Engrossed in the serenity and peace of the waves, one PVHS senior feels the time slow down as he barrels through the ocean. 

Senior Rodney Buck, a gifted longboard and shortboard surfer, has been chasing the thrill of surfing since he was in elementary school. 

Buck’s enthusiasm for the sport arose from his father’s very own passion for surfing and desire to spend more time together.

“My interest in the sport started with my dad always going on surf trips without me,” Buck said. “Since I wanted to go on these trips, I started surfing and then realized how much fun it is and haven’t stopped since.”

Faced with the initial disappointment of competitions, Buck persevered through the letdowns to become the varsity team captain this year.

“The first year I started doing WSA (Western Surfing Association), I never made the heats but I kept doing them and eventually, as I got better, the next year I started making heats,” Buck said. 

“It felt like everyone had been surfing so much longer than me and it was difficult to catch up.”

Surf is a difficult sport to manage,  and Rodney Buck trains to the weather forecast schedule, not his own.

Buck stated, “My schedule revolves around the surf, which means if the surf is bad then I’m studying for school, but when the surf is good, I’m surfing every chance I get.”