All language subtitles for Waterman - Duke, Ambassador of Aloha [American Masters S36E03] (2022)

♪♪

-Good evening, everybody,

and welcome to
"This Is Your Life."

Now, believe it or not,
but tonight's subject

is actually on our stage for
"This Is Your Life" right now.

In fact, he's looking over a
setting familiar to our subject

who thinks he's going
to make a film travelog

based on his native Hawaii.

And the audience has been told
to keep very quiet.

All right.
Let's walk into the studio

and pull our surprise right now.

Here we go.
- Gee, whiz.

-They got it really fixed up
around here, haven't they?

No, no. I'm doing a show
in the studio tonight.

As a matter of fact,
I'm doing it right now.

Yeah, I'm doing it right now.

And you're a very important
part of it.

-You go ahead right along now.

-Because, Duke Kahanamoku,
this is your life.

[ Applause ]

-A brown-skinned man
being celebrated

on national television.

When you come across something
that is just so genuine

and so good,

you can't help but drop whatever
you think you know about people.

He changed lives
just by being who he was.

- You betcha.
- He was a very quiet,

shy, humble man.

He didn't like to be
in the forefront.

-Only United States swimmer

to have participated
in five Olympic Games.

-People talked about Jim Thorpe,
Jesse Owens, Jack Johnson.

And lost in the shuffle is
Duke's role as a racial pioneer.

-Duke was one of the
world's greatest athletes

in the 20th century.

You know, I don't care
what your opinion is.

Name some other American athlete

that had statues erected to them
in three different countries.

-He is a smile.
He is arms wide open.

Statuesque athlete of aloha.

-I don't know if the average
person knows who

Duke Kahanamoku is, but to us,
he's the king of surfing.

-Duke showed his aloha

by spreading surfing
around the world.

Look at the tree of surfing...
Wakeboarding,

snowboarding, skateboarding.
Every board sport in the world

is stemmed
from this Polynesian sport.

-You alone, Duke,
saved the lives of eight...

-He rescued so many people.

Lifesaving wasn't
a profession back then.

-Well, that's a long story.

-Yeah.
[ Laughter ]

-He's a real renaissance man.

I mean, a whole new sport,
breaking records

in another sport,
playing music and,

like, sharing the aloha spirit
with people around the world.

He was the ambassador of aloha.
He used his platform to do good.

-A Hawaiian to the end.

The amount of pride that he was
able to give to his people.

He was one of the biggest
celebrities in the world.

-I think for anyone to have
that pressure

of being the first Polynesian
to go around the world,

kind of introducing
your culture,

that would be a heavy burden.

♪♪

-Because Duke was such
a cool figure

and had so much aloha,
maybe we don't understand.

It was probably much
more difficult than we assume.

-This is your life,
Duke Kahanamoku,

world champion athlete, a living
legend whose love of people

represents the true spirit
of your beloved island.

♪♪

-Samoans, Tongans, Hawaiians,
and many of us live

in the Polynesian Triangle.

[ Ship horn blares ]

-Hawaiians have developed
different island kingdoms here

amongst the chains.

-In the 1700s,

warring chiefs initiated
one of the bloodiest periods

of Hawaiian history.

Which one of the chiefs

would unite the islands
and the people?

-King Kamehameha
brought wars to an end,

uniting all of Hawaii
under his control

and creating a kingdom

recognized and respected
around the world.

-King Kamehameha's son ordered
all of the temples

to be destroyed
and religious images burned.

-That was 2,000 years of law.

-It was just poof,
gone overnight.

This opened the door
to missionaries

because Hawaii had no religion.

-Their sons and grandsons went
into the sugarcane business.

-Their economic power

ensured that their influence
in the kingdom increased.

-The Hawaiian kingdom's cabinet
was filled

with very corrupt businessmen.

-Queen Lili'uokalani tried to
restore power to the monarchy.

-They saw this
as an act of revolution.

♪♪

President Grover Cleveland
called for the restoration of

the Hawaiian government.

-Congress rejected
that recommendation.

-There was active suppression
of the speaking

and teaching
of the Hawaiian language.

-Forbidden to teach
esoteric law,

forbidden to teach hula.

-As our old people died and
the young forgot our language,

we lost resources for passing on

our history
through oral tradition.

-Hawaiians were in danger of
becoming extinct,

a minority in their own country.

♪♪

-Water flowing beach to beach,
continent to continent,

connecting the world,
a power unmatched on the Earth.

Offering an abundance of life
to the wise

and a swift death to the unwary.

Its vast expanse so dizzying
that throughout history

it had been seen as a border
from the rest of the world.

But for the Hawaiian watermen

in that seemingly
endless barrier of water,

they saw roadways
connecting to other lands.

In the deep where most
would fear drowning,

they saw a provider for life.

And when surrounded
by some of the most imposing

and towering giants
unleashed into the sea,

a waterman found a way to play.

♪♪

For the waterman, shaping
a surfboard is a sacred event.

Choosing the tree,
shaping the wood,

these were part of bringing
the spirit

of what was in the wood out.

They weren't just
making a board.

They were creating new life.

Generations of knowledge and
practice poured into a board

so they could provide food
for their people

and become one with the wave.

Yet by the time Duke
was born in 1890,

the practices
and traditions of Hawaii,

including the ways
of the watermen,

were dying as the world
modernized.

-He was raised in the climate
of that whole change.

And I think it was only natural
then for him to turn to

the ocean where Hawaiians

can still have
that cultural affiliation,

this cultural association
with being Hawaiian.

-It's our place of meditation
pretty much,

and just being at peace
and happiness all at once.

-The ocean is our church.

The ocean is our school.

The ocean is our workplace,
you know?

-At 14, Duke Kahanamoku
left the school

that refused his traditions
and denied his language

and instead embraced
his kuleana,

his responsibility
to breathe life to the old ways,

to master the ultimate
Hawaiian tradition.

Becoming a waterman.

-He felt as a Hawaiian
that he should keep that alive

and bring it back to Hawaiian
and make them proud.

-You know, his father taught
him how to dive and fish

and surf and sail
and paddle and swim.

-This is what we're supposed
to know.

Just how to take care
of ourselves, how to find food,

how to build boards,
for example, whatever,

the thing that was part of
who we are traditionally.

-A waterman is someone who can
do everything in the water

and sometimes the most
dangerous elements

that the ocean can offer for not
only fun, for not only food,

but then also to keep it

well-preserved
for the next generation.

-As a kid in Hawaii, you wanted
to be a waterman,

and the Duke was
the "Big Kahuna."

-As Duke focused on becoming
a true waterman,

mastering ancient Hawaiian
skills and practices,

he was also cultivating
what he felt

was one of the most
important philosophies

and teaching
of the Hawaiian culture.

-We got in a conversation
one day and I said,

"What do you think the most
important Hawaiian word is?"

And he says,
"Without question, 'aloha.'"

-To most, "aloha" simply means
"hello" or "goodbye."

But to the Hawaiians, the spirit
of aloha is a way of being.

-When we take "aloha"
and if you broke it down,

the "alo" is to face one another

and the "ha" comes from here.

It's in your na'au, your piko,
your heart,

whatever you want to say,
but it's sharing your spirit

because we all have
a spirit, right?

And that spirit is what you
share with that person.

You give that freely of
yourself.

-Duke understood that "aloha"
is not a salutation

or a word of greeting
or goodbye.

Aloha was a lifestyle.

-It's pretty much everything.
It's just how we live our life.

It's just everything we do,
we should have aloha with it.

Aloha I feel like
best relates to love.

-That's how it was taught from
from the beach, at the house,

wherever you were at
is that you have to have aloha.

If you don't have aloha,
then [Scoffs] you're not alive.

-And Duke's aloha spirit
would be tried early on.

