I’ve written quite a bit about Duke Kahanamoku in the past, but only recently found out he came down with the Spanish flu and nearly died from it. And it prevented him from what he thought at the time was his life’s ambition.
In 1918 Kahanamoku agreed to be part of a three-month mainland swimming tour to raise money for the American Red Cross. The organization’s humanitarian work was particularly affected by World War I and the pandemic.
Joining Duke on the tour were Harold “Stubby” Kruger and Clarence Lane, also from Hawaii. They swam with local swimmers in meets in over 30 cities, including San Francisco; Seattle; Portland, Ore.; Chicago; Detroit; Boston; Brooklyn, N.Y.; Baltimore; and Philadelphia. Over 100,000 attended.
“Clarence Lane is a sure comer,” Duke said. “The boy is traveling in the water faster than ever and someday will be the swimming champion of the world in the sprints.
“Harold Kruger has no equal in the whole world today in the backstroke distances, and it will be a long time before the world produces another like him.”
Away for months
When he returned to the islands, Duke wrote about the trip in a letter published in The Honolulu Advertiser 102 years ago this week. “I have been away longer than on previous swimming trips,” Duke said.
“When I competed in the Stockholm Olympiad in 1910 I was away nine months from Hawaii. Two or three times since, I have made trips which kept me away five or six months, and the Australian trip also had me away from Honolulu several months.
“Everybody was nice to us in the mainland; they couldn’t have been kinder and the members of the party certainly appreciate it all and we are deeply grateful for the sincere and kind treatment which was accorded us.”
Joining the flying corps
At the end of the trip, Kahanamoku visited friends in the nation’s capital with the hope of joining the flying corps. “I knew personally Lieutenant-Colonel Harmon, and I sought him out in Washington.
“He gave me every encouragement and for a time I thought it would be a go. He sent me to Major Reynolds, head of the Aviation Service. He, too, thought I could make it and recommended me for admission.
“Major Reynolds thought that I had the right build and physique for this branch of the service. He said he would fix it up for me and handed me an application to sign.”
Stricken with flu
Just as he was about to take the physical examination, Duke started feeling ill.
“I met many people and things on the mainland,” Kahanamoku said, “but my encounter with the Spanish influenza, with which I became acquainted in Washington, D.C., was one which will remain green in my memory as long as I live.”
Duke weighed 200 pounds when the flu knocked him out. He was taken to Walter Reed Hospital in Washington, Kahanamoku expert Sandy Hall told me.
Prince Kuhio’s secretary, Angus J. Erly, coordinated Duke’s care at Walter Reed.
“It was highly unusual for a civilian to be admitted to an Army hospital,” Hall believes. “Duke was critically ill for 17 days, and, of course, the prince’s office would do whatever it took to keep the world champion swimmer alive.
“Duke recuperated at Erly’s suburban D.C. home for another couple of weeks until he was well enough to travel home.”
Duke continued, “When I got out, my weight had been reduced to 175 pounds. The way the sickness was sweeping through the mainland I really thought it was goodbye Hawaii for me. Well, I got over it all right and here I am.”
Many in Hawaii were not so lucky. Over 2,500 died from the 1918 flu pandemic. Over 50 million died globally.
Realizing life’s ambition
Duke’s Air Corps dreams ended with the culmination of World War I. “They tell me that I can’t be inducted into service now, since the war is over. I am sorry such is the case.
“My natural bent was to go in the air service. Somehow, I have felt that in this branch I could be of more service to my country than otherwise.
“If I live to be a centenarian I will always be sorry illness should have come my way just at the time I was on the threshold of realizing the ambition of my life — becoming a Yank aviator.
“I recovered slowly and made the trip to San Francisco by easy stages, but I have not given up all hopes of going into the aviation service. I am ready to answer the call now, whatever it may be.”
A midocean celebration
Duke sailed home to Hawaii in November 1918 on the Shinyo Maru from San Francisco.
“The news that the armistice had been signed and that the world war was over, after four years of German atrocities, came to us by wireless aboard ship in mid-ocean.
“For a time the passengers were stunned. They hardly realized the greatness of the news. Then it all burst forth. There was a spontaneous celebration. Everybody cheered and made merry.
“The steamer’s whistle blew for half an hour. Yes, the Yanks and their good European friends sure had the Hun beaten to a frazzle.”
A success all around
“Was the trip a success? Yes,” Duke said, “the trip was a success in every sense of the word, even if I say so myself. We were able to do our little bit for the cause. And the tour advertised Hawaii. No kanalua (doubt) about it at all. Swimming is now all the go in the mainland and I can say that the recent trip was a great boost for the sport everywhere.
“We swam in places where the athletic pastime was hardly known. They are now all doing it. There were more records broken and new ones established by the swimmers of the party than has been known to have been the case in any other trip and tour of this kind.”
Poi and fish
“I got back here today (Nov. 14, 1918) and landed at 4 o’clock, too late in the afternoon for a salt water swim,” Duke wrote.
“But the trip home, especially on the boat from the coast, did me a lot of good. As soon as I landed I went on the scales and tipped the beam at 191 pounds.
“Glad to be back in Hawaii? Well, I rather guess I am. Honolulu looks like heaven to me and early in the morning I expect to take the first dip in the sea at dear old Waikiki since my return.
“Meanwhile, I guess I will have to look around for some kind of a job. It takes money to live and I can not very well do so without going to work.
“Being a world champion doesn’t bring me poi and fish and bread and meat and I have those who are dependent on me.”
Two years later, Duke won two more gold medals in the 1920 Antwerp Olympics. He swam in the 1924 Paris Olympics, finishing second to his friend Johnny Weissmuller.
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