Centuries of U.S. imperialism made surfing an Olympic sport

As Ford promoted surfing to White Americans, native Hawaiians brought the sport directly to international audiences. George Freeth traveled to California to perform surfing demonstrations for audiences from San Francisco to San Diego as part of Ford’s plan to use surfing to sell Hawai’i. During the first half of the 20th century, the most famous surfer in the world was Duke Kahanamoku. He sparked the development of surfing in Australia and New Zealand after an exhibition tour in 1914 and 1915. Also an accomplished swimmer, Kahanamoku represented the United States at the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm, the 1920 Olympics in Antwerp, the 1924 Olympics in Paris and the 1932 Olympics in Los Angeles, tallying five medals in all.