When the first American athletic
club was created in Hawaii,

it brought something
that was completely foreign

to the Hawaiian way
of life... segregation.

-When the Outriggers formed,
it took its model from

the mainland and from England
and other places

where you're not going to
have the working class.

It was also whites only.

So Duke is not an original
member of the Outrigger Club.

He's not allowed to join.

-Yet the first issue
of
Mid-Pacific Magazine,

created by the club's founder,
Alexander Hume Ford,

to promote sports in Hawaii

featured a statuesque surfing
Duke on the cover.

The club was clearly confident
about Duke.

He was their role model.

-Duke was then embraced
by everyone to be part

of that elite club,
but he was the teacher.

I'm sure that Duke was taken
advantage of a lot in his life

because of how kind he was.

But Duke being the Hawaiian
he is and was,

he just smiled and moved on.

Duke's brothers came
to Duke and said,

"We're going to start
our own club

and we're calling it Hui Nalu
to surf the waves."

-And it was mixed.
There were Hawaiians, haole,

hapa haoles,
and there were also women.

I think that's in its own way
a better counter

or a more...
You know, a smarter counter.

And then they started competing
against Outrigger Canoe Club.

I'm assuming there
was animosity,

but with the love
the Hawaiian people have,

the Hawaiians were actually
teaching them how to surf,

teaching them
how to steer a canoe,

teaching them how
to catch a wave.

♪♪

-What, Duke?

-I didn't think I'd ever get on
this program.

-You never believed you'd be
on this program.

Let's tell the story,
ladies and gentlemen,

of a little Hawaiian boy
who became

the most famous swimmer
in the world.

-At this time,
Duke was actually more fond

of rowing than he was
of swimming.

I know because I rode
against him in many races.

-Yeah, the voice
of an old competitor, Duke,

one of your closest friends,
George "Dad" Center,

world-famous swimming...

[ Applause ]

If Duke was more interested
in rowing,

how did he become
the world's best-known swimmer?

-Well, after we practiced
rowing, the various crews

would engage in swimming races
and Duke would always win.

-August 12, 1911,

was an important date for Duke,
wasn't it, Dad?

-Yes. It was the very first time

Duke entered
a formal swimming meet.

-This was the first time

the prestigious
Amateur Athletic Union

would hold a race
on the islands.

So for the Hawaiian elites,
this was an opportunity

to finally be recognized
by the rest of the country.

But for Duke, he was just there
to have some fun.

-You know, you don't know.
You got no idea.

They lived down here.

They fished, they surfed,
they kayaked.

It was not like they went out
there to swim races.

So now they tell somebody,

"I want you to swim
against this guy."

"Well, what for?"
"Let's see how fast he is."

"Swim as fast as you can
over there."

"Oh, okay. Whatever." You know?

A waterman, he's going
to be playing in the water.

♪♪

-This is not a time period
in which people are groomed

from childhood
to be Olympic stars.

That hadn't happened yet.

So Duke innately
has the swimming talent.

Plus, he's got a body that
will work well for swimming.

-That's exactly what it was.
It's natural for him.

And so when he jumped in
and swam,

he had to swim faster
than himself.

It wasn't about
the other person.

I don't think he ever thought
anything about it.

He just had to be faster
than himself.

♪♪

-It's his home turf. I mean,
he knew those waters better

than pretty much
any person alive.

And it was about,
"I'm going to beat these guys."

♪♪

-The timers couldn't believe
their stopwatches

because they showed
that he had shattered

the world record not by
fractions, but by whole seconds.

-Duke swam 100 yards
in 55 and 2 tenths seconds,

and the world's record
was 1 minute flat.

-There were two races that day.

Duke didn't just break
both records.

He shattered them.

Hawaiians came into this excited
for national recognition,

but Duke gave them
the world's spotlight.

-We're talking seconds
in a race that takes seconds

and literally in a minute
and a half,

he changed
the direction of his life.

He was now on the world stage,

even though the world
wasn't ready for him.

-Most people don't believe it,
and they're like,

"Ha, what is this?
Who is this brown guy?

And the currents must have been
helping him or the weather.

There's no way
this is legitimate."

It's so... It's so abbreviated
from what the existing records

are that once the information
gets back to the U.S. mainland,

people say, "No, no, no, no, no,
that can't be possible.

This guy couldn't have done it.

He couldn't have done it
that quickly."

-They didn't believe
that it was possible.

They never heard of this guy.

They couldn't pronounce
his name.

They refused to accept
Duke's world records.

-They presume, "Well, you don't
really know how the tides work.

You don't really know
how to deal with a stopwatch."

I mean, that's... it's
just plain insult.

Duke was used to being treated

as a second-class citizen,
being Hawaiian.

What the AAU did was a slap
in the face

to all of Hawaii, Hawaiians,
haole, et cetera.

And here you had the haole
powerhouses in Hawaii

very proud of the fact that they
were able to put on an AAU meet.

The reaction was,
"You don't count.

You're just Hawaii, and you
don't know what you're doing."

-The AAU left open
the possibility

that if Duke would compete
against their best swimmers,

they would be interested
in seeing him perform.

But not in Hawaii.

-They've got to do it again
to confirm

that Duke
really can swim that fast.

There are no corporate
sponsorships.

And to get from the Hawaiian
Islands to North America

and then all the way
across the Atlantic to Europe

means a lot of money.

-What happened?
The people came to his rescue.

They held baseball games.
They held dances.

They did any kind of fundraiser
they could.

They gave quarters and dollars,
whatever they could.

-Not just Hawaiians,
but haole, Asian, Philippine.

-Sometimes it was at the level
of a Chinese laundry person

giving a dollar.

He would never have become
an Olympian

except for people giving.

♪♪

-There's a collective pride
in the accomplishments

of somebody from where you are,
and it's again,

it's not just strictly Hawaiians
who are doing it.

It's a local community
gathering together

to help send him on his way
so he can do what he can do.

♪♪

-On February 8th of 1912,

Duke, along with two
other swimmers,

embarked for the mainland,

leaving Hawaii
for the first time in his life.

It was a two-week
journey by boat

and then train to Pittsburgh
where he was scheduled to race.

-It's cold.
He sees snow for the first time.

He travels across this
immeasurably big continent.

-He never experienced snow.
You know, all that is foreign.

-Traveling across the vast
continent,

something else would have
offered Duke a chilly reception.

Racial segregation,
the antithesis of aloha.

It had only been 50 years
since the Civil War,

and it would be another 50 years
before the Civil Rights Act.

-The USA at that time
was still very segregated.

There were laws keeping
dark-skinned people separate

from light-skinned people.

-There's a saying in Hawaiian.

"Mahape a ale wala'au."

It means "Don't talk.
Keep it in your heart."

For some, not being allowed
in would breed resentment.

But for Duke, "Mahape a ale
wala'au" was a way of life.

As a man of color,
whatever unease he felt,

Duke likely kept it all
in his heart.

♪♪

-The pressure was on him because
the American chants

were disdainful of him.

He was a native from Hawaii.
Where the heck was Hawaii?

-He's dark-skinned, and Duke was
not a physically small person.

-And his hands and his feet
were so big,

they dwarfed my hand.

It would just disappear
whenever I shook his hand.

-And he had size 13-plus feet.

What he had on
was paddles and fins.

It wasn't some chopsticks
he was dipping into the water.

He was dipping
some major blades.

-He was supposed to be
the unofficial world champion,

having broken the other person's
record by 4 seconds.

-He's a fish out of water,
almost literally.

You've got a two-week journey
from Hawaii

to a little pool in a club
in Pittsburgh,

which was filled
with cigar smoke,

fans yelling
and pointing at you, in a sense,

all of them looking
at him saying,

"Prove it, prove it.
What do you got?"

