China’s Olympic surfing scout makes waves in North Korea after finding the first break
- Nicola ‘Nik’ Zanella spots a break in North Korea on Google Earth and seeks permission to find the wave and introduce locals to surfing
- The Italian fosters surfing in China and becomes a scout for talent when the sport is added to the Olympics
There may be just one surfer in North Korea, introduced to the sport by an exploring Italian who spotted a break on Google Earth. Now other North Koreans are following suit.
“Nobody likes to surf alone,” said Nicola ‘Nik’ Zanella, coach of Lee Sung-chol, possibly North Korea’s only surfer. “Sung-chol told me that he wished he had people to surf with.”
Zanella, 53, started surfing at 14, part of the “first generation of Italian wave riders”. He mapped out the surfing spots of Italy, explored the waves around the world and then edited a surfing magazine. Zanella, who studied Chinese literature and philosophy at university, started coming to China in the early 1990s, first to learn the language, then to surf.
“In surfing circles, I am known as a surf explorer and the go-to guy for surfing in unusual places,” Zanella said. One day in 2015, he saw images on Google Earth of waves breaking on North Korean shores.
