Sponsored and supported by Nixon, DC, GoPro, burn, Quicksilver, Slingshot, vault and Dakine, Jan is always on the road, hitting surf, kite and wake sessions whenever and wherever he can. This gives him the possibility to combine what he loves most: sports and traveling. Besides being busy with his sponsor affiliations, the 1988 born water enthusiast is also co-editor of the Polish surfmag.

It’s safe to say that Jan’s discovery of the first Polish river waves has set river surfing in Poland in motion. We are already curious where Jan and his friend will be off to next time on their mission to discover the yet unexplored river waves of Poland.

Jan’s list of records

• Second in Kitesurfing Slider World Championships Pkra 2006 Venezuela
• Polish Champion ’06 In kitesurfing
• Polish champion ’08 in surfing
• Vice Polish Champ in Kitesurfing ’08

Find out more about Janek

Website: janekkorycki.com
Write-up on Riverbreak: River Surfing in Poland — Chasing the Perfect Wave

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The tattoo on his breast “The Ocean is My Home” reveals that for Chris, surfing is not just a sport, but a real way of life. When his grandmother from Idaho called for help, his surfer lifestyle was suddenly at risk. Leaving the islands and the waves would mean leaving surfing behind. Even so, he decided to make the change and take on family responsibilities.

The Fire

Living in Idaho, far from the nearest shore, was not the worst thing that would happen to Chris. One night he awoke to thick smoke and found his house ablaze. While he was able to escape the flames, his grandmother perished in the fire. At that time he felt as if he had lost everything.

Hitting the rivers of the American West was like a rebirth for Chris. Facing personal adversity, he found himself again in riding waves in rivers.

Life After Tragedy

Even though Chris felt an immediate urge to return to Hawaii, he first went down to the river to hit the water. He claims that the moment he discovered river surfing was like a rebirth that helped him cure his soul and overcome the tragedy. His story was since made into a film by Forge Motion Pictures, called “The Warrior”.

Redefining “Home”

Chris’ home is still the ocean, but the definition of his “The Ocean is My Home” has widened a little. For him, the ocean and rivers are inevitably connected: at the end of the day rivers are the origin of the ocean.

More of Chris

Browse through our photos, videos and stories to see more of Chris’ surfing: Chris on Riverbreak

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Flo started surfing at the age of 15 in Brasil and on the French atlantic coast. When he moved to Munich to study, Flo first came into contact with riversurfing at the Floßlände, but, already being a seasoned ocean surfer, soon made the transition to the Eisbach wave.

Flo keeps bringing skateboarding tricks into the world of river surfing.

A New Kind of Surf Style

Flo Kummer founded the FUS Crew, a group of dedicated river surfers looking for perfect river waves around the world and bringing tricks from the skateboard repertoire to river surfing. The German crew was also the surprise winner of the 2011 inaugural Nike Chosen Crew Video Contest, a competition of 1,700 skate, BMX and surf crews from around the world. The “FUS Jam”, a competitive freestyle surf event in Munich with emphasis on fun and entertainment, is also a must-see for river surfers and everyone who is interested in the sport.

Flo’s List of Achievements

• 1st place FUS Jam 2010
• 3rd place Sur f& Style 2010
• 1st place FUS Jam 2012

Video Flo Kummer

More about Flo

Browse through our photos, videos and stories to see more of Flo’s surfing: Flo on Riverbreak

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After he started river surfing at the Floßlände wave in 2001, Tao has worked his way up to one of the most popular figures in river surfing. Today, he is a local Munich institution and one of the riders who are constantly pushing the boundaries of river surfing in the pursuit of radical new manoeuvres.

Besides surfing rivers, Tao is running his own business as an independent industrial designer. He also co-founded with Felix B Accessories (surf accessories) and Big Ding (a homegrown surfboard repair kit). The repair kit is an affordable alternative for small and big dings, especially useful for Eisbach surfers as dings are pretty much unavoidable in the long run. At the moment Tao is a team rider for Quiksilver, Planet Sports, Swox and Fatum Surfboards. Among his appearance in a 2009 SexWax brand commercial, Tao appears in numerous surf videos and magazines.

