Austrian surfers ride for glory in Ericeira

September 6, 2013 | Surfing
Chris Schnitzer: Austrian surfers pull aerials

The Austrian Surfing Championships 2013 will be ridden at Ribeira d'Ilhas, in Ericeira, Portugal, between September 16th-20th.

Although Austria is not blessed with a natural coastline, there is a group of hardcore surfers in the country of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, enjoying river waves in Silz and Graz.

The Austrian Surfing Federation was founded in Graz back in 1997. It aimed at giving Austrian surfers the opportunity to compete in national and international amateur competitions.

From 1997 to 2003, seven Austrian Championships were carried out, and the best surfers had the chance to represent their country in two European Surfing Championships as well as two World Surfing Games.

A new era of Austrian surfing began at the end of 2005, as a new crew of surfers sought to build upon earlier achievements, as well as realize their own ideas and concepts, thus creating a new individual nature of Austrian surfing.

To begin with, the association's name was changed to Austrian Surfing (AS), and its base was moved to Innsbruck.

In 2010, a total of 90 Austrian surfers completed the International Surfing Association's (ISA) surf instructor courses.

Jonas Bachan (Open Men), Lisa Veith (Open Men), Benjamin Richter (Longboard), and Philipp Lamprecht (Masters) are the 2012 Austrian surfing champions.

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