Zane Schweitzer is “jonesin’ to surf.” I know this because in the two and a half days we’ve been on New Zealand’s North Island for the second running of The Ultimate Waterman, I’ve heard Zane say so multiple times each day. He’s definitely the most energetic person on this trip. Just yesterday, when Schweitzer and the seven men he’s about to compete against jumped in the ocean to represent the Mauli Ola Foundation and surf with kids battling Cystic Fibrosis, everybody was given the “Five more minutes” warning from the beach. Zane and the two young brothers he’d taken under his wing, Taylor and Jordan, stayed in the water at least a half hour past that. So having just met the guy less than 72 hours before all this I’m getting the impression these are all “Classic Zane” anecdotes.
It’s day three of the trip and the competitors have just wrapped up the official opening ceremony of The Ultimate Waterman – paddling a Waka Taua out to meet another traditional Maori vessel, the Waka Hourua. Now, finally, Zane is about to get his first real free surf. He’s the only taker of the group, willing to drive about 45 minutes to North Island’s west side for some waves. The other competitors are all passing on the opportunity. Tomorrow is the first of eight events in the competition so they all plan on resting. Not the Maui born member of the Schweitzer family though. Zane’s grandfather filed the very first windsurfing patent in 1968. Zane’s father is an 18-time World Championship Windsurfing title holder. The family has a surf camp in Maui. So, as you can see, being in the ocean is a Schweitzer family thing. “It’s just what we do,” he says.
During the 45 minute drive Zane shows me some clips and photos of his trip so far. He finished runner up on the 2015 SUP World Tour, has surfed Jaws and Mavericks, was a Junior World Champion windsurfer, and is one of the best SUP surfers in the world. But even with an expertise on all these different water crafts you’d still do a double take coming across one particular photo from before he left Maui. It’s Schweitzer making a swooping frontside bottom turn on a less than inviting wave…on a SUP…which happens to be perched atop a hydrofoil. You know, the same foils Laird uses to tow into monster waves? Oh, and unlike the big wave version we’re used to seeing equipped with boots and bindings, Zane is cruising this hydrofoil/SUP hybrid with no bindings or straps keeping him on top of his board. It looks hard enough.
Then he flips to the next shot. The board is now upside down, Zane is air born, and the hydrofoil is about to punch Schweitzer somewhere between the sternum and the throat. It looks like it’s going to be painful.
As far as Zane can recall, he’s only seen one other person try to surf a hydrofoil strapless atop a SUP. And that other person is pretty good at it. So Zane wants to do it better. Apparently the inspiration to give it a try came during a trip to Austria, when somebody riding an air chair blew his mind, launching, spinning, and flying through the air. “With the amount of skill and expertise that that guy has put into it, imagine what you could do surfing on wave. Like, actually surfing, maneuvering on a big wave,” he says. “So I got inspired by that, put it on a stand up paddle board, and just realized ‘I’m gonna kill myself doing this shit.’ So I think I’m gonna take a break from that. SUP hydrofoiling is like playing soccer with scissors in both hands.”
Classic Zane.
Everybody in the car laughs at the punchline, but the guy’s onto something. And it’s not even necessarily the hydrofoil-atop-a-SUP-with-no-straps, rather what probably inspired it all to begin with. When you’re dying to get in the water so often regardless of the conditions, the board, the location, or the people you’re with, you’re inevitably going to enjoy the ocean however you can. I think that’s why Zane’s been jonesin’ for a surf so hard these last few days. Just lead the guy to water, find a ripple that breaks, and he’ll figure out a way to ride it. Considering he’s competing to hold the title of the world’s best all-around waterman these observations seem to fit together. It’s easy to see why he’s been invited to The Ultimate Waterman and easy to see why he’s so good at what he does, which is a mixture of anything and everything that puts him in the ocean. Nobody could have this much enthusiasm and not be great.
We finally get to the beach and the waves are ugly. Victory at Sea comes to mind, to put it frankly. The wind is howling. Some of the waves look like they’ll let you have a section. Some of them just look sketchy. All of them look “bad” relatively speaking. Naturally, Zane Schweitzer is practically running to the water anyway. And not surprisingly, the guy is ripping.
Classic Zane.
Editor’s Note: Learn more about The Ultimate Waterman, the athletes competing for the title, and follow them on Facebook here.
