Gilberth Brown placed third in the Pan American Surfing Games in Chile

By Carlos Enrique Brenes – Costa Rica Surfing Federation

The surfer from Limón, Gilberth Brown made history for Costa Rican surfing as he successfully made it to the final moments of the highest level category, the Open.  He ended up in third place in the contest, which granted him the honor of best performance in the Pan American Surfing games in this division.

In the early morning hours, Brown encountered his first obstacle in the final heat of the repechage.  He gave a brilliant performance and after a combination of very strategic waves during the first minutes of the heat, he placed first. He left the respected Brazilian, Eric de Souza in second.  De Souza in second position, made it through along with Brown to the grand finale.

At 1:00 pm, the Open grand finale brought together the Peruvians Gabriel Aramburu and Javier Swayne, the Brazilian de Souza and the Costa Ricans.  Before an audience of more than 1,000 people, who came to point Urraca in Iquique, Brown led the heat after a combination of good moves in a left that gave him the best results.

In the 25 minute final, the performances of the Peruvian and the Brazilian became apparent. De Souza and Swayne received identical scores in two amazing performances, granting them first place in the heat.  This overshadowed the possibility that Brown would achieve the crown.  The Tico surfer tried to redeem himself but the South American´s score was too high.

Brown would break the Open Division record performance of a Costa Rican in the Pan American Surfing Games. In January 2006, Federico Pilurzu earned fourth place in the final round of the Pan American Games in Punta Rocas, Perú.

“My best birthday gift was getting to surf in the finals of the Pan American games where the level was simply incredible.  On top of this, I collaborated with the team to maintain 4th place.  The work that was done was noteworthy”, said Gilberth Brown the day he turned 24 years old.

Women´s
Lisbeth Vindas also saw action today.  But she didn’t make it to the finals the Women´s Division, as she placed third in the repechage final round.

Similarly, the bodyboarder Jimena Calvo placed fourth in the repechage final.

With their team results, the Costa Rican National Surf Team was able to achieve fourth place in the ranks. This followed the surfing great powers of Brazil, Peru and the Chilean hometeam. 

When the “tricolor” team was awarded fourth place they were ecstatic.  The 2007 8th Pan American Surfing Games in Iquique were officially closed with words from the Presidente of the Pan American Surfing Association, Maile Aguerre who referred to this event as the grandest she had ever seen.

For 2008, the Pan American games for the Junior category will take place in Isla Margarita, Venezuela.                                                

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