I'm a couple days off reporting on this, but here's a link to a great article on Surfline about one of my personal heroes, Duke Kahanamoku. Duke was an Olympic gold medal swimmer and legendary Hawaiian surfer largely credited with introducing the sport to the world. He was also incredibly bad-ass.
Long story short, on June 14th, 1925, Duke was picnicking with friends on the beach at Corona Del Mar. The waves were "barn-like" in height and nasty that day, so the group was hesitant to try riding them. Yet, when the swell caused a boat to capsize, Duke grabbed his board and paddled out. He did four trips out shuttling people in. There were 29 people on the boat. 12 survived and 8 of those were rescued by Duke.
Altruism doesn't really play a part in the typical person's motivation to workout. We do it to feel good, to look good, to win races, to attract the opposite sex, etc. So I was a little moved that in this guy's moment of truth, all those years of training and exercise allowed him to put it on the line and help others in a big way. Way to go, Duke.
Love this post.
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