Are the Austrian Surf Team The New Cool Runnings?

The 1993 movie Cool Runnings showcased Jamaica’s first-ever bobsled team’s journey to the 1988 Winter Olympics. Based on a true story, the four-man team had never seen a mountain, let alone snow when they formed the team. In a reverse plot twist, or a Memento-like backwards spool, in early September, the Austrian Surf Team will head from the mountains to the sea to compete in the ISA World Surfing Games. The Games are one of the major qualification events for the 2028 Olympic Games. Last year 3X World Champion Gabriel Medina claimed the win in the Men’s division.

“It’s a dream come true for us and a big moment for Austrian surf history,” said Maria Lechleitner, who will compete against legends like Sally Fitzgibbons in El Bocana, El Salvador, from September 4 to 15. “We may come from a landlocked country, but passion knows no borders.”

The Austrian Surf team, a.k.a No Borders Surf Crew, consisting of Marlene, Maria
and Manuel have theire own Cool Running-style journey. Yes, because of the fact that Austria has no sea they all 3 come from a landlocked country and as children, they gained their balance more from surfing in deep snow than on waves. The spirit of community is one of the most important motivating factors for the three. That is why they have chosen the ISA World Surfing Games 2025 as their competition, as it is all about the team ranking.

Maria was raised in a small village in the Austrian Alps and hadn’t seen the ocean until she was 19 years old. On a holiday to Biarritz, her world exploded.
“I remember perfectly sitting on the beach for hours while staring at people riding waves,” she said. “I couldn’t believe what I saw and knew I needed to try surfing. Three weeks later, I booked a trip to a surf camp in Portugal. When I caught my first wave, I was completely hooked. It has really changed my life for the better.”

Like Maria, the Austrian Surfing has worked their way up step by step to get to the ISA Games. They’ve held their national championships in Ericeira, Portugal, each year, and then competed in the European Championships. With no federal government funding, all their travel, equipment, entry fees, training, and content have been completely self-funded. Now they are heading to the world stage and are determined to give it everything they’ve got.

“Our passion for surfing has taken us far beyond borders, coastlines, and expectations,” said Paulitsch, the 2022 Austrian Surf Champion. Paulitsch will head to Central America and compete in a field that includes CT surfer Morgan Cibilic and the Olympic gold medalist Kauli Vaast.

"For us, it's not just about performance, but above all about team spirit, fairness and passion for the sport." said Marlene. She was born in the federal state of Upper Austria, where there is now even one of the largest artificial waves on a river, but that possibility to get into the sport was not there at the time when Marlene discovered surfing as her passion. In addition, like most surfers, she also thinks that although it is a good opportunity to try out the sport, it is still very different from surfing real waves at the sea.

Now in Cool Runnings, the lead bobsledder said, “If we look Jamaican, walk Jamaican, talk Jamaican and IS Jamaican, then we sure as hell better bobsled Jamaican."

You can substitute Austrian for Jamaican, and while the Austrian accent might be a little less pleasing on the ear, you would get the same sense of the pride, hard work and passion that the Austrian Surf team will be bringing to the ISA Games in a few weeks' time. For a small, mountainous, landlocked country, just getting to compete against the world’s best on one of surfing’s biggest stages has been an incredible achievement.

And it’s just the start. We’ll be following their journey and if you want to help, you can buy some cool tees at the online shop No Borders Surf Crew, which supports landlocked surfers, or donate on their GoFundMe page.