Thursday, July 29, 1999
Duke Kahanamoku is selected
By Greg Ambrose
by Surfer Magazine as the
Surfer of the Century
Special to the Star-BulletinDUKE Kahanamoku achieved his greatest fame as an Olympic swimmer, and many people reckon that his best talent was as an outrigger canoe steersman.
But Kahanamoku continues to touch lives decades after his death through his surfing. Much has changed since Kahanamoku rode the waves of Waikiki on regal 16-foot surfboards at the turn of the century. Generations of surfers have learned to surf in those same waves, and these days young surfers are performing tricks that Kahanamoku never dreamed of.
And now, a new honor has been bestowed to show that the attributes that caused Kahanamoku to be known as the father of modern surfing for more than a half century are appreciated by the current generation of wave riders.
In a special edition, Surfer magazine has named Duke Kahanamoku Surfer of the Century."You better believe he deserves it. Finally," said Nanakuli's Momi Keaulana, mother of three-time world longboard champion Rusty Keaulana.
"For all he has done, it's nice to give him the recognition, because he was a beautiful man. Whether he went to see the queen of England or the king of Sweden, he was still the same person when he came back. He exemplifies what being a Hawaiian is: generous, and humble."
Because the past century has seen tumultuous changes in the ancient Hawaiian sport of surfing, the choice wasn't easy.
"I can't pick a surfer of the century, because so much has happened," says former world longboard champion Bonga Perkins, of Waialua.
"You have (former world shortboard champions) Kelly Slater, Tom Curren, Tom Carroll, others that surf really good and have done a lot for the sport. But being that Duke is the man, the myth, the legend, that is proper that he was selected.
"I would love to meet him or surf with him, I'm just a few generations too late. But you can practice all the same things he practiced, like to surf with aloha."In the end, it was the style with which Kahanamoku moved through life rather than his style of riding waves that earned this most recent honor.
"No matter what he did, he spread aloha, and everybody absorbed that," says Waikiki beachboy and champion surfer Rabbit Kekai. "He took me under his wing and taught me all kinds of stuff. Duke rode a 16-foot redwood board, and he could catch anything, even tiny little waves.
But he gave waves away.
"Even though he could catch anything, he would let people go. He would wait for the big ones, and when he would start to go, nobody would move. He commanded a lot of respect."
Anona Napoleon of Palolo Valley has fond memories of sharing the waves with Kahanamoku.
"He really would let you catch the wave. He was on his redwood plank, and all of us would let him go, and he would say, 'No, no, there are a lot of waves, you catch one.' If he could do that with us teens, he was like that with everybody.
"He was a really true Hawaiian ambassador. He had that aloha spirit that we want to see, but he was the epitome of it."
