The Duke is simply the most important surfer in the sports history. The Hawaiian wasn’t the first man to surf, or to surf in front of people from around the world, but he was surfing’s first global ambassador. He brought surfing to mainland USA and Australia, and laid the building blocks for the whole global surfing community.

His demonstrations were legendary and he wowed the average to joe on the beach right up to fully fledged royalty. One of the reasons he was able to spread the word so wide was due to his status as an Olympic champion, winning gold in swimming in Stockholm in 1912 and then two more post World War 1 in 1920. He is known as the Grandfather of modern surfing and much of the success and status of the sport can be traced back to the Duke.