Roland Lefeuvre (FRA) progresses ahead of defending champion Kai Sallas (HAW) to win the heat of his life
Skindog through to round 5
Excellence from Japanese teammates Taka Inoue (JPN) and Natsumi Taoka (JPN) tops day’s heat totals
Maria Fernanda Reyes (PER) claims victory in stacked, medal-filled battle
The penultimate day of action in the Surf City El Salvador ISA World Longboard Championship (WLC) was greeted with yet another stunning El Sunzal lineup, with corduroy four-to-five-foot swell lining the right point. Men’s and women’s Main Round 4 was completed, along with Repechage Rounds 4 through 7 in both divisions.
The Philippines maintained an extremely narrow lead on the team rankings, sitting just 15 points ahead of France in second place. The team nearly managed to be the only nation to hang on to all four members heading into Finals Day, but lost Daisy Valdez (PHI) in the last heat of the day in a nail-biter. Similar to the Philippines and France, Japan is holding onto three surfers to remain a close third, while Brazil, Hawaii, USA, and Australia sit below in a tight pack, each carrying two surfers in the draw.
Surfing against three longboarders with extensive competitive history, relative newcomer Roland Lefeuvre (FRA) claimed a 7.83 within the final two minutes of the opening men’s Main Round 4 heat to jump from third to first and take a massive heat win over two-time ISA World Champion Kai Sallas (HAW), as well as Johnny Van Hohenstein (HAW) and Jeferson Silva (HAW), who were both sent to repechage, where they were eliminated in back-to-back heats.
Lefeuvre has only been competing for a few years in longboarding, and is appearing in his very first ISA event. The 36-year-old surf instructor from Biarritz couldn’t contain his excitement after the final scores were announced.
“It’s pretty amazing, maybe the best heat of my life,” Lefeuvre said. “I was not stressing. I was like, I have to surf on my best, and not make a mistake. Normally I watch, I know every surfer in front of me, so I know how they surf, and I try to do what they don’t do. I have no plan, just surf, enjoy. The waves are perfect again today. That was the perfect size, and yeah, the perfect weather.”
Lefeuvre will next face teammate Edouard Delpero (FRA), the multiple-time medalist, along with Taka Inoue (JPN), in Main Round 5. Inoue, the defending silver medalist, posted the highest single wave score of the day for the men for the second day in a row. The 24-year-old’s 17.34 heat total, which included the day-topping 9.17, stands second only to Delpero’s Round 1 total in Main Round scores.
Fellow medalists Ben Skinner (ENG) and Rogelio Esquievel Jr. (PHI) also progressed into Main Round 5, where they will meet Sallas, the defending gold medalist, in the second of the two heats in the round.
Inoue’s teammate Natsumi Taoka (JPN) claimed the highest heat total of the day for the women. Since collecting the best score of women’s Main Round 1, the two-time medalist has been building on her performances through the week, today posting her first excellent two-wave total, 16.10. Taoka progressed ahead of Mara Lopez (PHI), who was one of six women to advance into Main Round 5.
WSL Longboard Tour competitors Tully White (AUS) and Sophia Culhane (HAW) were also able to move through to Main Round 5. It was all style and grace for White, whose patient footwork and well-drawn rail carves earned her the heat win over Culhane, who claimed her biggest career victory at El Sunzal in 2023.
Four of the six women in Repechage Round 7 competed in four heats today; Daisy Valdez(PHI), Kaitlin Mikkelsen (USA), Liv Stokes (CAN), and Hiroka Yoshikawa (JPN). Half of the four, Mikkelsen and Yoshikawa, kept their hopes alive. Joining them in moving onto Finals Day was Clinton Guest (AUS), who surfed through another three men’s repechage heats today, the only surfer to survive the repechage draw all the way from Round 1.
Maria Fernanda Reyes (PER) claims victory in stacked, medal-filled battle
Women’s Main Round 4 opened with two-time ISA World Champion Alice Le Moigne(FRA), two-time WSL World Champion Rachael Tilly (USA), Santiago 2023 Pan American Games Gold Medalist Maria Fernanda Reyes (PER), and Brazil’s Kate Brandi (BRA) facing off. The tit-for-tat battle finished with Le Moigne, Tilly, and Fernanda Reyes all separated by just 0.56.
After a long lull to start, Fernanda Reyes claimed the early advantage, posting an opening 6.83, before Tilly and Le Moigne caught waves back-to-back. A shorter ride for Tilly garnered a 6.17, while Le Moigne capitalized on a long wall to earn an 8.33. Fernanda Reyes then upped the ante with an 8.73, before a final exchange saw Brandi, Le Moigne, and Tilly on subsequent set waves. An extended fade into a critical hang-ten from Tilly set up the best score of the event for the women, a 9.23, enough to move her into second behind Fernanda Reyes. Needing a 7.08, Le Moigne’s score landed as a 6.67, pushing her into repechage, along with Brandi.
“It was a heat that felt almost like a final,” Fernanda Reyes said. “Competing against Alice [Le Moigne], a two-time medalist, and also Rachael [Tilly], honestly it was incredible. I just went out there to have fun and catch some good waves at El Sunzal, and I think that’s what helped me advance. I’m grateful to God for allowing me to be here, in such a wonderful place, with people I care about deeply, doing something I love so much that I wouldn’t even call it work, because I truly enjoy competing.”