Competitive River Surfing

Recently Tao landed the first ever 360 shove-it at Munich’s Eisbach.

Tao is one of the few surfers that actually master a solid bottom turn at the Eisbach. It’s not an everyday thing to see a river surfer finishing off a deep bottom turn with a nice snap and buckets of spray. Such maneuvers are kind of a trademark of Tao’s fast and vigorous approach to river surfing.

Tao’s list of records keeps growing too. In August 2012 he won the 2nd Surf & Style Contest (European River Surfing Championships) at the Munich Airport. On the outdoor artificial wave Tao came out first, just after Quirin Rohleder (2nd), Gerry Schlegel (3rd) and Jan Vogt (4th).

River Surfing Trick Pioneer?

Recently, after some 50 attempts, Tao Schirrmacher landed the first 360 shove-it at Munich’s Eisbach. It’s pretty safe to say that this was the first ever landed 360 shove-it on a surfboard in a river. Check out the vid here: Premiere: The First 360 Shove-it on a Surfboard.

More of Tao

Browse through our photos, videos and stories to see more of Tao’s surfing: Tao on Riverbreak

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Gerry has won the Munich Surf Open four consecutive times.

Gerry has been surfing the Eisbach in Munich, Germany, since 1991 and won the Munich Surf Open four consecutive times. He is a member of the FUS Crew (Germany’s top riversurfers on the hunt for perfect river waves), works as an independent software developer and is also a widely respected ocean surfer, having won the ADH Open in 2007 and 2009.

Gerry’s List of Records

1st place Blue Games 2005 (Overall), 1st place Austrian Riversurf Open 2005 and 2006 (Overall & Best Trick), 1st place Eddy’s Riversurfjam 2007, 1st place O’Neill FUS Jam 2007 (Best Run), 1st place Munich Surf Open 2006, 2007, 2008 & 2009, 1st place Islas Canaries Surf Jam 2009 (Best Rider), 1st place King of the Küste 2011 and 2012, 1st place Surf&Style EM 2011.

Surfing on the Edge

Gerry has surfed the most dangerous river waves in the world, for instance “Hawaii sur Rhone”, “La Malate” and the tidal wave “Seven Ghosts“. In interviews he reported having witnessed the tragic death of a female surfer in Fuerteventura and also talks about the dangers of riversurfing – eddies, rocks, whirlpools and trees. So, if an extremely skilled surfer like him respects rivers, everyone of us should do as well.

More of Gerry

Browse through our photos, videos and stories to see more of Gerry’s surfing: Gerry on Riverbreak

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As one of the founding fathers of the sport, Eli has long been a huge inspiration for lots of river surfers around the world. His travels brought him to the remotest corners of the Earth — constantly on the lookout for fresh, unsurfed river waves. There’s probably not a single, serious river wave out there, which Eli hasn’t surfed yet. His record stands at some 200 river waves surfed.

Surfing Runs Through his Blood

Having surfed over 200 river waves, Eli is kind of the godfather of river surfing.

Biographically, Eli had already inscribed the sport of surfing into his genes. His great-uncle, Dempsey Holder, was one of the first big-wave surfers and his dad, Jeffery Simmerman was a surfer too. Eli started bodysurfing at the age of eight, and surfing at the age of twelve. Relatively soon, he discovered his passion for larger waves and surfed the “Killers” (Todos Santos) and then the infamous Mavericks in Northern California.

It’s not an everyday thing that big-wave surfers develop a passion for (relatively) small river waves. Eli is an exception to the rule. He started river surfing at the age of 27 when he realised that he just has to take a look at rivers (as opposed to the ocean) to find untouched and uncrowded waves everywhere. Since then, he began to explore river waves across the world.

Taking a Break from River Surfing

It’s safe to say that Eli was one of the early pioneers who helped give the small river surfing community a voice and emancipate the sport from ocean surfing. Today, Eli lives in Oregon with his four kids and his wife. In the last couple of years it got quiet around Eli, but he ensured me that he’s still in love with river surfing as much as he did when he first started. Let’s hope we’ll soon hear back from the man who has been surfing anything and anywhere.

More of Eli

Browse through our photos, videos and stories to see more of Eli’s surfing: Eli on Riverbreak

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