Zeitler can shred the hell out of a standing wave but has found the challenge of the ocean a whole new game. Photos: Courtesy of Janina Zeitler
For a girl from Munich, there’s no proven blueprint on how to become a professional surfer. Janina Zeitler, who hails from the landlocked south of Germany, has had to improvise and dream her own path to the pinnacle of surfing. It’s a path that she hopes will lead from the rivers of Munich to a spot on the WSL Championship Tour.
Zeitler first stood on a surfboard on the standing river waves of Munich when she was 12 years old. She quickly progressed and worked her way up to surfing the “Eisbach,” Munich’s premiere river wave, and became European rapid surfing champion in 2016. But as a young girl, particularly after watching the film Soul Surfer, she was always inspired to take her surfing to the ocean.
In 2019 she entered her first QS event and in 2023 she earned her best results with a ninth place finish at the QS 1,000 Animal Pro in England. Now the 23-year-old Zeitler has committed to ocean surfing, travels frequently to train in the Canary Islands, finished 25th on last year’s European QS ranking, and is also an alternate on Germany’s national team for the ISA Olympic qualifier in February. She’s still a long way away from the top four finish that she’ll need to qualify for the Challenger Series, which feeds five women per year into the CT, but she’s certainly not lacking dedication or confidence to make her dreams come true.
“I’m still trying to bring my freesurfing into competitive surfing,” said Zeitler. “I have a coach who I do all the QS events with. But since I started very late, I don’t have as much contest experience as other competitors. I feel like slowly, I’ll really be able to put my freesurfing into competition. Right now, ocean surfing is my priority. Every now and then I still enjoy surfing the rapids because it’s something different, but my main focus is qualifying for the Challenger Series this next year.”
That’s a backhand attack worthy of any wave on the planet.
According to Zeitler, there are aspects of rapid surfing that do carry over well to the ocean. She says that when she’s surfing the rapids a lot and goes back to the ocean, she notices improvement. There are also elements of style and flow that she thinks translate well between the two disciplines.
However, the differences between the ocean and the river have also presented a challenge for her. These difficulties include surfing much heavier on the front foot in a river, different techniques for hitting the lip of an ocean wave, and being able to read ocean conditions.
“Reading waves is my biggest challenge,” said Zeitler. “I’m getting better and better, but I feel like sometimes I’m missing this – being 100 percent connected to the ocean and a wave. I haven’t spent as much time as other girls in the ocean. My biggest challenge is to be one with the ocean and have this feel for the waves.”
Zeitler acknowledges that this lack of ocean knowledge has manifested as errors while surfing heats.
“A lot of times I just don’t have enough patience and go for a wave,” said Zeitler. “And then the big set comes afterwards. This is something that can happen to anyone, but I feel like I’m getting better. It’s good that I know I have to work on this because then I can really change it.”
Zeitler has set her sights on understanding competitive strategy. She’s got the athleticism part down.
Coming from a landlocked country, Zeitler was shy about surfing in the ocean at first. She assumed she was worse than her competitors because she wasn’t born near the sea. And while her family support has always been unwavering, her peers back home in Munich fed the insecurity. Many of the people she grew up with criticized or doubted her career choice, recommending she focus more on being a social media influencer than actually winning contests. However, Zeitler’s biggest takeaway after having a few years of competition under her belt is a newfound confidence.
“I was always thinking about other people and never really focused on myself,” said Zeitler. “It really showed in my results. So now I’m working with a sports psychologist (provided by the German National Team) and it’s actually helped me to just think about myself, believe in my surfing, and have this confidence. Competitive surfing taught me that you need a personality and to really show it in the water.”
Zeitler knows that the road ahead of her will not be easy given the level of competition in the European region. But she also thinks that the allocated slots for women are outdated. Only 48 women make the Challenger Series, and of those, just the top four Europeans are included.
Whether she makes the tour or not, Zeitler’s surfing is fun to watch.
“Right now there are so many good girls,” said Zeitler. “I don’t think that this number (of regional qualifying slots) represents the talent anymore. I feel like there needs to be more girls. The level just keeps rising so they need to adapt and open more spots.”
The path that Zeitler has taken to the ocean is anything but normal, especially for someone with ambitions to reach the Championship Tour. There’s no one exactly like herself from which she can draw inspiration, but she does admire and try to emulate the surfing of talented athletes like Carissa Moore, Steph Gilmore, and Bethany Hamilton.
As Zeitler is focusing on surfing far from her home, coincidentally, Germany’s first wave pool is set to open soon in her hometown of Munich. She’s sure she’ll use the pool for training and even is optimistic that it will improve the talent level of young landlocked kids dreaming about surfing as she once did. But she also acknowledges that a pool will never be enough. “You need to be in the ocean, feel the currents, and gain knowledge of the spot,” said Zeitler.
If you don’t know who Zeitler is, she’ll be looking to change that in 2024 with her full focus on competition. But regardless of her results, Zeitler represents something bigger than herself. As the sport continues to grow and reach new corners of the world far away from oceans – especially with the proliferation of wave pools – she can be a role model for those who want to follow in her footsteps.
“It’s always hard to relate to someone that grew up their whole life in the ocean when you’re just so different,” said Zeitler. “So that’s also what I’m now hoping, that maybe I can inspire other girls from Germany. It’s actually possible to transition from rapid surfing to ocean surfing. It was not so easy when I was in that situation and that age.”
The Munich surfers who come after her may not need to dig so deep for confidence, as Zeitler did, knowing that path has been paved.
