Countdown for the ISA World Surfing Games 2008

The Portuguese waves of Costa de Caparica welcome the biggest surf show of the planet….And the forecast shows perfect conditions

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ISA World Surfing Games
October 8, 2008
Costa de Caparica, Portugal

Costa de Caparica’s waves in Portugal are eager to receive the best surfers of the globe, who will be representing their countries in the event known as the “Olympics of Surfing” that will take place from October 11-19 on the beautiful Portuguese coast.

More than 200 surfers from 27 different countries will be participating in the ISA World Surfing Games. They will look forward to achieve the biggest reward an athlete can dream of: to honour their country with an excellent performance, to fight for a place in the podium so that the nation they are representing has a place in the overall nations ranking. This important list defines the most developed surfing country in the planet.

This is why each team have gathered their best and most patriotic athletes. The defending Champion, Australia, Gold Medal in three out of the six Games, will travel to Portugal with the great WCT surfers like Kai Otton, Dayyan Neve and Claire Bevilacqua and the Junior World Champion and WCT star 2009, Sally Fitzgibbons.

On the other hand, United States, Gold Medalist Team in 1996, will challenge everybody with 2001 World Champion, CJ Hobgood, who has recently won the ninth stage of the World Tour at Mundaka’s waves, Spain. Another WCT member, Ben Bourgeois will be there as well, and also the great young sensation Nat Young.

Brazil, always a favourite in the ISA World Surfing Games, will participate with the Longboard World Champion, Phil Rajzman. The solid Tahitian Team will count on the current Under 16 World Champion, Tamaroa McComb and the former Open World Champion, Hira Terinatoofa –Ecuador 2004-. South Africa will have the Longboard Defending Champion, Matthew Moir and Great Britain with the runner up, Ben Skinner. The host team, Portugal, is hoping to see the great Golden and Silver Medal winners in the last Games, Manuel Centeno and Hugo Pinheiro, winning again.

Other standouts to consider that will be competing in the next edition of the World Surfing Games are: former WCT surfer, Maz Quinn from New Zealand, the Latin American Champions Gabriel Aramburu, Gabriel Villarán –both from Peru-, and the Argentineans Martín Passeri and Martín Pérez –in Longboard-, the bronze medal winner in the last Games, Natasha Sagardia from Puerto Rico and the copper medal winner, Heloise Bourroux from France.

Besides the all the important names, the most important thing for the next “Olympics of Surfing” is the peaceful union of the different colours, creeds, races and languages of the planet, showing that through surfing the world is a better place.
The ISA World Surfing Games’ greatest protagonists are all those that gave the best of themselves to reach the Portuguese coast and defend their flags. Whether they are German surfers of the North Sea, Italians from the Mediterranean or Baltic Sea Swedes; or they can be Americans from the golden Californian sands, Israelis from the Mediterranean, or surfers from the Peruvian Pacific - it doesn’t matter if it is the one-man team from Guatemala, the Australian team with fifteen members or the Ecuadorian one with four athletes - the huge honor to represent each country is what matters in the
Games that will be carried out from October 11-19.

IMPORTANT TIPS
Waves forecast
According to the forecast provided by the world leader in Surf Forecast, Surfline, a strong storm has developed in the North Atlantic which will arrive at Iceland in the next 48 hours so we can expect a good north-west long period swell, overhead waves, and if this isn’t enough, the wind will be offshore.
To make things even better, another swell will be arriving at the coast in the middle of the week, also with offshore winds.

The defending champions are:
-Manuel Centeno from Portugal in Bodyboard Men
-Mathew Moir from South Africa in Longboard

History
The first ISA World Championship happened in 1964 in Sydney, Australia and was won by the native Bernard “Midget” Farrelly among the men and his countrywomen Phyllis O´Donnell.

From then on, fifteen World Championships were held. In the beginning, and until 1976, they were organized by the International Surfing Federation – ISF. From there onwards, the International Surfing Association supervised the world championships.

In 1996, to demonstrate that surfing can be part of the Olympic Games, ISA President Fernando Aguerre created the concept and name World Surfing Games, in which the best surfers of every country in the world confront each other in a single event, establishing the different world champions and the Surfing Medal Board that designates the most developed surfing nation.

Champion Nations:
2006 –Huntington Beach, United States-: Australia
2004 –Salinas, Ecuador-: Australia
2002 –Durban, South Africa-: South Africa
2000 –Maracaípe, Brazil-: Brazil
1998 –Carcavelos, Portugal-: Australia
1996 –Huntington Beach, United States -: United States

The Arena: Costa de Caparica
Costa de Caparica is a 13-km long coastline located in the central Portuguese shore, half hour away from Lisbon International Airport.
It is a chain of very consistent left and right beach breaks isolated in some beaches by jetties. It receives swells from the South and West and their different variations. It starts to break with waves half-a-meter high and above, and supports up to 8-feet swells.

The itinerary –subject to changes-
October:
9 Team registration
10 Team registration
11 ISA’s Judges Seminar, Judges and Managers Meeting. Opening Ceremony with the Parade of Nations and Sands of the World Ceremony
12-19 Competition
12- ISA Biennial General Meeting
13- ISA Annual General Meeting
19- Final day of competition
20 Departure Day

Courses and Meetings
During the event, an ISA Level 1 Judges Seminar will be administered to all the judges present and there will be a meeting by all the Chiefs of Judges to set the guidelines for the following days of competition.
The ISA Annual and the Biennial General Meetings will take place on October 12 - 13. These will be of fundamental importance since two of the four Vice President positions will be elected.
Live feeds will run from: www.wsg2008.com
Or via www.isasurf.org

For further info and free high resolution photos, please contact International Surfing Association, Media Manager, Pablo Zanocchi at pablo@isasurf.org.
Portuguese Media contact: Gonçalo Bettencourt at goncalo.bettencourt@freelance.pt

PHOTOS
Usage-free high quality images each day’s events will be available for worldwide press use at www.wsg2008.com.

About International Surfing Association
The International Surfing Association (ISA) is recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as the World Governing Authority for surfing, bodyboarding and surfriding. It was originally founded as the International Surfing Federation in 1964 and has been running world championships since 1964 and the Junior World Championships since 1980. 

ISA membership includes the surfing National Governing Bodies (NGBs) of over 50 countries on six continents. Its headquarters are located in San Diego, California. It is presided by Fernando Aguerre, first elected in 1994 in Rio, and re-elected six times since.  The ISA's four Vice Presidents are Alan Atkins (Australia), Robin de Kock (South Africa), Maile Aguerre (Hawaii) and Mike Gerard (USA).

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