It’s long been accepted that Duke Kahanamoku “brought surfing to Australia” but like most things American, this is fake news!
Familiar with Australian surfing history? You’ve likely heard the heroics of The Duke; A charismatic, musclebound, Hawaiian, Olympic swimmer with perfect teeth and a cartoon superhero’s chiselled mandible, wowing the Sydney crowds in the summer of 1914-15 with his wave-riding grace, casually picking out a teenage girl on the Freshwater shores to take her for a tandem ride. He even went so far as, when asked by reporters if there were sharks in the water, to say “Yeah, plenty.” Did they bother him? “No, but I didn’t bother them.” Right’oh mate.
The throng lapped it up. A superb showman, a supreme athlete, written into history it went, this gregarious gallivanter brought surfing to Australia on 24 December 1914. Merry Christmas! But with a claim this huge – bringing surfing to one of the most surf-obsessed countries on Earth! – why has no one scratched the surface to see what’s what? Why are we so eager to hand our most prized possessions to foreigners?
Time to set the record straight. Allow me to introduce the true pioneer of Australian surfing, Tommy Walker. Born in 1890 in Marrickville, moving to Manly in his youth, Tommy was described in 1911 as “the well-known shark-catching sportsman who is practically as much at home in the water as a duck and who is continually up to all kinds of jokes.” Nicknamed Looney “because of his daredevil acts in the water due to the big waves he would tackle off Manly, and because he dived into shark-infested waters to retrieve his fishing bait.”
It’s even suggested Duke wandered over Queenscliff headland to “introduce surfing to the nation” at Freshwater because the Walker brothers were too busy tearing the bag out of North Steyne. The PR campaign photos wouldn’t look quite so impressive if they were taken beside Tommy and his band of wave-riding brothers, especially considering Walker’s preferred surfing stance – upside down, whistling the Tipperary!
The Hawaiians of course deserve the credit for pioneering wave-riding itself. Indeed, Tommy first got his hands on a surfboard thanks to his globetrotting aboard shipping vessels. Landing in Waikiki in 1909 to see the thrill of wave-riders, he purchased a board for “two dollars”. Returning to Australia, with older brother William and younger brother Russell, the Walker brothers were instrumental in the surf carnival demonstrations from Manly to Yamba, ‘shooting the breakers’ well before 1914. Pivotal to the surf life-saving movement, they were members of Manly Seagulls Surf Club from inception in 1911.
The next generation Walkers comprised another pioneer, Ainslie Sprint Walker, William’s son. A Manly surf champion, as genetics would decree, when transferred to Melbourne, Ainslie was disappointed with Port Phillip Bay. In search of “broken water”, he ventured to Sorrento, discovering perfect surf going unridden. You beauty! Pragmatic, rather than cart his behemoth board each weekend, he’d bury it in the sand! Ainslie’s adventures soon took him west, to surfing Mecca, Bells! Inspired by loneliness, he had to convince others to join him on these epic missions. Imagine that call up? What an honour. In the 1940s he helped establish the Torquay Surf Club, before serving as Surf Life-Saving Australia’s national President from 1947 to 1970.
Thank you Duke but the time has come to pay homage to The Walkers, Australian surfing’s Australian founders.
Huge thank you to Alan Fawcett, dedicating countless hours research to prepare this article.
History in the making
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