There are many things Pauline Katz could have become: A professional snowboarder or a successful transport planner, for example. Nevertheless, she packed up her tents in Switzerland in her late 20s, handed in her notice to her boss and set off to live her windsurfing dream. In 2023, she made it onto the podium of an international event for the first time at the IWT in Peru. Reason enough to ask her for an interview.
Pauline, you're now one of the best women in the world in the wave, but you only appeared on the World Tour relatively late. What did you do for 30 years before that?
I come from Lake Geneva, but nobody in my family has a windsurfing background. My brother was a professional footballer in Switzerland, my sister was a basketball player and I was always snowboarding and skating a lot. I did learn to windsurf on the lake once, but when it was completely calm. We travelled to France twice a year, so if you were lucky you could glide on a lake with a big sail. So it was perhaps understandable that it took me a while (laughs). What I always found fascinating was windsurfing in the waves. That's why I went to Sylt as an exchange student when I was 17. I thought I could finally learn to windsurf in the surf there...
Sylt for wave entry, that sounds ambitious!
(Laughs) To be honest, it was pretty sobering. I just sat in front of the Windguru statistics with my mate and compared them. Then I had the idea of Sylt. Bingo! After all, there's a World Cup there, so it had to be good. When I got there, the first thing I realised was that I obviously had no idea about waves. I didn't have a driving licence and was only travelling by bike and trailer, so I was tied to the Brandenburg beach. I arrived there in August and only wore a hat and winter jacket for the first few weeks (laughs). Most of the time it was onshore, then I got pretty beaten up in the shorebreak, the year there was really demotivating. After that, I actually only windsurfed sporadically for almost ten years, worked as a surf instructor alongside my studies and finally did my master's degree in transport planning at university. It wasn't until I was 26 that I got back into windsurfing full-time. I flew to Australia, where I also surfed my first real wave. That was a wow effect. After that, I wanted nothing else. I then worked as a transport planner in Switzerland for another three years, but all I really wanted to do was surf.
How did you manage to juggle surfing and work back then?
Every year, I took two months unpaid leave and travelled to Cape Town. At some point, I was suddenly 30 and realised: "If I want to live my dream again, I have to do it now." So I quit my job and did a cash check: I had money for six months, so I packed up the van and planned to fly to Morocco, then later to Australia - but then the pandemic hit and I got stuck and ended up making Gran Canaria my home. I first took a job there for a year in a sail repair shop, but now I'm self-employed and write for various sailing and water sports magazines in Switzerland. Among other things, I am deputy editor-in-chief of Boardsa Swiss board sports magazine. I also work a bit as a teacher at the French school here in the Canary Islands - so I'm quite versatile in terms of my work.
At 30, most people switch from the windsurfing lifestyle to a regular life. For you, it was the other way round. How difficult was the decision to take this step?
A life as a professional athlete has always fascinated me. I actually thought I would become a snowboard pro one day, but I never really dared. I didn't want to miss my chance again. However, the idea of becoming a windsurfing pro wasn't in my head at the time. But I still had the goal of learning the front loop. After one summer I had the frontloop down pat, after the second summer the backloop. Then some people said I should take part in a competition. Because I had no experience of this at all, my success was initially limited, but I now know what's important in a competition, how to approach a heat and so on. I've realised that competitions make sense for me mainly because they help me learn faster.
So competitions are like a little kick up the arse for you to learn new things?
Exactly (laughs). I don't think I would have started practising the pushloop if I hadn't had the goal of performing it at the World Cup in Pozo this summer.
How do you approach things like the pushloop? According to the motto "Don't take too long, head down"? Or is it more planned?
Many people think I'm brave and a daredevil. But that's not the case at all, I have huge respect for heights and falls. I always watch videos of new things first to get a feel for the movement. I also did a few mental exercises with a coach when it came to the pushloop. Then Josep Pons (Worldcupper and trainer in Gran Canaria, the ed.) gave me a few tips. For example, that you turn faster if you take off more on a closehauled course. Then you don't have to be so high. That helped me a lot at the beginning and now I'm going a bit higher bit by bit.
You only started surfing intensively when you were 26. Nevertheless, your level in the waves is now very impressive. Why do you learn so quickly?
I've been snowboarding since I was little and I skateboard a lot. Above all, riding in the bowl helps me for windsurfing in the waves. And apart from that, I surf here all the time with some of the best in the world. Daida (Moreno, the ed.) helped me a lot, especially this autumn when I was injured - she is a physiotherapist.
You had a serious knee injury in autumn 2023, what happened to you?
Ever since the IWT and PWA merged and created a joint World Cup Tour, I realised that I had to train more in right-hand winds. I surfed the IWT event in Peru and finished second on the podium for the first time, after which I flew straight to Maui to train, fully motivated. I wanted to surf there for two months before the Aloha Classic and prepare myself. Unfortunately, I tore the inner ligament in my knee after just ten days. I then had to take a break for a few months and spent a lot of time rehabbing and strength training.
Do you sometimes regret not trying to become a professional windsurfer until so late?
Sure, I would probably be at a higher level if I had taken this path earlier. But as I said, my family doesn't have a windsurfing background, so my parents wouldn't have easily financed my life like that. They never put any pressure on me, but I also wanted to make it on my own and prove that I could complete a challenging degree and stand on my own two feet. That's why my surfing level is perhaps not as high as it could be, but I can approach things with more maturity and composure, which helps me a lot. When I went to my boss in Switzerland and gave notice, I told him that I wanted to learn the three big jumps - frontloop, backloop and pushloop. I managed that, so everything is fine the way it is. The pro life is more of a project for me, not a dream.
If you want to ride the entire World Tour, you need to know. It will cost you 20,000 to 30,000 euros!
Since the merger of the PWA and IWT, the World Tour has become much more diverse than before. On the one hand, it makes things more interesting, but on the other, it puts a strain on the travel budgets of athletes who are not exactly swimming in money. How do you manage that?
I have a permanent job, but I can easily combine my journalism work with travelling. Having worked in Switzerland for several years, I have a few contacts with companies that support me in my current lifestyle as sponsors. I'm also very happy with my sponsor Severne as part of the international team. But if you want to ride the entire World Tour, you have to know that: It will cost you between 20,000 and 30,000 euros.
We are competitors on the day of the competition, but before and after we have to support each other
For the women on the tour, it is sometimes even more difficult than for the men. Do you all tend to be lone warriors or do you support each other?
There are already a lot of women on the tour that I really appreciate. I really enjoy surfing with Lina Erpenstein, for example. She's smart and nice and an incredible windsurfer. Of course, we also try to help each other, there's no other way. For example, I started "Girls on Tour" on social media, which is about creating a certain visibility for the women on the tour. Lina was also involved from the start. We are competitors on the day of the competition, but we have to support each other before and after.
What is your plan for 2024?
Good question (laughs)! Since my knee injury on Maui, I've done very little surfing, but I've done a lot of strength training. That's why I'm really looking forward to the water time this year! The way the event calendar looks this year, I definitely want to take part in the World Cups in Pozo and Sylt. The events in Tenerife, Chile and Maui are also on my wish list, and my goal is to be there too.
