Sports in Hawaii

Water Sports

 

Surfing

- Surfing is an ancient traditional Hawaiian sport, practiced since 1500 A.D. Hawaiian people would ride long, heavy, flat boards shaped out of Koa wood. The boards would be roughly 18 feet and weigh around 160 pounds. Surfings’ roots can be followed back to 12th century Polynesia, where surfing was an integral part of Polynesian society. The sport of riding waves spread through Australasia, the Pacific, and Europe as well. The first written account of surfing in Hawaii by a non-native was by the crew of Captain James Cook in 1778, aboard the HMS Discovery and HMS Resolution. In the early 20th century, the sport began to spread around the world through globalization and captivated the minds of many. The sport became immensely popular in coastal areas in the U.S., Italy, Indonesia, France, Portugal, Ireland, Scotland, Japan, Phillippines, and of course, Australia.

One of the world’s first surfing clubs, called the Outrigger Canoe Club, started at Waikiki Beach in Hawaii in 1908 by Alexander Hume Ford, starting the first of worldwide surfing organizations. Surfing’s first championship was started by John Lind at Makaha Beach in 1952. He was the founder of the Waikiki Surf Club, who worked with the Waikiki Lions Club to form the International Surfing Championship. The Championship grew in popularity over the years and began seeing many foreign contenders. The annual Championship lasted for 20 years at Makaha Beach. This competition club later formed the World Surf League.

One of surfing’s greatest ambassadors was Duke Kahanamoku, a three-time Olympic medalist in the 100-meter freestyle swimming, freestyle relay, and 800-meter freestyle relay, who set many long-standing records through his Olympic career. He is a hallowed first member of the International Swimming Hall of Fame, and the Surfing Hall of Fame, and an inductee to the U.S. Olympic Committee Hall of Fame. He is somewhat credited with introducing surfing to Australia, in a surfing display at Sydney’s Freshwater Beach in 1915. He started many surfing competitions, with just as many using his namesake, such as the Duke Kahanamoku Invitational Surfing Championship at Sunset Beach, on the North Shore of Oahu. This competition was renamed to the Billabong Pro in 1985, however. Duke Kahanamoku today is known as a WWII military police officer, Hollywood actor, Hawaii’s Official Greeter, 13-term Honolulu Sheriff, Olympic medalist and record holder, and the Father of Surfing.

In the mid-1900s surfing became more popular across the world, forming many surfing clubs, organizations and competitions. Today, the WSL(World Surf League) holds a world tour from April to December, featuring 11 competitions, starting with the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast, and ending with the Billabong Pipeline Masters. Alongside these competitions is the WSL Longboard Championship Tour, the WSL World Junior Tour, WSL Big Wave Championship Tour, and the Men’s Triple Crown. The most recent winners of the Championship tour are Italo Ferreira (Men’s) and Carissa Moore (Women’s) in 2019. Today, Australia is the highest represented nation to compete in any of the Championship tours, with 74 total competitors in 2019. The first Hawaiian to win a World Surfing Competition (the ISF) was Fred Hemmings in 1968. Since then, only six native Hawaiians have won a World Championship- James Blears(‘72), Reno Abellira (‘74), Derek Ho (‘93), Sunny Garcia (‘00), Andy Irons(‘02-’04), and most recently, John John Florence in 2016 and 2017. For the Women’s World Championship, only three Hawaiian women have won- Margo Oberg (‘77,’80,’81), Lynn Boyer (‘78,’79), and four-time World Champion Carissa Moore (‘11,’13,‘15,’19).

Today there are 43 surfing competitions held around Hawaii, including the Quiksilver In Memory of Eddie Aikau in Waimea Bay, the Vans World Cup of Surfing in Sunset Beach, the Roxy Waikiki Classic in Kuhio Beach, the Volcom Pipeline Pro at Banzai Pipeline, the Da Hui Backdoor Shootout at Banzai Pipeline, and the Reef Hawaiian Pro at Haleiwa Ali’i Beach Park.

