continued
from san juan del sur HOME
The event, held
over the 21st to the 23rd of March also saw teams from Costa Rica, Panama,
Guatemala and El Salvador taking part. Each country entered its best
surfers in the following categories:
Men’s Open,Juniors, Female Open, Long board, Men’s Body
board , Female Body board
The Selection of Team Nicaragua was based on the 11 best surfers according
to the final results of the CLARO National Circuit of Surf 2006-2007,
as follows:
Open Adult Luis Chamorro, Augusto Chamorro, Mario Martinez, Samir Duarte
Juniors Rex Calderón, Junior Martinez, Darwin Jácamo,
Larry Davila
Women’s Open Ashley Blaylock, Elsis Marín
Longboard Roque Calderón, Junior Martinez
Men’s Bodyboard Rex Calderón, Darwin Jácamo
Female Bodyboard Ashley Blaylock
Wednesday the 19th of March, the National Team traveled to Panama City
thanks to Copa Airlines who sponsored 50% of the team’s tickets.
They were met in Panama by Rubén Garcia, the President of the
Panamanian Federation of Surf who accompanied them to Playa Venao, the
event site, in the Province of Los Santos on the Pacific Coast of Panama,
5 hours by highway from the capital City. Thursday the 20th of March
was a training day for Team Nica who dedicated the time to getting to
know the the type of waves that Playa Venao offers, the changes of the
waves according to the tide and the conditions of the wind.
The morning of Friday
21st was the start of the heats in the different categories and by afternoon
they started the first rounds of the Championship. Team Nicaragua managed
to get Luis Chamorro (Open), Rex Calderón (Juniors) and Roque
Calderón (Longboard) through to the second round.
Saturday 22nd, in the second round of the Open class, Luis Chamorro
faced Diego Salgado, of Panama, and the Tico, Juan Carlos Naranjo. Luis
managed to qualify in first place for the semifinal.
Rex Calderón rocked from the beginning heat, demonstrating why
he is such an outstanding surfer on the Nicaraguan circuit.
Sunday 23rd was the semifinals and finals. In the semifinals of the
longboard, Roque did not manage to find any good waves and sadly was
eliminated. Next time Roque, next time.
In the semis of the men’s open, Luis Chamorro faced 3 of the best
professional surfers from Costa Rica: Gilbert Brown, Diego Naranjo and
Luis Vindas. It was one of best heats of the Central American. Wave
after wave, the four demonstrated their dominance with Luis finishing
up in a very credible third place.
In the juniors, Rex dominated from the first wave of the heat. However;
just before they started the finals, the wind changed direction and
the waves lost their good form. Rex was not accustomed to surfing in
the type of winds at Venao since in Nicaragua, mainly in the South part
of the country (where Rex lives), the wind direction is perfect almost
all the year.
The final of the
juniors was hard fought, the difference in points between the four finalists
was minimal, but this didn’t bother Rex, it simply helped to show
his diversity and the level of competition he has in the sport at such
a young age. Mr. Rex Calderón (as he is called by the team) was
crowned the new CENTRAL AMERICAN CHAMPION OF SURF in the category of
JUNIORS! Team Nicaragua burst into shouts, cheers and danced in the
sand amid shouts of Rex! … Rex! … Rex!, while Mr. Rex expressed
his happiness with his trademark smile. A great win not just for Rex
and San Juan del Sur but for the future of Surfing in Nicaragua.
The final team results were:
1. Costa Rica
2. Panamá
3. Nicaragua
4. El Salvador
5. Guatemala
The next Central American Championship of Surf will be in El Salvador
and in 2010 - Nicaragua
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