And by the way,
for the first time in your life,

you're going to swim indoors.

That's what Duke had to overcome
to be the best.

♪♪

-Our blood is thin
because of the warm water.

And I think when Duke jumped in,
it was a shock to the body.

And not just to the body,
but to the mind.

-The water was different
for him.

He never swam in a pool before.

Pool water
is not like saltwater.

-The mind is saying "Do this"
and you push yourself

past what the body is used to

and everything
starts locking up.

♪♪

-As Duke's body betrayed him,
being unable to finish the race

must have been
a physical and mental shock.

The world record holder,
the waterman,

the pride of Hawaii

can't finish a race
and had to be rescued.

-Everybody kind of snickered
behind their hands

because this was supposed to be
the world record holder.

-The press,
which has heard about

this sort of Hawaiian hurricane,
just turns the other way,

the mainland press, and goes,
"This guy is just a fable.

He's not a real competitor.
He can't handle the pressure."

Maybe in retrospect,
it was a good thing

that he failed right away
because he had to go,

"You know what?
This is different."

-In my opinion,
the building blocks

of a waterman is humility.

As a student of the ocean,

that would have made him
pretty resilient to failure.

Failure is not
going to stop you.

You're just going to figure out
a different route.

-Not all had seen Duke
as a failure.

The head coach of the University
of Pennsylvania swim team,

George Kistler, saw something
special in Duke.

He gave him a few pointers.

-Duke learned so fast
that Kistler agreed

to coach him for free.

-Duke being very gracious,
being very humble,

I think that was recognized
as well.

Everybody went back to Hawaii.

Duke was left on the mainland
to sink or swim.

And in a sense, it was left
to George Kistler to help him.

-Kistler pinpointed three areas
to improve...

Diving into the pool,

making the turns,
and controlling his breath.

-Once he understands
and is able to channel

what he learned from Kistler,
he becomes almost unstoppable.

♪♪

-As a waterman,
that doesn't surprise me,

because it speaks to his profuse
willingness to learn.

He had to implement some sort of
technique that he had to learn,

and then he beat all the people
that taught him how to do it.

♪♪

-At the time, there were very
few opportunities for non-whites

to compete at the highest level.

But in 1912,

James Sullivan is the head
of the Olympic Committee.

He had one goal.

To win.

He had Jim Thorpe on the team,

another Native American,
Louis Tewanima.

To his mind,
if Duke was the best,

then he should represent
Hawaii and the United States.

I mean, for America,
sports at the time, that was...

[ Chuckles ]

That was integrated.

-All of a sudden,
it's like he's a superstar.

And a lot of that is important
to U.S. history, as well,

because the United States never
really had a strong presence

in swimming and as part
of the Olympic sports.

-He had come from nowhere
to the Olympic team

in the space of three months,

which is probably an unrivaled
story in Olympic history.

-You're talking about
a high school dropout

who's a beach boy.

That's about it.
Now you're on a...

You're on a ship
going to the Olympics,

representing the United States.

I think he felt pretty good
about himself.

He had come a long,
long way, longer than anybody.

-I know the Duke not only as
the fastest swimmer I ever met,

but he also could go to sleep
faster than anyone else.

[ Laughter ]

-A friend of yours
from the 1912 Olympic Games,

Michael McDermott
of Chicago, Illinois.

[ Cheers and applause ]

Duke's ability to sleep
at any time almost caused him

to lose a crown,
didn't it, Mr. McDermott?

-It sure did. We had taken part
in the Olympic Parade.

After the Parade,
we got to the stadium.

Well, the Duke wasn't there.

We were looking all over
the place for the Duke.

We looked under the stand,

and there was the Duke
sound asleep.

And after waking him up, he just
had time to get his suit on

and get up to the tank
when the gun started his event.

-The Olympics in 1912
are primarily European

and American thing.
You don't have a lot of Asians.

You don't have
a lot of Africans.

So Duke is unique.

-He's a diplomat in two ways.

He's a diplomat from Hawaii,

and he's a diplomat
from America.

Can you handle the pressure
of the moment?

And he was so relaxed
that he would fall asleep.

-Most people, you know, they get
in the pool and they warm up.

With Duke, he's sleeping
underneath the bleachers.

-It's just what he does
every single day.

I think our greatest
athletic achievements

are when we're calm
and in a natural environment.

♪♪

-His stroke and his style
was so smooth and effortless.

-He's known as a swimmer
who has a very unique style.

And part of that style
is this kick.

People said, "Where did you
learn to swim this way?"

And his answer was,
"It's just in my blood."

-He changed the world
with the Kahanamoku kick,

the double-flutter kick,
the same kick that, you know,

Michael Phelps learned, the same
kick my coach taught me.

-That's how the Hawaiians swim.

When you lose that board
and you're all the way out

past first break,
you got to swim in.

There's no leash. These guys
are flying in the water.

Well, he's smoking them.

[ Cheers and applause ]

-Well, how did he come out?

-Well, he won his preliminary
and shattered the world record.

-The eyes of the world's
athletic elite were now on Duke.

But he was dealt
a crushing blow.

The American officials
were misinformed

about the time of the 100-meter
freestyle semifinals.

Duke, a no-show, would be
disqualified from the event

that everyone knew he would win.

But then something
astounding happened.

-This Australian dude is like
he really wants to race Duke

because there's a lot of talk
that Duke was this fast swimmer.

-Cecil Healy
registered a complaint

that the race should not be held

because the Americans
weren't there.

-He told the officials
that he wouldn't race

unless Duke was racing.

-To me, that's just,
wow, that's my hero.

"I can win a gold medal here,

but I'm not going to
win it against the best.

I want the best to be
in the water with me."

♪♪

-Because of Cecil Healy,
Duke was allowed to compete.

What Cecil did epitomized
the Olympic spirit,

even as it jeopardized
his own chances for gold.

-It's a proud Australian moment
for me

that he put everything aside
and went,

"You know what? I'm in a race
against the best in the world."

That to me is
what sportsmanship is all about.

-Cecil would have won gold,
but he only won silver

because Duke beat him
by 2 seconds

and Duke
got his first gold medal.

-Well, he went on to win
the final and established

a new Olympic
and new world record.

And then the king of Sweden,
King Gustaf,

crowned him
with the laurel wreath

that's entitled to the victor
of the Olympics.

-Five months after leaving home,

this modest young man,
unknown to the world,

was now an official world
champion and gold medalist.

Instant global fame
followed, his name

splashed across the front pages
of newspapers,

his smile beamed from magazines

and newsreels
all over the world.

This moment cemented him as
the living embodiment of Hawaii.

When the world saw Duke,
they saw Hawaii.

[ Gunfire, explosions ]

-It was the first time an enemy
had struck at English soil

for nearly 900 years.

-In December of 1914, six months
into the war to end all wars

and the 1916 Olympics
in question,

Duke would set sail from Hawaii

on an historic
three-month journey

to Australia and New Zealand,

the trip that probably
never would have happened

if not
for the well-known story of Duke

and the sportsmanship of his
rival, now friend Cecil Healy.

-If he chose not to speak up for
Duke, he would have won gold.

Duke and Cecil formed
a very tight bond,

which led Duke
to be invited to Australia

to do a number
of swimming events in 1914, '15.

-All this is against
the backdrop

of the whitest country
in the world.

Australia treated indigenous
people very poorly.

-There were quite a few Samoans
and Tongans

and South Sea Islanders,

considered second-class
citizens.

-Cecil was confident that Duke
would win over Australia,

writing, "I make bold to predict

that he will have
ingratiated himself

into the affections
of a large number of Australians

before departing
on his homeward voyage."

Arriving in Sydney,
it was immediately clear

that the Australians
had more on their minds

than watching him swim.