Swimming

-The first swimming pools were built at Oahu College, and Kamehameha School in 1888. The first competitions were called “water carnivals”, held in 1905. They featured 200-yard relay races and 25 and 50-yard sprints. In the next few years, many pools opened around the islands as swimming became more and more popular. The first indoor facility opened in 1910, a 75-foot long pool, with a bowling alley at one end. The first major swimming event was held at the Alakea pool in Honolulu, on August 12, 1911. Duke Kahanamoku competed in this first swimming competition, setting American Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) records in the 50 and 100-yard freestyle events. The first Interscholastic Boys swim meet was held in 1917 at Honolulu. The University of Hawaii formed the first collegiate swimming team in 1924.

Beaches

- Hawaii is known around the world for its first-rate beaches. From Waikiki to Kehaka Kai State Park to Queen’s Bath Waterfalls, it’s no wonder the beach and water is a sole part of Hawaiian culture.

Water Polo

- Dan Reaner of the Healani Boat Club organized the first water polo games in 1901, played in Honolulu Harbor instead of a pool. The first collegiate water polo team in Hawaii was formed in 1906 by the Oahu College, with the first match played on February 16, 1907 in the Honolulu Hotel Baths. The first Hawaiian water polo players to be sent to the Olympics competed with the U.S. team in the 1920 Antwerp Olympic Games. Duke Kahanamoku was, of course, on this team and helped them win two games, and finished fourth overall. Informal water polo was played often during the 1920’s and 30’s, with teams from the University of Hawaii, the Outrigger Canoe Club, and Hui Makani Swimming Club. The U.S. Navy also had a polo team, stationed in Pearl Harbor, Honolulu Bay.

Canoeing

-The first canoe races in Hawaii were held after the second wave of Polynesian settlement, in 1200 A.D. Canoes were built out of large Koa trees and made to be very strong and long-lasting. They had to withstand some of the strongest surf channels in the world, all while competing to be faster than an opponent. Canoe races were taken very seriously and remained popular until the 1820s. Native Hawaiians would wager their land, possessions, their wives, and even their lives. Missionaries stopped the tradition, saying the sport and gambling was sinful. The oppression lasted some 50 years until canoe racing was revived in 1875 by King David Kalakaua. The sport continued gaining popularity, and in 1907, the first formal competition took place at Honolulu Harbor and Waikiki Beach. The Hawaiian Canoe Racing and Surfing Association formed in 1950, later became the Hawaiian Canoe Racing Association. Some clubs that featured Canoe racing teams were the Waikiki Surf Club, Hawaiian Surf Club and the Kukui o Lanikuala. The first unofficial championship of canoe racing, known today as the Bakoh Molokai Hoe, was held in Hawaii in 1952, finishing at the Moana Hotel. This was the longest Canoe race held in the world, at 55.6 miles, until 1977, when California created the 60-mile Warehouse International Canoe Race.

Kayaking

-Kayaking was first introduced in Hawaii in 1959, and instrumental in its introduction was John Bustard, vice chairman of the AAU Olympic Canoe Committee. In 1962, Iolani High School in Honolulu became the first in America to establish a kayaking program. Hawaii sent four kayakers to the 1964 Olympic Trials, but they didn’t qualify for the Tokyo Games. The kayaking talent kept improving, and Oahu’s Virginia Moore became the first Hawaiian Olympic kakayer by qualifying for the 1968 Mexico City Games.

Sailing

-The first documented sailing race in Hawaii was in 1850, between the schooners Mario and Kamoi, simply to settle which was the fastest boat. However, both experienced low wind and sailed into Lahaina Harbor simultaneously. King Kalakaua proposed a sailing race, called the Transpac, from San Fransisco to Honolulu. The first race took place in 1906, from San Pedro to Honolulu, covering around 2,223 nautical miles. Hawaii’s Clarence Macfarlane sailed it in just over 12 days, even after experiencing a leaking hull. In the early 1900’s, few sailing races took place around Honolulu and Pearl Harbor, but was eventually curtailed due to WWII. Hawaii’s first Transpac win came from Charles T. Wilder in 1910, from the Hawaii Yacht Club. Duke Kahanamoku was also apart of the Pearl Harbor Yacht Club, then retired from Olympic sporting events, proved himself as a very skilled sailor. The Transpac is one of the oldest sailing races in the United States, the other being the Newport-Bermuda race. The Around the State race was started by the Waikiki Yacht Club in 1972, covering 775 miles and crossing eight islands. Hawaii’s first Olympic medalists for sailing were David McFaull and Mitchell Rothwell in 1976, earning Silver medals in the Montreal Games. Cy Gillette is a very popular figure in Hawaiian sailing, often called the father of sailing in Hawaii.

