Austin Keen | Back to where it all started

Located along Georgia’s coast, Tybee isn't the kind of place most people associate with surfing, or wakesurfing for that matter.

The waves are inconsistent. The tides can have dramatic effects. The water is shaped as much by sprawling salt marshes as it is by the Atlantic Ocean.

But for Austin Keen, it was the perfect starting point.

His family lived in nearby Savannah, about thirty minutes away, but distance didn't matter. Whenever there was an opportunity to get to the beach, he took it.

“Every moment I could get, it was just, ‘Get me to Tybee. Get me to the beach.’”

The island became both a playground and classroom for Austin, creating a launch point for his journey into a sport that would change his life.

“The waves sucked on Tybee,” Austin laughs. “So I started skimboarding.”

At the time, there was barely a skimboarding community. Most people were riding simple wooden boards bought from local beach shops. Then Austin spotted two riders on fiberglass boards racing across the shoreline.

“It looked like a whole different world.”

From that moment on, he was hooked.

What Tybee lacked in perfect surf, it made up for in opportunity, especially with a little creativity and persistence.

“There was no waves, so we'd see how far we could slide across tide pools,” Austin says. “I think it helped me get really good because I was always learning how to make something out of nothing.”

That mindset would become one of the defining themes of his career.

The topography played a role too.

Unlike the postcard beaches of SoCal, Tybee exists in constant motion. Marshes fill and empty with the tides. Sandbars appear and disappear. Dolphins cut through winding channels. Entire sections of coastline feel untouched by time.

“I think most people don't realize how beautiful this whole area is,” Austin says. “It has such a unique geographical feel.” He pauses. “It's kind of Jurassic.”

There is something wild about coastal Georgia. Less polished. Less predictable. More connected to the rhythms of nature than to tourism or development.

“I miss the marsh the most,” he says. “Whenever I see it, it's the closest feeling I get to looking at a beautiful tropical beach.”

The landscape may have shaped him, but so did the people.

Tybee was a working town. Before the world titles and international travels, Austin spent years washing dishes, cooking in seafood restaurants, bussing tables, and eventually helping build docks throughout the Georgia marshes.

“Honestly, it was probably the toughest work I've ever done in my life,” Austin says. “But I'm so thankful for it.”

After moving back to Georgia and trying to figure out his next chapter, Austin found a job with a marine construction company building docks along the coast. Seemed like a great fit, but the timing, however, had other plans.

What started during the warmth of late summer eventually turned into freezing winter mornings. Some days began at 3 a.m., dictated by the tides. Austin would drive skiffs through the marsh, pulling frozen lines from the water with numb hands before putting in another long day of labor.

“I was getting run down. We'd work strange hours and just keep going,” he says. “It was definitely an experience.”

Looking back, those years provided something bigger than a paycheck. They taught resilience and, most importantly, clarity.

“I think that was the universe kind of kicking me in the ass for coming back to Georgia,” Austin says. “It was saying, ‘You need to be in California.’”

One night, standing alone on North Beach in Tybee, Austin had a moment that changed everything.

“I remember being out there and thinking, this is what I want in life,” he says. “And it's crazy because everything I asked for that night, over the next ten years, somehow came true.”

By the time Austin eventually moved west to California to chase a bigger vision for his future, he carried Tybee with him.

“It's where it all started,” he says. “It was my first connection to the water.”

Years later, after becoming a world champion skimboarder, building a career around life on the water, and helping shape a new generation of watersports culture, Austin still feels the pull of Tybee.

The same tides still move through the marsh every six hours, constantly reshaping the landscape. Sandbars emerge and disappear with the changing water. No two days ever look quite the same.

So it’s no surprise that a place like this fueled Austin’s curiosity and creativity on and off the water.

Growing up, Austin and his friends spent countless hours behind small skiffs and fishing boats, imagining bigger possibilities. Wake surfing wasn't part of the culture. Most people on the island had never even seen a wake boat.

“We thought it was so cool just getting towed behind a little skiff,” Austin recalls. “We'd imagine what it would be like to actually surf that wake.”

Today, those same waterways have become the backdrop for something he never could have imagined as a kid.

An Arc Sport carving through the marsh with a perfect wake trailing behind. The same island. A completely new perspective.

And for Austin, it allowed him to see home through a different lens.

The kid who learned to skimboard on wind swell and tide pools. The teenager washing dishes and building docks. The athlete who left to chase a dream in California.

They're all part of the same story.

And standing in the middle of the marsh, watching the tide move through the grass, it feels like those worlds have finally come together.

When asked what advice he'd give the next generation growing up in places like Tybee, Austin keeps it simple.

“Ride the wave of life,” he says. “Don't get stuck with tunnel vision. Keep following what feels true to you, and don't let anybody tell you different.”

It's the kind of advice that could only come from someone who built a career by making something out of nothing.