-When he arrives,
before he gets off the boat,

one of the journalists
puts it to him.

"Do you have
a surfboard with you?

In other words,
"Will we get you to..."

He says,
"No, I don't have a surfboard."

-There were already surfers here
in Australia.

They weren't of
the caliber of Duke.

You could only learn how to surf
by reading a book

or getting on a boat

and going to Hawaii
and watching how it's done.

-What was weird was
that the surfboard ride,

it was possibly
swimming people's fault

because they used
the poster that

had him on the surfboard
to promote the swimming events.

-The Australians wanted to see
Duke surf,

but he didn't have a board.

Like any good
waterman would say,

"That's okay, I'll make one."

-There weren't really boards
made here.

The guys who were riding
surfboards,

the board came from Hawaii,
as well.

So Duke bought
a lump of sugar pine

and probably knocked it out
just over there

in the sand hills, who knows.

-Crowds gathered around Duke,
excited to finally see

how a Hawaiian surfboard
was made.

Duke probably had no idea that
he was creating the template

for the board that Australians
would ride for decades to come.

-When he would make a surfboard,

and traditionally
in Hawaiian ways,

there were a lot of ritual
that went along

with it, finding the right tree,
saying the right prayer,

essentially bringing the board
out of the tree.

And Duke was a master
at doing that.

-It's not necessarily
just a board.

It's a living entity
on our planet

and our island, our world.

That spirit within this object,
nurture it into life, right,

and bring out
what
it wants to be,

not what
I
want it to be.

♪♪

-Anticipation building, crowds
thronged the shore.

Everyone knew this was going
to be a big day for Australia.

For Duke, this day would be one

that he would cherish
for the rest of his life.

-Surfing was kind of his
off time.

It wasn't the very thing
that he was invited out

to the country to do.

-Crowds and crowds. There was
a lot of people on the beach.

And you've got to remember, too,
that he was considered

to be dark or black.

And in those days, racism was
a big part of society.

-After the initial
introductions,

paddled out through the break.

They thought he was in trouble.

[ Chuckles ]
But obviously he wasn't.

♪♪

-He actually rode
the green wave.

A lot of riding that
was going on

was wait for the wave to break,

pick up the white water
and ride that to the beach.

The fact that he was out
the back and riding it

before it broke pushed the whole
performance level up miles.

-Duke rode the wave
diagonally from the north end

of the beach to the south end,

which is something
that would never have crossed

the mind of Australians
at that time.

-He was aware
that he was a performer.

People wanted things
that make headlines.

-Duke was a showman.

He didn't just get on his board
and surf in.

He might stand on his head.

Duke was not
the very first surfer,

but certainly no one
had ever really seen

quality elite surfing done
by the best surfer in the world.

-For him to come and show people
how to ride the Hawaiian style

certainly showed us
a hell of a way to do it.

-I don't think anyone had
actually seen it to the caliber

that Duke was able to do it.

Australians actually got to see
what this surfing was.

-It was wondrous.
The waves in Australia,

as he soon found out,

were some of the best
in the world.

And people mobbed him
at the beach.

-Duke helped to break down
those society barriers.

He was just one of the guys.

-So after that demonstration,
one of the journalists writes

that when Duke is in Hawaii,
he is that good

that he can ride tandem with
a young guy on his shoulders.

Can Duke ride
tandem in Australia?

He takes up the challenge,

and Isabel
is brought into the action.

-Isabel Letham.

She was a little bit
of a tomboy, swimming

and doing things that girls at
the time weren't supposed to do.

-Hawaiian and a white girl.

Another barrier broken down.

-Of that era, in 1914, '15,

there was still
a lot of segregation.

Women at the time,
down on Manly Beach,

they weren't able to swim.

They couldn't go to the pub.

You didn't have a career.
You didn't travel.

You got married
and you had children.

And that was it.

-She didn't even know
it was coming.

He got the wave,
and then he picked her up

by the scruff of the neck

and stood her up
in front of him.

She didn't know
what to make of it.

She said it was like
falling off a cliff.

That blew her away.

♪♪

-The myth is she becomes

Australia's first female
board rider.

-She's groundbreaking,
particularly

in the sport of surfing,
to make it okay for women

to be out and to surf.

You know, she loved that moment.

For her, it was a turning point
that allowed her to see

that there's probably
a bigger world out there

than what she was
currently living in.

♪♪

She was an incredible influence
on any female surfer

and celebrated
that moment her whole life.

The modern woman,
decades ahead of her time,

she traveled and had a career
and sort of paved

the way for other women to say,
"Maybe I could do that."

I love that we had a non-white
Hawaiian with Isabel,

dismissed the expectations of
society and went,

"No, we're going to do this.
It's going to be fun."

And that's what I think Duke was
all about with his surfing,

was just having fun.

-As the crowds mobbed Duke
that day, it was clear

that the purpose
of that trip had shifted

from seeing the Olympian swim
to watching the Hawaiian surf.

-His tour made front-page news

for the whole 2 1/2 months
that he was here.

There was huge attendance
at the swimming races,

which is why he initially came.

Surfboard riding
was the long-lasting legacy

that really left a mark
on Australian society.

The surfboard riding took over.

-Word of Duke's deeds
in Australia

had reached New Zealand

and built such anticipation
for his arrival

that it seemed
the whole country shut down.

-When he came to New Brighton,
the schools closed,

the shops closed,
even the post office closed.

-Thousands of people turned up

to see him
give a surfing display.

-For the Maori,
the indigenous people

of New Zealand,
Duke represented hope

because what they saw is the
most famous man in the world,

adored by all races
and cultures,

and he was just like them...
Polynesian.

-He's greeted by
a traditional Maori marae.

There's a lot of pride

in that exchange
from one Polynesian to another.

-I think all indigenous cultures
that have been colonized

were suppressed.

They're seeing someone who looks
just like them

feted throughout the whole world

as this incredible,
heroic figure.

I think it just instilled
a massive amount of pride.

♪♪

-I think the Maori people,
it meant a lot to them

to see a Hawaiian,
you know, spreading

their culture,
and how he was proud

to be Hawaiian and encouraged
them to find things,

to be proud of themselves
and spread it.

[ Chanting in Maori ]

-Since they saw Duke,
the Maori people

have shared with the world.

We have a lot of Maori athletes
making the big teams

and representing New Zealand,

and become a really proud,
inspiring people.

-Think there's just
a massive resurgence

of Indigenous pride now.

He should be celebrated.

He should be celebrated
everywhere,

this fellow who looks like
one of my uncles...

[ Laughs ]... started surfing
here in Christchurch.

Because of that
and because of the ripple effect

that it caused, years later,

I'm picking up the board
and doing the same thing.

♪♪

-He gets invitations
to make appearances

all over the world... in Europe,
in America, on the mainland.

-Duke was putting on
a surfing show,

and hundreds and hundreds
of people go

and watch these exhibitions
where he's surfing.

-I think the Duke
shared surfing with the world

because it was the greatest gift

that he had received
in his life,

and he wanted other people
to experience it.

-He's bringing a sport
that nobody has seen before

to their shores.

The transfer of that was,

you know, literally kids
were running home

and getting their mom's
ironing board

and trying to surf
on an ironing board.

-The Hawaiians developed the art
of riding waves for pleasure

and developed surfboards.

Surfing is Hawaii's gift
to the world.

-Surfing began with people
like Duke, who shared it,

and they wanted people
to be a part of it.

It's the spirit of Hawaii.

♪♪

-Duke was number one.

Better than the mayor,
the governor, and everybody.

I mean, because he was our hero.

Here beneath the shade of
the lofty coconut palms,

native beach boys
still sing and play

the enchanting melodies
of old Hawaii.

