Daniel
Koval

DOB: 08/16/1987

Height: 6’1

Weight: 175lbs.

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Sponsors: Double K wetsuits- Korea, Suunto Watches, Cetma composites-Italy, XDubai

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Daniel loved the water as a kid and grew up in Orange, California, always an athlete through out his childhood starting with Soccer and moving from sport to sport trying to find the sport he liked the most. He had a hard childhood as his parents split up at the age of 12. Due to the split his family was poor staying with other families while his mom worked as hard as she could to keep her 3 kids in private schools. With the chaos of the divorce that lasted 5 years going back and forth from home to home, Daniel's only escape was sports, and once in a while waking up at 4am to catch some surf before school with his brother. However, because the ocean was an hour away the inconsistency caused Daniel to never really find his place in the water when he was surfing, trying to compete with adults for waves.

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Using sports as an outlet to combat what was going on in his life, Daniel wanted to disappear from the world, and realized that when he was underwater all the troubles in his life would cease to exist. After a trip to Hawaii with his grandparents to the same spot where he now trains full time for his competitions, Daniel realized this is where he wanted to be, it was so quiet beneath the sea and in nature. On Daniel's 19th birthday with $1000 in his pocket he moved to Hawaii to change his life.

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Daniel is now recognised internationally as one of the best freedivers in the world. His relentless drive and passion for the sport has led him to become one of the top freedivers in the World.  He coaches himself along with his partner Kristin Kuba who is also one of the top female freedivers in the US.