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George Freeth
George Douglas Freeth Jr. (November 8, 1883 – April 7, 1919) was an American lifeguard, surfer, and swimming instructor of English and Native Hawaiian descent. His mother's side of the family ranked among Hawaiian royal ministers under King Kalakaua. His father's side of the family traced its ancestry to senior officers in the British military. Freeth's youth was spent in and around the ocean at Waikiki where he learned to swim and dive with local children. He later helped to renew interest in the traditional Hawaiian sport of surfing at Waikiki in the early twentieth century. He then popularized the sport in Southern California when he arrived in Los Angeles in 1907.
Freeth worked as a lifeguard throughout his nearly dozen years living in the Golden State and helped to build the foundation for the state's professional lifeguard service. His contributions also include competing as an amateur and professional swimmer and water polo player. He became a well-known swimming coach as well while working at the Los Angeles Athletic Club, training Olympic swimmers such as Duke Kahanamoku, Ludy Langer, and Ray Kegeris.
Freeth moved to San Diego in 1916 and helped to spread the popularity of surfing and swimming while employed as a swimming coach at the San Diego Rowing Club. He also continued his work as a lifeguard. He contracted the flu during the pandemic of 1918 and died in San Diego in April 1919. His contributions to California beach culture helped to create the state's renowned traditions in lifeguarding and surfing.
Freeth was born in Waikiki, Hawai`i. His mother, Elizabeth "Lizzie" Kaili Green, was the daughter of William Lowthian Green, a prominent English politician in Hawai'i. Freeth's maternal grandmother, Elizabeth Lepeka Kahalaikulani Grimes, was of Native Hawaiian and American descent.
Freeth's father, George Douglas Freeth Sr., came from a distinguished British military lineage. Freeth's paternal grandfather, James Holt Freeth, and great-grandfather, Sir James Freeth, were both high-ranking generals in the British army. Freeth Sr. was born in Hythe, Kent, England, and spent several years in Ireland during childhood, perhaps the origin of the myth that Freeth's father was Irish (Freeth's life and his contributions to surfing and lifeguarding are a significant part of the documentary film Waveriders even though Freeth was not Irish).
Freeth had three brothers (William, Charles, and Alexander), and two younger sisters (Marjorie and Dorothy).
Freeth grew up in Waikiki, and his Hawaiian culture encouraged him to spend time in the ocean. Aquatic sports were a large part of his early youth, where competitions (such as rowing and diving) allowed Freeth to develop the water skills that he would use throughout his life. Freeth is quoted as saying, “I can not remember the day when I couldn’t swim. The first days I can remember were those spent at Waikiki Beach, four miles distant from Honolulu, Hawaii, where, with hundreds of native boys, I swam and dove a greater part of the time.” Freeth grew up in the last years of the Hawaiian monarchy before American businessmen forced Queen Liliʻuokalani from power in 1893 during the Overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom.
His youth included much travel—his father moved the family frequently due to his many business enterprises, at one point moving to Laysan island. Laysan was (and is) home to a large migrant seabird population that produced guano, which Freeth Senior's company mined for fertilizer. Freeth spent more than a year on the small island alongside the Japanese immigrant workers his father employed. Laysan and the surrounding ocean became a playground where Freeth swam and developed other aquatic skills in the waves. When he was fourteen (1897), his father took him for a summer to Clipperton Island and another guano mining business.
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George Freeth
George Douglas Freeth Jr. (November 8, 1883 – April 7, 1919) was an American lifeguard, surfer, and swimming instructor of English and Native Hawaiian descent. His mother's side of the family ranked among Hawaiian royal ministers under King Kalakaua. His father's side of the family traced its ancestry to senior officers in the British military. Freeth's youth was spent in and around the ocean at Waikiki where he learned to swim and dive with local children. He later helped to renew interest in the traditional Hawaiian sport of surfing at Waikiki in the early twentieth century. He then popularized the sport in Southern California when he arrived in Los Angeles in 1907.
Freeth worked as a lifeguard throughout his nearly dozen years living in the Golden State and helped to build the foundation for the state's professional lifeguard service. His contributions also include competing as an amateur and professional swimmer and water polo player. He became a well-known swimming coach as well while working at the Los Angeles Athletic Club, training Olympic swimmers such as Duke Kahanamoku, Ludy Langer, and Ray Kegeris.
Freeth moved to San Diego in 1916 and helped to spread the popularity of surfing and swimming while employed as a swimming coach at the San Diego Rowing Club. He also continued his work as a lifeguard. He contracted the flu during the pandemic of 1918 and died in San Diego in April 1919. His contributions to California beach culture helped to create the state's renowned traditions in lifeguarding and surfing.
Freeth was born in Waikiki, Hawai`i. His mother, Elizabeth "Lizzie" Kaili Green, was the daughter of William Lowthian Green, a prominent English politician in Hawai'i. Freeth's maternal grandmother, Elizabeth Lepeka Kahalaikulani Grimes, was of Native Hawaiian and American descent.
Freeth's father, George Douglas Freeth Sr., came from a distinguished British military lineage. Freeth's paternal grandfather, James Holt Freeth, and great-grandfather, Sir James Freeth, were both high-ranking generals in the British army. Freeth Sr. was born in Hythe, Kent, England, and spent several years in Ireland during childhood, perhaps the origin of the myth that Freeth's father was Irish (Freeth's life and his contributions to surfing and lifeguarding are a significant part of the documentary film Waveriders even though Freeth was not Irish).
Freeth had three brothers (William, Charles, and Alexander), and two younger sisters (Marjorie and Dorothy).
Freeth grew up in Waikiki, and his Hawaiian culture encouraged him to spend time in the ocean. Aquatic sports were a large part of his early youth, where competitions (such as rowing and diving) allowed Freeth to develop the water skills that he would use throughout his life. Freeth is quoted as saying, “I can not remember the day when I couldn’t swim. The first days I can remember were those spent at Waikiki Beach, four miles distant from Honolulu, Hawaii, where, with hundreds of native boys, I swam and dove a greater part of the time.” Freeth grew up in the last years of the Hawaiian monarchy before American businessmen forced Queen Liliʻuokalani from power in 1893 during the Overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom.
His youth included much travel—his father moved the family frequently due to his many business enterprises, at one point moving to Laysan island. Laysan was (and is) home to a large migrant seabird population that produced guano, which Freeth Senior's company mined for fertilizer. Freeth spent more than a year on the small island alongside the Japanese immigrant workers his father employed. Laysan and the surrounding ocean became a playground where Freeth swam and developed other aquatic skills in the waves. When he was fourteen (1897), his father took him for a summer to Clipperton Island and another guano mining business.