Source: Guatemala Surfing Association - www.asosurfguatemala.org
Cristian “Machete” Méndez shows his weapon: Experience
The second stage of the National Surfing Tour was carried out with success. Even though some surfers who were in the water took fright at some telluric movements that had affected Guatemala, this didn’t prevent athletes from living with emotion of the finals from the ten different divisions.
The most expected one was the Open final where the participants were professional surfers who had been classified by zones in the preliminary rounds some days before the event.
After several rounds in the morning, and the semifinals, it was clear that the champion of the first stage 2009 that took place at Puerto de San Jose, Daniel Lopez, didn’t make it to the final. Thus the most representative surfers from Guatemala participated in the final.
Abner Rivera from Champerico -five-time Champion of the tour; Víctor Barrientos from Puerto de San José who is known by his stylish surf; Cristian “Machete” Méndez who has an aggressive style and 2008 runner-up.
The new members of the final were Gefre Lima from Champerico who had recently entered this division, and Samuel Arenivar one of the three Salvadoran surfers who visited Guatemala this time.
As the series started, the beach was divided by fans. The swell was inconsistent but strong. Mendez started quickly, combining several moves in one wave; Rivera waited for one to perform one of his famous aerials that would catch the judges attention, while Lima, Barrientos and Arenivar waited for the best ones.
Thirty seconds were left when “Machete” went to the beach because he had hurt an arm, but his colleagues knew he made a winning effort and congratulated him.
Rivera obtained third place, Lima took second and the big champion was Cristian “Machete” Mendez. With these results the ranking is pretty tight. The next stage will be carried out the first weeks of June.
Final results on: http://www.asosurfguatemala.org/cgi-bin/noticias/print.pl?article=56
Three Guatemalan surfers in the ISA Individual Scholarship Program
On April 1st, the International Surfing Association announced the 40 winners of the 2009 edition of the ISA Individual Scholarship Program during the Development Meeting in the Quiksilver ISA World Junior Surfing Championship in Ecuador. There are three Guatemalans among the grant holders, Henry Rivera from El Paredón, Brandon Cruz Garcia from La Empalizada and Fredy Morales from Puerto de San José who obtained a scholarship for the second consecutive year.
The Guatemala National Surfing Association congratulates the athletes for the effort and thanks Rafael D’Angelo from El Paredón, Edgar Guillen from Fish Side store for helping young surfers to apply for the scholarship and obtain this great opportunity through the Guatemala National Surfing Association.
To those athletes who didn’t get the grant we encourage them to keep surfing and studying hard and believe that each day can be better than the day before.
About the International Surfing Association (ISA)
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), Mike Gerard (USA) and Karin Sierralta (Peru).
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