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Costa Rica Wins
3rd Consecutive Central American Surf
Championship
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Costa Rica Wins 3rd
Consecutive Central
American Surf
Championship
Playa Venao, Panama –
The Costa Rica National
Surf Team, for the third
consecutive time in the
three-year history of
the Central American
Surf Championship
tournament, came away
yesterday with the
coveted trophy.
The award was bestowed
yesterday, in Playa
Venao, Provincia de
Todos Los Santos, Panamá,
to the 15-member
National Selection, who
had finished three-days
competition in the III
Campeonato
Centroamericano de Surf
de Panamá 2008.
In addition to the
overall title and
trophy, Jaco’s Jason
Torres and Nataly
Bernold, surfed to 1st
placed in the Open and
Women’s categories and
were rewarded for their
work at the Central
American Surf
Championships. This,
after two years in the
tournament where both
athletes managed to be
left as runners-up—2nd
place in 2006 and 2007.
The Open division’s
final heat was filled
entirely with Ticos.
Torres, Matías Braun
(Montezuma), and Luis
Vindas (Jaco) stole the
show for those who were
waiting until the end of
the event in Venao.
Thus, Torres’
surge—obtained in strong
onshore winds as the
heat entered its last
minutes—included two
waves: one of 6.5, and
one last one of 9.0.
This left Braun as the
2nd place finisher,
although, he was,
without a doubt, the
surfer who gave the
public two days of
spectacular surfing,
including Saturday’s
perfect 10.00 wave. “All
at the end of the Open
heat, I remembered
everything in the past
two years, and I
thought, this time, I
could not waste the
opportunity to finally
be #1 in Central
America. And, I did it,”
said a euphoric Torres
once he left the water.
For her Women’s
division, Nataly Bernold,
surrounded by
Panamanians in the final
heat, managed to
demonstrate her talent
and capacity to meet a
challenge at critical
moments of competition.
This year, she added an
international titled to
her personal account.
This was a major
surprise, considering
that two-time Central
American Surf Champion
Lisbeth Vindas (Jaco)
did not manager to
classify for the
semifinals, where she
was passed by
Panamanians Sonia García
and Tanya Correa. It
looked like Vindas
suffered from bad wave
selection, and this
resulted in her losing
her title.
“To tell the truth, I am
very I happy,” exclaimed
Bernold. “I pursued this
so hard, and after three
years I obtained it.
Now, I need to move
ahead and get more
international titles.
That is my priority.”
In the Juniors, the only
Tico left in the finals,
Jaco’s Anderson Tascón,
did not rise any further
than 4th place, allowing
the Nicaraguan Rex
Calderón the
much-deserved title with
an exquisite handling of
his board. In this
category, the Juniors of
Costa Rica who were in
the semifinals—Jairo
Pérez (Jaco) and Carlos
Muñoz (Esterillos)—remained
stragglers.
The female Bodyboarder
Jimena Calvo (Jaco)
surfed excellent for her
country at the III
Campeonato
Centroamericano de Surf
de Panamá 2008. She
fought very hard in her
final heat and harvested
her first international
title for Bodyboard
Women’s. In the
masculine Bodyboard
division, Joan Mojica
and Jeffrey Gómez (both
Jaco) also made it to
the finals. While their
performances were of
top-quality, just Mojica
earned the
subchampionship.
In Longboard, again the
Ticos made the final
heats with both Cedric
Auffret (Tamarindo) and
Mauricio Umaña (Jaco)
surfing for the
trophies. However, 1st
place went to Wilbert
Alvarenga of El
Salvador.
“We obtained objective
number one and we took
the title for our
country,” said José
Ureña, President of the
Federacion de Surf de
Costa Rica and the
Technical Director of
the Costa Rica National
Surf Team. “Although we
did not win every single
individual category,
that was not my favorite
thing, Jason is the Open
Champion and Nataly the
Women’s Champion. And,
we ARE the Central
American Surf Champions
and that is the reason
we came!”
As to the feeling of
Costa Rica National Surf
Team themselves: “OE, OE,
OE, OE, OE, TICOS, TICOS,”
rang the shouts from the
winners platform on
Playa Venao as the Ticos
raised their Central
American Surf
Championship trophy high
above their heads.
Results III Campeonato
Centroamericano de Surf
de Panamá 2008:
1) Costa Rica
2) Panama
3) Nicaragua
4) El Salvador
5) Guatemala
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Costa Rica Team [Foto:
Agustin Muz] |
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