Surfing Santeños: Dany Torres Lepine
Photo by Jocelyn Mathe for the Journal del Pacifico article, Surfing Santeños
When you head out to the surf breaks of Todos Santos you don’t see many people who can trace their ancestry back through five generations of Todos Santeños, but 23-year old Dany Torres can. While many Mexican residents of Todos Santos prefer to leave the water well enough alone, Dany’s grandfather used to go body surfing at La Poza (please don’t try this at home!) and his father met his Canadian mother while working as a dive instructor in Cabo. It’s a family that clearly loves the water, but it was an American who gave him his first surf board at the age of 12 and, like his surfing American neighbors, it completely changed his life. Now a budding architect in Todos Santos with several projects underway, Dany says “Surfing defines my days. I surf early in the morning during the week because of work commitments, but on the weekend I’ll often surf all day long.” As a dual Mexican-Canadian citizen he has plenty of options for places to launch his career. But for Dany, there’s no place like home. “I’ve surfed all over mainland Mexico, California and Canada and I really love surfing at home the best. Not only are the waves great, but there is no territoriality. I’m actually one of the youngest surfers around which is great because the older surfers are very laid back and really happy to share the waves. That relaxed atmosphere just adds to the magic of this place.”
This profile is part of our article, Surfing Santeños, published in the Summer 2012 issue of Janice Kinne’s Journal del Pacifico.