Darryl "Flea" Virostko is a professional "big wave

Big wave surfing

Big wave surfing is a discipline within surfing in which experienced surfers paddle into or are towed onto waves which are at least 20 feet high, on surf boards known as "guns" or "rhino chasers". Sizes of the board needed to successfully surf these waves vary by the size of the wave as well as...

" surfer

Surfing

Surfing' is a surface water sport in which the surfer rides a surfboard on the crest and face of a wave which is carrying the surfer towards the shore...

 from Santa Cruz, California

Santa Cruz, California

Santa Cruz is the county seat and largest city of Santa Cruz County, California in the US. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, Santa Cruz had a total population of 59,946...

. He graduated from Santa Cruz High School

Santa Cruz High School

Santa Cruz High School is a comprehensive public school in Santa Cruz, California which opened in 1897 and now serves an enrollment of about 1,040 students in grades nine through twelve.- Notable alumni :...

 in 1991. He is a three-time Mavericks

Mavericks (location)

Maverick's or Mavericks is a surfing location in Northern California, U.S.A.. It is located approximately 2 miles from shore in Pillar Point Harbor just north of Half Moon Bay at the village of Princeton-By-The-Sea. After a strong winter storm in the northern Pacific Ocean, waves can routinely...

 competition winner. Virostko appears as himself in the surfing films Riding Giants

Riding Giants

Riding Giants is a 2004 documentary film directed and narrated by Stacy Peralta, a famous skater/surfer who helped define modern skateboarding. The movie traces the origins of surfing and specifically focuses on the art of big wave riding...

, Step Into Liquid

Step Into Liquid

Step into Liquid is a documentary about surfing directed by Dana Brown, son of famed surfer and filmmaker Bruce Brown. The film includes surfing footage from the famous Pipeline, the beaches of Vietnam, and some of the world's largest waves, at Cortes Bank...

, and Billabong Odyssey. Surfer

Surfer (magazine)

Surfer magazine is a monthly surfing culture magazine published in San Clemente, California.The magazine was founded by John Severson in 1959 as a program to accompany his yearly surf films...

 declared his 2004 wipeout on a 50-foot wave at Waimea Bay, Hawaii, the "Wipeout of the Decade".

As of 2009 Virostko is a recovering addict, and runs a program, "FleaHab", to teach other recovering addicts how to surf and be active while learning a new way of life. He starred in The Westsiders a documentary film

Documentary film

Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...

by Josh Palmer that chronicles his difficult upbringing and addiction to drugs, on the west side of Santa Cruz.