A funny story, when I was living in Ohio. My girlfriend at the time and I would visit her grandmother who lived next door to her. Her grandmother said I reminded her of Duke so she started calling me Duke. I had no idea why she was calling me Duke, the only Duke that I knew was John Wayne. Some 15 years later when I started surfing I learned all about Duke Kahanamoku from my trips to Hawaii. I am guessing she gave me the nickname based on my skin color and not my waterman skills in Ohio. She would have been living during Dukes accomplishments as being the fastest human to swim during that time as well as all his Olympic achievements. I am stoked to finally be reading his biography, really inspiring.
