World Games Day 2

World Games Day 2

GBs Luke Dillon (above) got through to the third round yesterday and will face Italo Ferreira. Stan Norman (below) won his heat against Gabe Medina and Frances Joan Duru. Ok Gabe was a no show, however we are still going to claim it. Irelands Gearoid McDaid put in a great performance taking out Australias Ryan Callinan in his second round heat. Stan and G Man are in the same round three heat. Ellie Turner (below) and Lucy Campbell both finished fourth in her women’s round 2 heat and will surf in the repechage.

Day 2 of competition at the 2021 Surf City El Salvador ISA World Surfing Games saw more world-class action, including the women’s first chance to compete on the global broadcast at La Bocana.

After having run round 1 at El Sunzal the previous day, Women’s Round 2 moved over to La Bocana where fans all around the world could tune in. The women did not disappoint, putting on impressive performances throughout the afternoon in a building swell arriving to El Salvador.

“We have an incredible record amount of women competing,” said ISA President Fernando Aguerre. “There are 121 women here from all continents of the globe, representing the leaps and bounds of growth that women’s surfing has experienced in recent years.

“We’ve made promoting gender equality in surfing an integral part of our mission, and through initiatives such as equal slots in competitions, the ISA Scholarship Program, and free judging courses for women, we are seeing our efforts progress. In the past 3 editions of the event we’ve seen records broken in female participation, a great sign for the future of the sport.

“47% of competitors are women at this event, and we hope to get that to 50% soon, if not more.”

Irelands Gearoid McDaid above.

Filipe Toledo outperforms the field

Brazil’s Filipe Toledo continued the strong showing for Team Brazil, complementing the standout performances on Sunday from his teammates Gabriel Medina, Italo Ferreira, and Tatiana Weston-Webb. Toledo earned the highest heat total of the day by showcasing his repertoire of aerials to earn 17.7 points.

“With everything going on in the world it feels good to have some laughs and a good time,” said Toledo. “It’s amazing to be here seeing all these different countries, all these different talents. It was hard to imagine that I was going to be surfing against someone from a country like Russia. It’s really cool that it’s an environment full of happiness and everyone is having a really good time.”

Brazils Italo Ferreira above.

Toledo advanced through his Round 2 heat as well to remain well positioned in his pursuit of a Gold Medal.

ISA’s Carissa Moore shined on the women’s podium by grabbing the first 9-point ride of the event, beautifully connecting maneuvers from the top to the bottom of the El Sunzal point.

El Salvador’s Bryan Perez pleased the host nation with more superb surfing. The Pan Am Bronze Medalist and Olympic hopeful advanced easily through Men’s Round 2 with a heat total of 14.16.

The future is bright for surfing in Senegal

After advancing through Women’s Main Event Round 1 on Sunday, Senegal’s Imane Signate fell to the Repechage Rounds on Monday, however she spoke about the importance of her participation in this event for surfing at home in Senegal.

“I think it’s very important to be part of this World Championship,” said the 22-year-old Signate.

“Being a woman and surfing in Senegal is not always easy because there are not many of us and it’s not really considered a female sport. Being here is already really good and it shows that there are some Senegalese women up and coming. I may be one of the first but I know that there will be a lot in the future.

“Surfing is really going to help develop Senegal. Just us being here alone makes people think about Senegal. It puts us on the map as a destination to surf.

“Competing among the world’s best surfers has been really impressive for me this week. I am learning a lot and I hope I can apply it to get better waves in my next heat.”

Spain’s Ariane Ochoa going for Olympic qualification

The competition within the competition continued to intensify on day 2 – the Olympic hopefuls are seeking out the final 5 slots for men and 7 slots for women for Tokyo 2020.

Spain’s Ariane Ochoa is one of those Olympic hopefuls, focused on earning her slot in Surfing’s Olympic debut.

“It’s incredible that this year we have nearly as many women as men,” said Ochoa. “We have the will to compete and I think we are demonstrating that we are capable here today.

“It’s an amazing experience to be competing for Olympic qualification, but it’s a really intense journey. It’s great to see our sport becoming more professional, which it was lacking a bit in the past. I just hope that I can form part of this Olympic cycle.”

Day 3 of competition will feature the first elimination Repechage Rounds of the competition. Repechage allows surfers to get a second chance to advance through the event and an opportunity to advance the long way back into the Grand Final. A surfers that loses in Repechage is eliminated from the event.

The 2021 Surf City El Salvador ISA World Surfing Games runs from May 29 – June 6. Follow the event with live broadcasts, news, videos, photos, schedules, results, and more on isasurf.org.

GB Surfing

GB Surfing

Photo: Sharpy

The Scottish Surfing Federation (SSF) has confirmed today that the postponed qualification event for the GB Surfing Team (who will go to the Olympic qualifiers in May) due to take place last year, has been given the green light by authorities to take place in Thurso on Saturday 10th and Sunday 11th April 2021.

