Where SURFING recognizes surfers before they’re recognizable
NAME: Derek Peters
AGE: 17
HOME: Huntington Beach, California
SCHOOL: Coast High School
SPONSORS: Quiksilver, DVS, Jacks, T. Patterson Surfboards, OAM, and D.S.C

When you train with 3-time NSSA National champion Micah Byrne, you’re going to learn a thing or three. 17-year-old Huntington Beach local Derek Peters has been doing just that, and it’s starting to pay dividends.
“Micah has been coaching me for about six months now,” Derek says. “We’ve always surfed together but now I’ve been working a lot with him on improving my turns and technique.”
Both his turns and technique were tested last week at the Oceanside Pier, where he faced Taylor Clark, Jake Halstead, and Parker Coffin in the final of the Open Men’s Division.
Here’s how Derek tells it:
“Once I made the final, all I wanted to do was win. I picked a peak that wasn’t as consistent, but when the sets came there was one really good one per set. Since no one sat with me I just tried to be really patient and go for it on the waves I caught. In the end I came out on top.”
Derek’s been celebrating his win this week with some extra time in the tube, “The waves have been amazing in HB lately— yesterday there were probably some of the best little barrels I’ve had at home all year.”