Surfer, bodybuilder, professor: Meet Greece’s real-life Wonder Woman Alexandra Kolla

She surfs at dawn, lifts heavy weights, and lectures on quantum computing — sometimes all before lunchtime. Alexandra Kolla is redefining what’s possible, both in sport and in life.

The 43-year-old Greek native is on a mission to become the first female surfer from Greece to qualify for the Olympic Games, while also proving it’s never too late to chase ambitious dreams.

 

 

 

 

 

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Kolla’s days begin early. Most mornings she’s awake by 5 or 6am for a four-hour surf session, before heading to the University of California, Santa Cruz, where she is a tenured professor specialising in quantum computing. If she’s not lecturing on campus, she’s conducting research from home, squeezing in another surf later in the day — and at least one gym session somewhere in between.

Kolla’s days begin early. Most mornings she’s awake by 5 or 6am for a four-hour surf session, before heading to the University of California, Santa Cruz, where she is a tenured professor specialising in quantum computing. If she’s not lecturing on campus, she’s conducting research from home, squeezing in another surf later in the day — and at least one gym session somewhere in between.

Her carefully structured routine is rarely interrupted, except during weeks when she’s competing in surfing or bodybuilding events.

So how does she sustain a lifestyle that would exhaust most people?

“Unconditional love for what I do,” Kolla says — along with a healthy dose of stubbornness.

Born and raised in Greece, Kolla didn’t start surfing until she was 20 — an age many consider too late to pursue the sport competitively. Now, more than two decades later, she’s determined to prove that assumption wrong.

“So many people love surfing, but they start late and think it’s not possible,” Kolla told Olympics.com. “I want to show them that you can start in your 20s, 30s or 40s and still become a good surfer. Whenever you start, it’s possible.”

Despite growing up surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea, Kolla had never stepped on a surfboard before moving to California to pursue a PhD in mathematics at the University of California, Berkeley. A casual surfing lesson — intended as a one-off — changed the course of her life.

“It was the place where I could finally be myself,” she said. “I was very high-achieving because of family pressure, and being out in the water took that pressure away.”

But the drive that made her an academic standout soon resurfaced. Surfing stopped being just a release — Kolla wanted to master it.

She quit her job, packed her bags and travelled the world in search of better waves.

“I was terrible at surfing,” she said, laughing. “So I travelled everywhere just to learn.”

For a year, she moved from surf spot to surf spot, taking casual jobs in kitchens and restaurants to fund her travels. A decade later, she’s back where it all began — living and working in Santa Cruz — and competing on the world stage.

Kolla has represented Greece at four ISA World Surfing Games and, alongside Eirini Tsarpali, became one of the first female surfers from Greece to compete internationally in 2022 at Huntington Beach. In 2025, she made history again, becoming the first Greek woman to advance from the main round of the event.

Balancing elite sport, academic excellence and bodybuilding — another competitive passion — Kolla is carving out a path that defies convention.

Her message is simple: ambition doesn’t expire.

And neither do dreams.

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Bill Giannopoulos

Junior Editor

Bill Gee is a journalist covering geopolitics, defence and Hellenic diaspora news.