Daniel Hughes grew up in Surf City USA, Huntington Beach California, which of course provides year-round waves. He began in his pursuit of the ocean when he was just 5 years old, standing up on a bodyboard. When his dad got him a surfboard shortly after, that’s when he became addicted. Daniel first tried SUP in 2007 because his dad had injured his back and he wanted to keep surfing but was having a hard time popping up. They grabbed some paddle boards and went out on the smallest day and were blown away by how much fun they had. Daniel’s passion for the sport has put him in good stead in the competition arena.
Daniel was a major player in pushing the sport’s limits, pioneering aerials and progressive manoeuvres in the early years of the sport. In his first major competition at the Stand-Up World Tour in Huntington Beach 2011 he placed 6th against the best SUP Surfers in the World. A flurry of firsts followed. He won the US SUP Tour Championships in 2014, won the Ventura Paddle Surfing Championships in 2017 and 2019 and won the SUP division at the Surfing Santa Competition in 2017 and 2018, as well as being the Big Air Winner in 2017. His illustrious career reached new heights in 2019, where he represented Team USA at the Pan American Games and won a bronze medal.