The event will bring the home nation surfing federations of England, Scotland and Wales together as their surfers (4 men and 4 women from each federation) battle it out for the 6 spots on the GB Team going to the Olympic qualifier in May ahead of surfing making its long-awaited debut at the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics this summer.

This special event, the first time it has taken place in Caithness since the 80s and the first time the event has been back in Scotland since 1992 will be hosted by the SSF with support from the local North Shore Surf Club. It will be one of the first events to take place this year as part of Scotland’s Year of Coasts and Waters 20/21.

The event will follow Government guidance and will be subject to very thorough and stringent Covid-19 protocols.

This elite sport event which is part of the 2020 Olympics qualification pathway will be closed to spectators but the surfing action will be broadcast via a live stream on the Scottish Surfing Federation’s website: thessf.com

Jason Simpson, chairman at the Thurso based North Shore Surf Club said: “The event is a welcome boost for our newly built surf club hut at Thurso-East as the revenue provided from the Scottish Surfing Federation for the use of the facility at events like this is important for the building’s upkeep and maintenance. We are also very proud to have so many NSSC athletes represented on the Scottish team and are excited to see if any of them can make it onto the GB Olympic Surfing Team.”

Paul Bush OBE, Director of Events at VisitScotland said: “We are delighted to be supporting the British Surfing Championships & British Cup as part of the Year of Coasts and Waters 20/21. Scotland offers the perfect stage for sport and the Thurso coastline will provide a dramatic backdrop to this Team GB qualifying event.”

William Watson, president of the Scottish Surfing Federation said: “This event would not be possible without the support of our main sponsors who we would like to give a huge thanks to: Highland Council, Caithness & North Sutherland Fund and EventScotland as part of the Year of Coasts and Waters 20/21.

Event Organiser, Pat Kieran MBE, said: “This event will be unlike any other in previous years with the new normal we are now living in. However, we are delighted to be able to offer surfers across the UK this opportunity and have been working very closely with the SportScotland Institute of Sport who are guiding us through the very stringent path for government approval to allow this to happen.”

Iona McLachlan, who is the current Scottish Women’s Champion and the owner of local surf school North Coast Watersports based out of Dunnet, said: “It has been a real shame that other surfing competitions have not been able to go ahead due to Covid, so it will be really exciting to get the chance to compete again.”

Andrew MacKay of the Pentland and Caithness Collection Hotels, said: “SSF events have been hosted at our hotel annually for the past few years, so the return of competitive surfing to Thurso; albeit a smaller event with many restrictions; is a welcomed boost for our businesses and we look forward to looking after the travelling elite surfers that will participate, whilst also ensuring they are Covid safe and fed, whilst being able to adhere to the sporting quarantine rules throughout the competition until their departure.”

England’s first ever Adaptive Surfing Open

England’s first ever Adaptive Surfing Open took place on Saturday the 16th September in the stormy seas of Watergate Bay in Cornwall. As 18 adaptive surfers from the UK, USA, Italy & France competed across five divisions to take the inaugural titles.

The event, which was the first of its kind here in England, follows a global push to celebrate and provide for adaptive surfing. An integral and developing part of the sport for surfers with a variety of disabilities, and an area lead by the the world governing body, the international surfing association.

The surfers competed in divisions based on their functional surfing ability; Prone Division, Sitting/kneeling Division, Assisted Division, Open Division & Standing Division. The conditions were less than ideal with autumnal low pressures kicking the sea into motion and heavy rain, but nothing would dampen the spirits of the surfers as they enjoyed a day of rivalry and socialising. As contest organisers seeked to learn for the development of additive surfing, as well as identifying potential Team England athletes for the upcoming World Adaptive Surfing Games in California.

“Today was a momentous day that’s been a long time coming, surfing as a sport holds many possibilities but seeing the impact of today’s event is reminder that it’s more than just a sport. We hope that people across England take inspiration from what’s been achieved here today, we certainly have and are committed to ensuring this event is a firm fixture on our annual national events schedule” said event manager Nick Rees.

Surfing England have worked in collaboration with partners Surfability UK, The Wave Project, Help for Heroes, Operation Surf, The Endeavour fund & The Wave to put the event on and ensure a positive experience was had by all. As well as sponsors Caravan & motorhome club, Korev Lager, Dryrobe, GoPro, Pacsafe, Stance, Jeep & Surfdome.#

Standing
1 Benoit Moreau
2 Pegleg Bennet
3 Michael Taylor
4 Charlotte Weston
5 Louis Sutton
5 October Hamlyn-Wright
7 Laurent Marouf
7 Fabio Secci

Assisted
1 Martin Pollock
2 Ethan Jolosa

Prone
1 Bruno Hanson
2 Spike Kane

 

Sitting/Kneeling
1 Sponge Williams
2 Jake Green
3 Martin Pollock
4 Spike Kane

Open
1 Benoit Moreau
2 Yannis Karakousis
3 Jeremy Waite
4 Laurent Marouf
5 Gemma Gibs