, also took home the gold in the 100-meter backstroke. He went on to win again in the 1924 01ympics in Paris, France, making him the first person to take gold in two consecutive 01ympics in any

stroke other than freestyle. By then Duke Kahanamoku was 33 years old, and at the 1924 01ympics he won the silver medal for the 100meter freestyle. A 20-year-old Johnny Weissmuller won gold, and right behind Kahanamoku was his younger brother Samuel Alapai Kahanamoku. Sam Kahanamoku's bronze medal and photos are also on display at the Smithsonian exhibit. Patty Kahana-moku-Teruya was among the special guests invited for its grand opening. She says it was a breathtaking and chicken-skin evening. Other native athletes and family members of Native American 01ympic athletes talked of how "Unele Duke showed his strength by his humbleness and kindness to others," she recalls. "These are the stories of what was shared that evening by the other athletes who knew him. A giving, kind, strong man with so mueh compassion and love, and the ceremony was just that type of atmosphere." Duke Kahanamoku married at age 50 and his wife, Nadine, wore his gold medal on her charm bracelet, recalls Nadine's longtime personal assistant Earl Maikahikinapamaikalā Tenn, who was also an invited guest at the Smithsonian exhibit opening. Tenn said it wasn't until she was given a duplicate bracelet from the television show This Is Your Life that the medal was placed in safekeeping. The Smithsonian showed Kahanamoku's This Is YourLife footage daily during the month of June. In the show, he was joined by seven of his siblings, Weissmuller and three of the eight survivors that Kahanamoku rescued from a boat that capsized off Newport Beach, Califomia. Kahanamoku had been on his surfboard and shuttled the boaters to shore. As grand as his 01ympic career was, Duke Kahanamoku's medals were a fraction of his legacy. ■

KathyMutienoisaweekeudweather anchor and reporterfor KHON2.

EVENTS H0N0RING PUKE KAHANAMOKU

> Exhibit: "Best in the World: Native Athletes in the Olympics" 0ngoingthough Sept. 3 Smithsonian's National Museum of the Ameiiean inelian, Washington, D.C. > Celebration of the 1 00th anniversary of the first gold medal for Hawai'i 6-10 a.m. July 10 Duke Kahanamoku statue, Waikiki Features hula, music and lei draping > Duke's OceanFest Aug. 18-26 lncludes an oeean mile swim in Waikiki and mueh more. oceanfest.dukefoundation.org

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Throughout his Olympic swimming career, Duke Kahanamoku - seen here at the 1920 Olympicsin Belgiumwould win five medals, including two golds. He also was a medalist as a memher of the water polo teamin 1932. - Courtesy: Amiean Stock/ Getty lmages