By Federico Ayciriet – Asociación de Surf Argentina - www.asasurf.org.ar

On the eve of what will probably be the most important event for Argentinean surfing, the Argentinean Surfing Association (ASA) officially presented the national team members that will participate in the first edition of the South American Beach Games that will take place from December 3 to 13 in the waves of Maldonado, Punta del Este, Uruguay.  The national team aims in this competition to obtain a place in the podium.

The Argentinean surfing elite lived on Saturday, September 26, a very special moment at the Sheraton Mar del Plata Hotel, when the list of athletes that will make history in December was revealed.  These athletes will initiate national surfing in the Olympic Movement.  Martin Passeri, Marcelo Rodriguez, Maxi Siri, Leandro Usuna, María Teresa Gil and Maia Cherr are the surfers that will represent the country in Uruguay setting an unprecedented mark for this sport.

ASA President Francisco Garcia Rabini declared: “We are looking forward to a sporting achievement.  Today, Surfing breaks into the Olympic world, and it happens during moments of hard work and institutional growth, which is extremely positive, because it finds the group committed to professionalizing all aspects of our sport”.

The national team will start competing on December 9 with the hope of stepping in the podium, thus obtaining a medal that will ratify the good work carried out during the World Surfing Games in Costa Rica last month.

ASA carried out the handing out of credentials to the brand-new judges who finished the Level 1 and 2 International Course for Judges.  Accreditations were issued by the International Surfing Association (ISA) and delivered by Head Judge Christian Petersen, and will be requisite in judging tasks during the 2009/2010 Argentinean Tour.

The Honorable Deliberating Council of the General Pueyrredón Municipality bestowed to the Argentinean team that obtained the 12th place in the World Championship in Costa Rica a recognition award.

Members of the team that represented the country at the BILLABONG ISA WORLD SURFING GAMES 2009, were honored by the municipal legislative body represented by the Vice President of the Deliberating Council, Dr. Diego Garciarena, town councilor Verónica Beresiarte and the director of the Entity for Sports and Recreation, Prof. Federico Maidana.

During a ceremony that lasted 20 minutes, the representatives of the town’s legislative body, praised the steps taken to generate the growth of Surfing as a sport and congratulated the athletes that defended the country’s colors in the WSG.

After the inaugural words by Garciarena, Councilor Beresiarte said: “This is not only a recognition to the position obtained in the world competition.  We also want to honor the brilliant performance and efforts carried out to place Argentinean surfing in the foreground internationally, in spite of the total or partial Governmental support, which makes this sporting achievement even more meritorious”.

The eight athletes that participated in the competition and received a special mention were: Marcelo Rodriguez, Lucas Santamaría, Leandro “Lele” Usuna, Martín Passeri, Martín Pérez, Federico Goñi, María Teresa Gil and María Paz Usuna. Others that received this special mention were members of the Technical Staff: Roberto Gonzalez Niesl (Team Manager), Manuel Santamaría (Coach), Silvio Pedro (Physical Trainer) and Federico Ayciriet (Press).

Before handing the awards, Prof. Maidana said: “It is an honor to be able to give this special mention to our national delegation, constituted mainly by athletes born in Mar del Plata.  My congratulations for your work that is carried out to obtain something that we are constantly looking for: to be the best.  This may sound as a too big sporting aspiration, but this is what we are looking for and, in this case, is going in the right path”.

ASA also placed forth the training program for junior surfers that want to participate in the 2010 world championship.

The ISA World Junior Surfing Championship will take place in the waves of Piha, Auckland, New Zealand in January 2010, at a time where the Argentinean tour will be in full course.  The tour defines who will occupy the ranks in these international events.

For this reason, this division’s coach, Maximiliano Prenski, informed that three selective events would take place in December to define the Argentinean team.  “It is difficult to solve the composition of our team since the championship finds us in the middle of the local tour.  That is why we are going to train, beginning next week, on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays with all the athletes belonging to the Junior category and who wish to belong to the team; the selection will take place in December”.

As happened during the 2008 and 2009 preparation process, the persons responsible for the group of athletes that will represent our country Maximiliano Presnki (coach) and Silvio Pedro (Physical Trainer).

Training sessions began on September 29^th and will take place three times a week and have as a purpose to prepare aspiring world athletes in best physical and technical conditions.  Everyone has an open chance to participate in this development training and should they not reach the team, they would still have an opportunity of having an ideal preparation for the local tour.