Read Anywhere and on Any Device!

Subscribe to Read | $0.00

Join today and start reading your favorite books for Free!

Create Free Account

Waterman: The Life and Times of Duke Kahanamoku

4/5 ( ratings)

Waterman is the first comprehensive biography of Duke Kahanamoku : swimmer, surfer, Olympic gold medalist, Hawaiian icon, waterman.

Long before Michael Phelps and Mark Spitz made their splashes in the pool, Kahanamoku emerged from the backwaters of Waikiki to become America’s first superstar Olympic swimmer. The original “human fish” set dozens of world records and topped the world rankings for more than a decade; his rivalry with Johnny Weissmuller transformed competitive swimming from an insignificant sideshow into a headliner event.

Kahanamoku used his Olympic renown to introduce the sport of “surf-riding,” an activity unknown beyond the Hawaiian Islands, to the world. Standing proudly on his traditional wooden longboard, he spread surfing from Australia to the Hollywood crowd in California to New Jersey. No American athlete has influenced two sports as profoundly as Kahanamoku did, and yet he remains an enigmatic and underappreciated figure: a dark-skinned Pacific Islander who encountered and overcame racism and ignorance long before the likes of Joe Louis, Jesse Owens, and Jackie Robinson.

Kahanamoku’s connection to his homeland was equally important. He was born when Hawaii was an independent kingdom; he served as the sheriff of Honolulu during Pearl Harbor and World War II and as a globetrotting “Ambassador of Aloha” afterward; he died not long after Hawaii attained statehood. As one sportswriter put it, Duke was “Babe Ruth and Jack Dempsey combined down here.”

In Waterman, award-winning journalist David Davis examines the remarkable life of Duke Kahanamoku, in and out of the water.

Purchase the audio edition.

Pages: 354

Format: Hardcover

Publisher: University of Nebraska Press

Release: October 01, 2015

ISBN: 0803254776

ISBN 13: 9780803254770

Waterman: The Life and Times of Duke Kahanamoku

4/5 ( ratings)

Waterman is the first comprehensive biography of Duke Kahanamoku : swimmer, surfer, Olympic gold medalist, Hawaiian icon, waterman.

Long before Michael Phelps and Mark Spitz made their splashes in the pool, Kahanamoku emerged from the backwaters of Waikiki to become America’s first superstar Olympic swimmer. The original “human fish” set dozens of world records and topped the world rankings for more than a decade; his rivalry with Johnny Weissmuller transformed competitive swimming from an insignificant sideshow into a headliner event.

Kahanamoku used his Olympic renown to introduce the sport of “surf-riding,” an activity unknown beyond the Hawaiian Islands, to the world. Standing proudly on his traditional wooden longboard, he spread surfing from Australia to the Hollywood crowd in California to New Jersey. No American athlete has influenced two sports as profoundly as Kahanamoku did, and yet he remains an enigmatic and underappreciated figure: a dark-skinned Pacific Islander who encountered and overcame racism and ignorance long before the likes of Joe Louis, Jesse Owens, and Jackie Robinson.

Kahanamoku’s connection to his homeland was equally important. He was born when Hawaii was an independent kingdom; he served as the sheriff of Honolulu during Pearl Harbor and World War II and as a globetrotting “Ambassador of Aloha” afterward; he died not long after Hawaii attained statehood. As one sportswriter put it, Duke was “Babe Ruth and Jack Dempsey combined down here.”

In Waterman, award-winning journalist David Davis examines the remarkable life of Duke Kahanamoku, in and out of the water.

Purchase the audio edition.

Pages: 354

Format: Hardcover

Publisher: University of Nebraska Press

Release: October 01, 2015

ISBN: 0803254776

ISBN 13: 9780803254770

More books from David Davis

Showdown at Shepherd's Bush: The 1908 Olympic Marathon and the Three Runners Who Launched a Sporting Craze

3.8/5 ( ratings)

Wheels of Courage: How Paralyzed Veterans from World War II Invented Wheelchair Sports, Fought for Disability Rights, and Inspired a Nation

4.5/5 ( ratings)

The Great Republic: A History of the American People, Volume II

Hosea: God's Great Love Story

Marathon Crasher: The Life and Times of Merry Lepper, the First American Woman to Run a Marathon

3.5/5 ( ratings)

Improving Patient Care: The Implementation of Change in Health Care (Revised)

3.6/5 ( ratings)

From the Ashes...: The future of the Conservative Party

3.6/5 ( ratings)

Tricks, Tactics, and Techniques from Published Authors

4.6/5 ( ratings)

Four Star Funerals: An Anthology About Death

CXC Study Guide: Technical Drawing for CSEC

3.5/5 ( ratings)

Tricks, Tactics, and Techniques from Published Authors: Thoughts on Traditional vs. E-book Publishing

The Official Vcap5-Dca Cert Guide

Taxi - The Complete Third Season

Belly and Its Power

Thom and Dewey's Walkabout

Edward Bond and the Dramatic Child: Edward Bond's Plays for Young People

40 Days of Transformation: Transforming Your World From the Inside Out

Market Town and Other Poems

Rate this book!

Write a review?