-And it's not only him
but all of his...

his brothers and his friends

and his cousins
and his community down there.

-Duke and his brothers,
those are real beach boys.

You know, those were
beautiful years, those years.

-This is our number-one
beach boy song, everybody.

♪ Tall, dark, and thin ♪

♪ Tonight hemo skin ♪

-♪ E lei, ka lei lei ♪

-The beach boys of Waikiki
were very colorful.

Some of them wore costumes
at times and did jokes

to make people laugh
and have a good time.

-♪ Cha cha ♪

-♪ Cha cha cha ♪

-Their laughter and shouts,

give us our first picture
of the Hawaiian...

happy, carefree, all alive.

-When you look back
and you read other people,

they'll say, like,
how the women used to call

the beach boys bronze gods
and all this kind of stuff.

-When I see pictures of
beach boys in the bay of Duke,

their pecs, their arms, I go,

"God, where did they
lift weights at?"

-♪ Bottoms up ♪

♪ To the land ♪

♪ Where the lazy days
roll along ♪

-So you had a very elite,
wealthy group of tourists

who were coming to Hawaii
in the early days.

They say that many wealthy
divorced women would come

to Hawaii to kind of escape,
and they would find a lot of fun

hanging out with Duke
and his friends surfing.

-♪ Now it's time to drink ♪

-Of course,
one of the favorite pastimes

was taking a young lady
tandem surfing.

Hello.

-♪ Okole maluna ♪

[ Applause ]

-Okole maluna!
Bottoms up!

-The beach boys make
very good money in those times.

They also become
local celebrities.

And Duke is seen as kind of
like the chief out there,

an alaka'i, or protector.

He didn't tolerate racism,
prejudice,

and these other things.

In their domain,
in the ocean and the waves,

they were the chiefs,
and everyone knew it.

-Believe me, when Duke said
something, everyone listened.

Doesn't matter what race it is,

as long as you're having fun.

-Duke was always surrounded by
people of different ethnicities,

different colors.

We embraced everybody
that came to Hawaii.

-It's really intriguing to me
that Duke represents

this counter-narrative

to what tourism
was trying to sell Hawaii.

Duke, however,
becomes this mascot for Hawaii

as, again,
a kind of a warrior figure.

-We could have been
an agricultural state,

in my opinion.

But when the beach boys
showed everybody

how much fun it is over here,
I hold them solely responsible

for the tourist industry
that Hawaii enjoys today.

-What was good for Hawaii

put Duke in a difficult
financial position.

His status as a record-breaking
world-class athlete

garnered him attention
he couldn't get any other way.

If Duke had made a couple
of bucks playing baseball,

like Jim Thorpe,

he could've been classified
as a professional,

disqualified
from the Olympics for good.

Hawaii's power brokers insisted
Duke remain an amateur.

♪♪

Duke found himself forced
to rely on others

for his livelihood.

-That held him back.

That circumscribed his life
to a degree,

because the thing
that he's really good at doing,

he can't go out
and earn money for.

-They put a lot of stock
in him winning.

Duke was rewarded with a house.

I think he found himself
trapped.

He had no money.

So if he wins, Hawaii wins,
right?

You talk about pressure.

-In 1916,
Duke was a world-class swimmer

at the height
of his physical prime.

After four years,

he was hungry to defend his gold
at the Berlin Olympics.

But fate had other plans.

♪♪

The war that so many thought
would have been long over

had reached its peak.

The Games were canceled.

Over the ensuing years,
Duke kept at it

as an amateur,
setting world records

at the 1917 AAU Nationals
in Honolulu.

♪♪

But by 1920, the war was over.

Belgium hosted the return
of the Olympics.

But the devastation of war
took a heavy toll.

♪♪

143 Olympians died in the war

and many just weren't
physically able to compete.

-Many of the Australians
weren't able to compete.

Germany was banned.

So two major competitors
are off the board,

and the rest of Europe
is decimated from young men.

-One loss in particular
deeply affected Duke.

♪♪

-Cecil was the only
gold-medalist swimmer

who died in World War I.

-He's one of our
most understated heroes

that formed a real bond

between the Australians
and the Hawaiians.

-He had a very short life,

and he is sorely missed
to this day.

♪♪

[ Cheers and applause ]

-Another teammate of yours,
Duke, and a friend since 1912,

here is Ludy Langer.
- Ludy Langer.

[ Cheers and applause ]

-What made 1920
so memorable for Duke?

-Well, that's the year
Duke broke his own world

and Olympic records,

and you did it
on your 30th birthday, Duke.

-Duke is now sort of the elder
statesman of the U.S. swim team

and the leader
of this Hawaiian contingent

that basically takes
over the team in 1920.

♪♪

-You did it so easy
with that svelte form of yours,

You just beat these other fellas

with an awful burst
and usually a world record.

- I had him scared once.
- Just once?

-Thank you, Ludy Langer.

-Against a diluted field,

the American success
is unprecedented.

-Following his latest
Olympic triumph,

Duke reached a crossroads.

His future uncertain,
he charted a new course.

♪♪

For years, friends had tried
enticing Duke out of Hawaii.

He was the most famous swimmer
in the world, rubbing shoulders

with some of the most
important people on the planet.

With an eye to capitalize
on his Olympic success

and prepare for life
after amateur sports,

Duke set his sights
on Hollywood.

♪♪

-The film industry,
the movie industry is booming

and so is Los Angeles.

He decided to make a go of it

and see what would happen
with the film career.

♪♪

-He's part of a social set
that is important.

He's not just laboring away
in obscurity.

He's hanging out with
movie directors and movie stars.

He's teaching people how
to swim, and he's also surfing.

-I don't think he was trying
to impress anybody,

and that was what was
so impressive

to the Hollywood celebrities.

He was just being Duke,
and he had a presence

that, to them, was their job.

For him, it was natural.
He was a star.

[ Applause ]

-Now it's 1924.

Duke... Paris, France,
the age of 34.

The world is watching anxiously
to see if Duke Kahanamoku

will retain his title.

-This was my first Olympic meet,
and I was many years younger

than Duke.
- Yeah, pulo'u.

-Yeah, Duke, the only man...
[ Laughs ]... who could...

What did that mean?
Or maybe you shouldn't tell me.

- Covered up.
- Oh.

The only man who could have
defeated you,

your former opponent
and now close friend,

the man who himself broke
established world records,

Johnny Weissmuller!

♪♪

-Johnny Weissmuller
arrived on the scene

a monster talent.

Long, lanky, and ripped,
with teen idol looks.

-Johnny Weissmuller was the best
American swimmer

of the first half
of the 20th century.

A supreme talent in the pool.

He was built more like
a Michael Phelps.

You're in the heart of sort of
that golden age of the 1920s,

and you've got Babe Ruth
and Jack Dempsey and Bill Tilden

and these heroic figures
in sports

that the sportswriters
are making into heroes.

-The press played up the rivalry
between Johnny and Duke.

The showdown was set.

Paris Olympics, 1924.

-He had a whole family
working against you here.

-Incidentally, yeah.

The Kahanamoku brothers
were pretty well represented.

Beside Duke,
there was David and Sam.

-Hawaii was all over the place!

♪♪

-How did the 100 meter turn out?

-Johnny came first,
and I took second place,

and my brother Sam
took third place.

-Duke actually helped you
to beat him, didn't he, Johnny?

-Yes, he did.
You know, we trained together

in the Olympic Games.
- Yes.

-And this big lug,
he just gave me

all the confidence in the world.

-He had a feeling
that you were going to beat him,

and he helped you?
- Well, sure.

He made me go back and get in
that pool and work up and down.

He was just like a big brother
to the boys.

- I gave him a workout.
- Yeah.

But, you know, funny thing...
He never...

He never worried
too much about himself.

