Daniel Kereopa was one of New Zealand's best surfers across the late 90s and early 2000s and travelled the world competing against the best.
But in 2008 his world came crashing down. Across two years he lost all his sponsors, his marriage fell apart, he lost connection with his kids and came about as close to death as possible after a freak accident.
In the midst of a deep depression, and a burnt heart, Kereopa fell out of love with surfing, but used the structure and discipline of karate to help piece his life back together. After becoming a black belt, he returned to the water in 2015 to be crowned The Ultimate Waterman – beating nine of the world's best water-athletes across five different ocean disciplines.
Now his life is all about helping. Teaching kids to surf, to love, and be safe, in the ocean and become better people – through his DK surf school. But he's also under-utilised. He's keen to do more public speaking, mentoring and 'helping'.
