Tony Palmer, Matt Chojnacki, Dukes Day 2026 (PEOPLE 2026)

Duke Day, Freshwater Beach, 2026. Matt Chojnacki, holistic surf mentor, surf historian, WSL commentator and lifelong longboarder, enters the waters where Duke Kahanamoku introduced surfing to Australia in 1914, paddling both a traditional longboard and an Aliaia, an ancient Hawaiian surfboard design newly shaped by Tom Pōhaku Stone, cultural practitioner and master board shaper, and gifted to the Cecil Healy family during the celebrations. It was Cecil Healy, the Australian swimmer who first invited Duke to Freshwater, whose invitation brought Duke here, where he famously hand-carved a surfboard from local sugar pine and gave the exhibitions that introduced board riding to Australia. More than a century later, the tradition lives.

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