All he wanted to do was be sure
that the United States

got that one, two, three
in the Olympic Games.

- We did.
- We did it.

-They really respected
the competition

and the people
that they competed against.

Then they became good friends.

There was no big deal about
competing with one another.

-They loved each other.
They could play together.

They were naughty together.

-Thank you, Johnny Weissmuller.

-Duke wasn't bitter
about Johnny's upstaging him

and humbly acknowledged

Johnny's place as the greatest
swimmer in the world.

-It was really like brothers.

And I think Duke
was really proud of him,

whereas other people
would be maybe jealous.

♪♪

[ Film projector running ]

-Hey, wait a minute
till I cut your coupon.

-I no ask for that.
Do for missy a favor.

-Thank you, Corporal.

-Duke returned to Hollywood
to chase his film career

with the same humble resolve
that made him a world champion.

But he could only land bit parts
and extra work.

To protect his amateur status,

he couldn't use
his greatest asset... swimming.

He was hamstrung.

Duke spent nearly a decade
seeking a lead role,

only to witness the meteoric
success of a close friend.

The man who surpassed Duke
in the pool

now outshone him on the screen.

[ Tarzan yell ]

♪♪

-The ultimate irony is that
the swimmer

who does exceed
beyond expectations

what his entertainment value is

was his biggest rival
in the pool, Johnny Weissmuller,

who gets the role
of Tarzan because,

well, he's an Olympic champion
like Duke,

but he's also white.

-...galaxy of stars, the camera
spots Johnny Weissmuller...

Tarzan to you...

-Hollywood, at the time,
is completely white.

He is stereotyped because
he's a person of color,

and he's only allowed
to be an extra.

♪♪

-Johnny, who ended up
breaking his record,

they became best friends.
He becomes Tarzan.

So it's kind of...
It's an injustice, I'm sure,

that he felt, 'cause like, "I've
been doing this for a while,

but I'm never going to be able
to do what Johnny just did."

He was one of the biggest
celebrities in the world,

but they weren't willing
to make him a leading man,

even though he was a leading man

to everyone in the nation.

On screen, that story
wasn't ready to be told.

♪♪

[ Water splashing,
waves roaring ]

-While in California,

Duke sought renewal
in the waters of the Pacific.

Though he relied on it
for healing,

he wasn't blind
to its power to destroy.

-One day, June 14, 1925,

you're surfing at
Newport Beach, California,

when a fishing boat
capsizes offshore

under the battering
of 25-foot waves.

[ Waves crashing,
wood cracking ]

♪♪

-I was with Duke when we saw
the boat capsize.

-There were 17 persons
aboard the boat.

♪♪

-Waves were so high that it was
practically impossible

to get through the surf

and reach the people
who were in the water.

♪♪

-It was a horrifically
big surf day,

and him and his friends
really didn't venture out

into the water right away.

The waves were enormous.

And Duke knew in his heart

that something ill
was going to happen,

and the boat turned upside down.

Everyone fell overboard,
fully clothed in jackets

and pants and heavy gear.

♪♪

-A good waterman
is going to make sure

that everybody else out there
is safe and protected.

-This comes to "kuleana,"

a really important word,
translated to "responsibility."

Duke saw people suffering
and struggling and said,

"I can do something."

He just assumed responsibility
and jumped right in the water.

-Took his surfboard,
which was never taught,

never used for lifesaving.

-Being who Duke was
and a surfer and for him,

the ocean is a home.

It's a natural element.

You know, the storm, the surf,
knowing where to be,

where to exist,
and where not to be.

In the ocean, it's all about
choices, not chances.

And he can see
the point of impact...

"Don't be there.

Wait till the wave hits
and diffuses all its energy,

and then paddle over
or paddle in.

Grab one person
to come back in."

-Finally did manage
to get through the breakers

and race out to those survivors
on a surfboard.

-Three times, Duke came back
from the wreck to the shore,

and each time,
he brought survivors.

-A superhuman feat.

I've made surfboard rescues
for 25 years,

and if I had to do
what he did that day,

I would never have been able
to physically do it.

[ Waves crashing ]

♪♪

- -Of the 17 people aboard the
Thelma,  - five lost their lives,

and you alone, Duke Kahanamoku,
were responsible

for saving the lives of eight
of the remaining survivors.

-That was a really good day.

-Thank you, Tom and Joe Henry,

for retelling this stunning
story of Duke's bravery.

[ Cheers and applause ]

[ Waves rumbling ]

-Not only did he
fight to save them,

back-and-forth trips, pushing
his body beyond the limit,

when all the survivors
were brought in,

he went back for the ones
that didn't make it.

♪♪

-I mean, there's got to be
a point when he paddled down

and the boat's sunk, and they're
dying in front of him, you know?

And so that trauma...

like, all trauma sticks
with you forever.

-Knowing that Duke values
every life like family,

I think that's the thing that
all Hawaiians or all Polynesians

carry in their heart,
that, you know, everyone,

regardless of what color
they are, it's a life.

It could be your brother,
your sister,

your mother, your father,

someone that, you know,
loves that person, you know,

and you would wish if that was
your mother or father,

that someone would take their
kuleana, or responsibility,

and go out there and rescue him,
help him.

♪♪

-He hid when the news came down
to get the story.

There are so many different
stories about that rescue

because it was told
by his friends.

Duke hid because
he couldn't save everyone.

-You don't forget
those heavy rescues.

It haunts you
when you see someone

that you somehow figure,
you know, "What if?"

or could I have got them?"

-In Hollywood,
they weren't willing

to make him a leading man.

But it didn't stop him from
doing the things that he did.

Not only did he save lives,
he brought these people back

because of the goodness
of who he is.

That's... That's... That's
a leading man, if you ask me.

That's... That's...
That is a man just

filled with nothing but aloha

for everyone
and everything around him.

♪♪

[ Waves crashing ]

-Did you like Hollywood?

-Oh, I loved it.
I enjoyed the moving picture.

-About how many pictures
were you in?

-Must have been about
a half a dozen or more.

And then I came back in '28.

-How do you find Hawaii today?

-Well, Bob, tell you the truth,
I don't like it so much.

- You don't like it.
- All these concrete buildings,

they seem out of my way.

-Well, if you had your choice,

would you have rather lived
your youth back in the old days

or have lived your youth today?

- I would prefer way back.
- Live the old days.

All right.
- Right.

♪♪

-The end of the 1920s
brought more adversity.

Duke retreated to Hawaii, where,
without any recent success,

he was widely seen as a failure.

Forced to work menial jobs
to get by,

he became the butt of jokes.

But with his eyes
on the next Games,

he pressed on.

In 1932, body aging at 42,
he bested

his record 100 meter freestyle
time from 1912

but was still only able
to make the roster

as an alternate
on the water polo team.

[ Applause ]

-A member of the United States
water polo team,

the only United States swimmer

to have participated
in four Olympic Games.

-He retired after the Games
as a four time Olympian,

with three gold
and two silver medals.

As Duke prepared for life
after the Olympics,

reality set in.

The champion was now in his 40s,

an unemployed high school
dropout with no backup plan.

-You may have heard of Duke
when he starred as a swimmer...

-Some people, they would say,
"Oh, that's okay.

You know,
he's just a beach boy."

But it's hard to make money
as a beach boy.

-He's one of those people
who everybody knows who he is,

but he's not earning any money.

So people just sort of think,
"Well, he's famous.

He must have money,"
and he didn't.

-When they squeezed him
for everything he had

in that period of time
as a youthful super athlete,

they just gave him a gas station
and set him on his way.

-And to a certain extent,
Duke was taken for granted.

You know, "Oh, that's Duke."

You know, no one
ever really stepped forward

to really give him the prestige

and place in our society
that he he had earned.

