3 August 2021, Senate floor, Washington DC, USA
Thank you, Mr. President. Last week the world saw something that it had never seen before -- surfing as an Olympic sport. The story of how this happened begins with a native Hawaiian named Duke. He learned to swim at Waikiki Beach and went on to win five Olympic swimming medals, including three golds. He pioneered a flutter kick now used by most freestyle swimmers. He was a visionary who after winning gold in the 1912 Olympics pressed the International Olympic committee to make surfing an Olympic sport. He traveled the world to promote surfing, bringing it to the continental United States and to Australia and elsewhere and became known as the father of modern surfing. But more than anything else, Duke Kahanamoku was an ambassador of Hawaii. A reporter once asked him if it was a bigger thrill to win gold or ride those waves. He answered that surfing was a bigger thrill. One century later, Duke's vision of Olympic surfing became a reality. There is nothing more fitting than Hawaii's Carissa Moore winning the first Olympic medal. Look no further than Carissa . Like Duke she shares his native Hawaiian roots and starting surfing at Waikiki beach as a young child. She attended my alma mater, a school that has graduated more than 30 Olympians and President Obama. She became the youngest person ever to win a surfing medal at age three. Today she stands alone as the world's top-ranked surfer. There is a saying that the best surfer is the one having the most fun. And that's unquestionably the case with carissa. She is actually the best surfer, and she's also having the most fun. She has this incredible combination of speed and power in the water and a remarkable humility she carries with herself everywhere she goes. She is an intense competitor who wants to win every event she enters but also wants to see her opponents and more importantly the sport of surfing succeed. She has a passion to be admired and a joy that is infectious. She is, in short, the rare athlete who must be seen to be believed. I know because i have seen it and now the whole world knows, too. After she won the gold medal last week, Carissa spoke of Duke. Quote, “it was beautiful to see his dream come true a century later”. She might as well have been speaking for all of Hawaii. Today we honor Duke and the legacy he left. We honor Carissa Moore for her commitment to inspire the next generation of surfers, especially young girls. And we celebrate the sport of surfing finally getting the recognition that it deserves. Mr. President, I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.