Kitesurfing/windsurfing-

The sport of windsurfing was started in Hawaii as early as 1935, when surfing pioneer Tom Blake made a surfboard design with a keel, rudder, and sail. Blake named these boards “Iwas” and the first competition was held near the Waikiki Outrigger Canoe Club in 1941. By the early Seventies, enough innovation in board design and popular interest made windsurfing a legitimate sport. 13-year-old Hawaiian Robby Naish won the 1976 world championship and led Hawaii into the world spotlight of windsurfing. Through the Eighties the sport kept gaining popularity worldwide, leading to more competitions and innovations.

Bodyboarding

Bodyboarding is a newer sport, gaining popularity in the Eighties. The first professional competition was the Coca Cola Surecraft Championship in 1981. Bodysurfers use small paipo boards to ride the waves, using their forearms and hands to change direction and perform maneuvers. J.P. Patterson won the first pro event, and he, among others, are credited with starting and mainstreaming the sport. ,

Rowing

Rowing started gaining popularity in Hawaii in the late 1860’s, with the first competitive event in December of 1871. The first rowing regatta was on November 16th, 1875, on King Kalakaua’s birthday. The regatta was very popular over the next two decades, and in 1896, the government established “Regatta Day” on the third Saturday of September. The first organized group was the Myrtle Rowing Club, established in 1883 by M.D. Monserrat. After this club, the Honolulu Rowing Association, the Healani Boat Club, and the Leilani Boat Club formed rowing teams that competed in Pearl Harbor in 1892. By the 1920’s there were five established rowing clubs that competed regularly in Pearl Harbor, and the sport increased in popularity by the year. Iolani High School became the first school in Hawaii to start a rowing club in 1956. In 1964, the Iolani High School Rowing team competed in the Olympic Trials, finishing sixth behind Harvard. They were the first high school team to compete in the Olympic trials. ,

Underwater hockey

Englishman Alan Blake invented Underwater Hockey in 1954, and since then, the sport has gained popularity around the world. 25-year veteran of Underwater hockey Don Andrews traveled to Hawaii and taught the sport to the University of Hawaii’s scuba and dive team in 1986. Two scuba and dive club members, Debbie Goebert and Sheila Gilmartin organized the first Underwater Hockey team for the University of Hawaii the same year. Hawaii hosted the Pacific Coast Championship in 1997, at the University of Hawaii.

Sources

Indigenous sports -

• Spear catching,
• Cliff diving,
• Holua- A sport involves sliding down a hill on a sled, called a Holua. Riders would be given a good push down a dug out path down the mountain. Some riders could go as far as a mile down the hill.
• lava sledding,

Collegiate sports -

• Football,
• soccer,
• baseball,
• basketball,
• tennis,

Misc-  

• bowling,
• boxing,
• tennis,
• rugby,
• soccer,
• football,
• baseball,
• basketball,
• golf,
• polo,
• weightlifting,
• wrestling,
• track and field,
• long-distance running.

Famous Sports Figures-Duke Kahanamoku

Professional Sports -

• Soccer(Team Hawaii '77),
• Football(The Hawaiians '74-'75),

Sports Venues/arenas -

• Aloha Stadium(college football/ProBowl),
• Les Murakami(baseball),

Special Olympics 2019-

References

• Sources-Cisco, Dan. Hawai’i Sports: History, Facts, and Statistics. University of Hawaii Press, 1999. Open WorldCat, http://site.ebrary.com/id/10002265
• Davis, David. Waterman: The Life and Times of Duke Kahanamoku. University of Nebraska Press, 2015
• Robertson, Dawna I. The Marathons of Hawaii. Marathon and Beyond, Jul/Aug 2012, Vol. 16, Issue 4, p114
• Gems, Gerald R. Hawaii as a Cultural Crossroads of Sport. The Athletic Crusade: Sport and American Cultural Imperialism. University of Nebraska Press, 2006, p67-81
• https://www.specialolympics.org/programs/united-states/hawaii
• https://media.specialolympics.org/resources/leading-a-program/program-profiles/HawaiiFactSheet3.4.19.pdf

This article "Sports in Hawaii" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Sports in Hawaii. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.

---