-Your lovely wife,
Nadine Kahanamoku.

-In 1940, Duke married
Nadine Alexander,

a professional dancer
of Australian descent

who was unprepared
for the public's disapproval

of their relationship.

Duke responded to the negativity
the way he always had...

Mahape a ale wala'au.

"Don't talk.
Keep it in your heart."

-You talk about Duke's,
you know, temperament

and that he was this
very gracious and humble person.

The one downside to that was
something that his wife, Nadine,

brought up, which was
Duke internalized everything.

He kept everything
bottled up inside.

He'd say, "I'm not going
to respond to jokes,

or if somebody is taunting me,
I'll make them feel better."

Unfortunately, that maybe

affected his health
later on in his life,

that he bottled up his emotions
and, in a sense,

had to not maybe share
exactly what he was feeling.

-But because of who he was,

Duke had left an unforgettable
impression around the world.

And soon, the waves of aloha
came full circle

as friends surfaced,
coming to his aid,

starting in what seemed
an unlikely place.

-The Outrigger did step up,
and to their credit,

there were times when they were
Duke's biggest supporters.

-Duke Kahanamoku was one of
the greatest leaders

of the club as a member,
somebody that we all look up to.

-Duke became
the icon
at the Outrigger Canoe Club.

We have a room in the back

of the Outrigger
called the Duke Room,

and it's all dedicated to Duke
and his memory.

-It's a complicated
relationship.

People would resent that

that was the only way
Duke could be supported.

-What ended up happening,
Hawaii came to his rescue

and elected this man
sheriff of Honolulu.

He served as sheriff for years

because the people
kept electing him.

-But then, the unthinkable.

[ Explosions ]

♪♪

-Yesterday, December 7, 1941,

a date which
will live in infamy.

♪♪

-Duke brought Hawaii on the map,
and then everything changed

as soon as Pearl Harbor came
and the war.

-Hawaii was under martial law
for 3 1/2 years,

which is unprecedented
in the history of the U.S.A.

♪♪

-Barbed wire lined the beaches.

Internment camps
dotted the islands.

The world was at war.

And for three years,
the Hawaii Duke knew shut down.

-The beach boys,
back before World War II,

there was a lot of aloha,
there was a lot of love.

After Pearl Harbor,
the atmosphere at Waikiki

was probably a little bit
more strained,

as far as feeling good
about helping people out.

-Three years cut off
from the rest of the world.

No surf, no beach boys.

The Hawaii Duke had worked
his entire life to preserve

and share with the world
was not the same.

But the war ended, and Duke,
celebrity among celebrities,

drew the elite from every part
of the world to his home.

-A lot of movie stars

and celebrities were coming
to the Hawaiian Islands

and they were
getting publicized.

-So many people came to Hawaii
just because of him.

Right?
That's... That's saying a lot.

-Kings, queens, royalty.

-Duke, giving the queen mother
of England a hula lesson.

- That's right.
- How did she do?

-Very... She was...
Akamai, we call it.

-Akamai, is it?

-He was the celebrity
among celebrities.

-The actors and the actresses,
and everybody's always

kind of magnetized towards Duke.

-The Hawaii Tourist Bureau
and the Chamber of Commerce

are saying,
"This is great publicity."

Duke became the greeter
of celebrities

coming to the Hawaiian Islands.

-In 1960, Hawaii formalized

what Duke has been doing
since 1912.

Swearing him in as the official
ambassador of aloha.

And as he worked to breathe life

back into
the Hawaii surfing scene,

around the world,
it caught fire.

[ The Beach Boys' "Surfin' USA"
plays ]

-♪ Surfin U.S.A. ♪

♪♪

-Post-war surfing
starts booming.

Not just surfing the sport
but surfing culture.

It's about music,
it's about fashion,

it's about an attitude,
and Duke is the original.

-Me, Gidget.

-It was a whole subculture.

Aloha is what Duke had, what
Duke Kahanamoku represented.

Duke worked hard to spread
the joy of riding

and the surf culture,

which is like,
"I'm stoked to be part of that."

♪♪

-As surfing grew in popularity,
so did opportunities for Duke

to finally reach
a bit of economic security.

Entrepreneur and talent manager
Kimo McVay partnered with Duke

to capitalize on his
new worldwide popularity.

♪♪

-♪ Duke Kahanamoku ♪

♪♪

-When he got together
with Kimo McVay,

they licensed clothing,

they licensed
Duke Kahanamoku skateboards,

they licensed
Duke Kahanamoku surfboards.

There was a restaurant

and nightclub
named Duke Kahanamoku's.

-And he formed a surf team,
put Joey Cabell,

Paul Strauch,
Butch Van Artsdalen,

and myself on the team.

-You've sort of
picked these boys out

to be protégés, haven't you?

-Yes, Bob,
and I wanted these boys

to set the example
of how to be gentlemen.

-"Duke Kahanamoku's
World of Surfing."

-Hi, surfers.
Aloha.

-Duke's invitation
was broadcast nationally

on ABC's "Wide World of Sports,"

and he created the competition,
hoping it would help fulfill

his dream of someday
seeing surfing in the Olympics.

-It was to honor the Duke.

ABC "Wide World of Sports"
and The Duke Contest

had a lot to do
with the awareness of people

in the middle of Kansas
or on the East Coast

or in other parts of the world.

Here's Eddie Aikau,
another young Hawaiian surfer.

Also, the first time for Eddie.

This is Duke Kahanamoku,
big swimming champion

and father of modern surfing.

-Once again, Duke was relevant,
but to a new generation.

Though in his '70s,
the godfather of surfing

was in demand
all over the world,

Traveling the globe,

this Johnny Appleseed
of the surf was witness

to the fruit of his goodwill
from visits decades before.

♪♪

-Duke Kahanamoku, from Hawaii,

who introduced surfboarding
to Australia...

-First thing he did
was came back to Freshwater,

met up again with Isabel Letham,

met up again with Claude West,

and met up with his surfboard.

-We talk about Duke being that
Johnny Appleseed figure.

In a sense, that board
that he leaves in Australia

becomes just an important symbol

for some of the most important
surfers in Australia.

- at a beach
near Sydney, Australia...

-For the next 30 or 40 years,
whenever they had a competition,

people would refer to them
as a Duke board competition.

-Duke definitely is kind of like
the root of the whole thing.

As a surfer, if you live
in Australia, California,

somewhere around the world,
it all comes back,

and at some point,
it gets to Duke.

-Was it more of a thrill for you
to win those Olympic Games

or ride
some of those giant waves?

-Both were quite a thrill.

But I think this surfing is,

to me,
the greatest thrill of my life.

♪♪

-When you do something
that's so magic and so amazing

and has such a profound effect
on your soul,

you want to share that
with people.

-And then, February 20, 1959.

Duke was asked to fly
to Los Angeles

to help with a travelogue
about Hawaii.

But it was a trick.

-This is your life.

-There,
on a Hollywood soundstage

in front of the nation,

the story of one of America's
greatest icons would be told,

and Duke Kahanamoku
was finally a star.

[ Cheers and applause ]

-We're here in Hollywood
to help congratulate...

♪♪

-George "Dad" Center,
world-famous swimming coach.

-Well, there's another skill

that Duke
is pretty good at, too,

and you shouldn't overlook it.

♪♪

-Johnny Weissmuller!

♪♪

-Duke was the grateful,
stoic man of Hawaii

that everybody expected to see,

until Hollywood
brought a surprise that Duke

and all that knew him
would never forget.

-But let's go back
to June 14, 1925,

the day the
Thelma
capsized.

You alone were responsible
for saving the lives

of 8 of the 17 people
aboard the
Thelma

and whom you haven't seen since.

Here are three of the men
you actually saved

that fateful day,
from Riverside, California.

