Surfers Today Feature

A German Perspective on Surfing the Big Waves of Nazare

Surfers Today, one of the world’s leading online surf publications with a global readership, published a feature on Freddy Olander titled A German Perspective on Surfing the Big Waves of Nazare. The article explores what makes Freddy’s story unusual in the international big wave community and what it means to approach Nazare as someone who did not grow up in a surf culture.

Surfers Today covers surfing from every angle, from competitive performance to travel, culture and lifestyle. The decision to commission a feature specifically on the German perspective of big wave surfing reflects the international interest in Freddy’s story and the growing relevance of European athletes in what has traditionally been a sport dominated by Hawaiian, Australian and Californian surfers.

What a German Perspective Means

The concept of a German perspective on big wave surfing is genuinely unusual. Germany has no significant surfing tradition, no prominent coastal surf culture and no established pathway for someone who wants to pursue the sport at the professional level. Coming from Berlin, Freddy had none of the advantages that many of his peers at Nazare grew up with: no beach access, no surf school culture, no community of experienced surfers to learn from in the early years.

This background shapes how Freddy approaches big wave surfing in ways that he describes in the Surfers Today feature. Without a cultural script to follow, he built his approach to the sport from first principles: systematic preparation, obsessive study of conditions and equipment, and a pragmatic relationship with risk that comes from treating big wave surfing as a craft to be mastered rather than an identity to be performed.

Nazare Through Different Eyes

The feature also explores what Nazare looks like to someone who came to it from outside the traditional surf world. The town itself, the harbour community, the rhythms of the winter season, the relationships between local fishermen and international surfers, and the strange combination of ancient fishing tradition and global extreme sports attention that defines Nazare today are all part of the picture Freddy paints in this piece.