17-Year-Old Montauk Surfer Chase Leider Makes Team USA

Before Chase Leider of Montauk could even speak a full sentence, he was climbing on top of surfboards.

“My dad put me on the front of the surfboard when I was maybe 2 years old,” Lieder said. “Could barely talk, just started walking, but I was surfing.”

Fast forward 15 years and he is set to represent Team USA at next year’s International Surfing Association World Surfing Games. By finishing in second place in the USA Surfing Championship and Team Trials in Oceanside, California earlier this past month, the 17-year-old surfer earned a spot on the national team roster.

Lieder’s success at such a young age isn’t all that surprising to those that know him well. His father, mother and grandfather all have left their marks on Montauk’s surf scene.

“My grandpa was a surfer throughout the ’70s,” Lieder said. “He opened up a couple of surf shops back then. And now with my mom and dad, it’s a family thing.”

“As the older surfers in Montauk, we couldn’t be more proud of his accomplishments,” Lieder’s father, Craig Jr., said. “He grew up surfing with the best of the best on the East Coast and he is extremely proud of where he comes from.”

Lieder still remembers the day when his longboard surfing career on Long Island kicked into full gear.

“I was like, 3 or 4 years old and I remember my dad was going off to work one day, and I was just super bummed that he was leaving,” Lieder recalled. “But then he made a call to open up a surf shop and I started surfing ever since.”

Lieder is on a longboard almost every day of the year, and that’s part of the work ethic that’s helped him become a four-time national champion. “I surf all year round. It doesn’t matter if it’s snowing, raining, sunny or foggy,” he said.

Lieder has already won four national championships, and he continues to train across the globe all year round. In just the next few months, he expects to take to the waves in El Salvador, Mexico and Hawaii. But Long Island will always be his home.

“It’s a really tight-knit community. The surfers here are really good and the best all come from the East Coast,” Lieder said.

And he’s beyond stoked at the opportunity to represent his country as an East Coast surfer, calling the opportunity “freaking awesome.”

Even with some of his fellow competitors having upwards of 10 years of experience on him, Lieder isn’t concerned about the age gap.

“I kind of get along with older people way better than I do with younger kids because I’ve always hung out with them. But it’s super cool to be the young gun on the team, you know?” he said.

Despite his overwhelming success, the teenager has a bigger goal in mind.

“Long Island is very sport based. Most of my friends don’t surf,” Lieder said. “My main goal is to inspire kids, just open up their minds to go surf and just be connected with the ocean.”

The 2024 ISA games are set to take place in Puerto Rico from February 22–March 2 and will also serve as the final qualifying event for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

“Montauk is so stoked and excited for him we can’t wait to see what’s next,” Craig Jr. added.