Here is Fred Hock, everybody,

and Harry Ohlin,
and Edward Sneed,

from Colton, California.
- Oh!

♪♪

-Duke, I haven't seen you
since you put me on the beach.

♪♪

And I have waited 32 years
to thank you tonight.

-That's a long time.

♪♪

- -The highly publicized  Thelma
- rescue

Was not the only time
Duke rescued others.

His life in and around the water

and his reluctance
to take credit

make it impossible to know
how many Duke saved.

He would never tell.

But those he saved never forgot.

- Yeah.
- Been a long time

since I've seen him.

And I want to thank you again

for rescuing me
and saving my life.

-That's wonderful.

-I think that's when
lifeguarding branched out

from coast guards
to actually have lifeguards.

-When Duke battled out
and rescued those eight people

with his board,

California adopted
the rescue board immediately,

and it began being used
on every beach

where lifeguards
were posted in California.

♪♪

-If a shining example
of a true sportsman

lives anywhere in the world,
it lives in your heart.

This is your life,
Duke Kahanamoku,

world champion athlete,
a living legend

whose love of people

represents the true spirit
of your beloved island.

♪♪

[ Waves crashing ]

-Good morning.

This is Arthur Godfrey.

Today, Hawaii
lost her most famous citizen,

the world,
one of its greatest athletes,

America, one of her
greatest citizens of all time.

[ Woman singing in Hawaiian ]

♪♪

-When we heard the news, it was,

"No, it can't be happening.
No, not Uncle Paoa.

He's... He's the...

He's the pillar and the strength
of our family.

Can't be.
He's not ready to go yet."

-On January 22, 1968,
Duke Kahanamoku

suffered a heart attack
and passed away

while preparing to go
boating with friends.

He was 77.

In the coming week,
Waikiki would be host

to a funeral
unlike any before or since.

-It was hard to grasp
the idea that

he was actually going to be gone

and we weren't going
to see him anymore

or be able to be with him.

Yeah.

-♪ Aloha oe ♪

-Nationally renowned
Hall of Fame radio host

Arthur Godfrey, who had become
close friends with Duke,

flew to Waikiki
so that he could broadcast

Duke's funeral to the nation.

-I have never seen
so many people on Waikiki.

There must have been at least
8,000 or 10,000

thronging the beach.

And strangely,
you can almost hear a pin drop.

-♪ I ka lipo ♪

-I remember looking over
at the hotels

and just seeing
throngs of people.

And it was just amazing to see
that many people all celebrating

or acknowledging him
in that way.

And so I'd never seen
anything like that.

-♪ Until we meet again ♪

♪♪

-It was the end of an era

that had seen the fall
of the Hawaiian Kingdom

and the rise of its people,

guided by the gentle hand
of a man

who exemplified
the attributes of Hawaii.

Arthur Godfrey, while speaking
at Duke's funeral,

pleaded with Hawaii
to honor Duke.

-How sometimes cruelly
do we forget

our pioneering heroes.

Forevermore, his great spirit
will be riding each wave

all the way into the moana,
standing there,

bronzed and beautiful,
with his arms outstretched.

Let us build that monument
to the everlasting memory

of the great ali'i

who gave stature and glory
to Hawaii Nei.

-Then, in 1990, a statue
was finally unveiled.

Standing on the beach
of Waikiki,

it's a statue that today is
almost as synonymous with Hawaii

as Duke himself.

And this wouldn't be
the only monument.

Four years later,
Australia would place a statue

of Duke overlooking the historic
Freshwater Beach

where Duke stunned the nation.

Another statue stands
in the Surfers Hall of Fame

in Huntington Beach, California.

And in New Zealand,
a monument to Duke

stands where he first surfed
on the South Island.

And finally, in 2016, the
International Olympic Committee

announced that the sport would
now fulfill his biggest dream,

as surfing was officially added
to the Summer Olympic Games.

-To hear that Duke wanted
surfing in the Olympics,

I think Duke
should be our mantra.

Let's show what it is.

Let's make him proud
in a way that people go,

"Wow. Surfing is cooler
than every other sport

in the world," you know?
'Cause it is.

♪♪

-From a young age,
before the world knew him,

Duke's stature,
presence, and athleticism

earned him comparisons
to King Kamehameha.

Some even attached
a prophecy to Duke

that the King allegedly
spoke on his deathbed.

Although there are disagreements

of whether the King
actually said it,

it's not surprising that
many Hawaiians think of Duke

when they hear these words.

-No American athlete
has influenced

two sports as profoundly
as Duke Kahanamoku.

-They're honoring him
in other countries.

-Freshwater Beach started having
Duke's Day events each year

and gotten bigger and bigger.

-Really something very special.

-And the spirit of The Duke
is alive in New Brighton.

Our Duke Festival is the biggest
surf contest in New Zealand.

Duke got us a way of life,
and we didn't even realize it.

-Would be good if everyone
could live his lifestyle.

-Not just the ultimate waterman
but who he was as a person.

-There are true heroes
in the world,

and he was one of them.

-Give scholarships
and grants out

to kids who are
perpetuating Duke's legacy.

-He's done so much
for our sport.

He's definitely far
from being forgotten.

-Duke is... he's there.

♪♪

-To us,
he's the king of surfing.

I think more than anyone
will ever be in history,

Duke represents what surfing is.

-And we can go into
wakeboarding,

snowboarding, skateboarding.

-You can't talk about
extreme sports without knowing

that the lineage
comes from surfing.

[ Waves crashing ]

-Duke accomplished
the seemingly impossible.

A beach boy,
while facing the worst

the world could throw at him,
quietly changed the world.

If you were to ask Duke
how he pulled that off,

he would say that he did it
with the power of one word.

-Aloha.

♪♪

-Just to explain what this is,

that we're
in the Outrigger Club.

Duke, just for fun,
singing this song.

I don't know who wrote it, Duke.
Who wrote it?

-Sol Ho'opi'i.

-It's called "Duke Kahanamoku."

♪♪

♪ Duke Kahanamoku ♪

♪ The Pride of all Hawaii ♪

♪ Surfing on a nalu ♪

♪ Appearing like a manu ♪

♪ You would think a moment ♪

♪ He wore a feather garment ♪

♪ Oi'a no'e ka'oi ♪

♪ King Kamehameha ♪

♪ Conquered the island group ♪

♪ Duke Kahanamoku ♪

♪ He simply conquered
all the waters ♪

♪ Then became
the king of swimmers ♪

♪ Duke Kahanamoku ♪

♪ The pride of all Hawaii ♪

♪ Surfing on a nalu ♪

♪ Appearing like a manu ♪

♪ You would think a moment ♪

♪ He wore a feather garment ♪

♪ Oi'a no'e ka'oi ♪

- Wonderful.
- Very good.

That's a good tune.

-♪ 'Oiwi e ♪

♪ E kahea ana e na 'iwi e ♪

-♪ Ua 'ike mai nei ♪

-♪ Ua 'ike mai nei
i ku'u one hanau e ♪

-♪ Eia mai la ♪

-♪ Eia mai,
Na kupa'aina o Hawai'i nei ♪

-♪ Kako'o mai nei ♪

-♪ Kako'o mai nei,
Kupa'a lokahi e ♪

-♪ "E kikilo e na iwi!" ♪

-♪ Kikilo e na iwi,
e na mamo e ♪

♪ Na kini makamaka e ♪

-♪ "E kupa'a ke kanaka" ♪

-♪ Kupa'a ke kanaka
hanohano ha'aheo e ♪

-♪ Ku ke kanaka ♪

-♪ Kupa'a ke kanaka
hanohano ha'aheo e ♪

-♪ Kahi lua kolu ha! ♪

Kia Ora Hi!