MILLENNIUM MOMENT

The man usually credited with introducing surfing to the United States

caught some of his first American waves in Corona del Mar.

Duke Kahanamoku, an Olympic swimmer, surfer and all-around athletic

phenomenon, spent a lot of time in the 1910s and ‘20s riding the

longboard-friendly surf of Big Corona, turning local residents on to the

Hawaiian surfing lifestyle and the secrets of redwood board construction.

Kahanamoku is also famous for a rescue he carried out near the entrance

to Newport Harbor in 1925. The surfer was waking up from a snooze on the

beach when he spotted a boat capsizing in heavy surf. Kahanamoku plucked

seven men out of the water, carrying them back to shore on his heavy

wooden board.

* MILLENNIUM MOMENT celebrates the people who have made a major

contribution to the Newport-Mesa community during this century.