Source: Uruguayan Surfing Union – www.uniondesurfdeluruguay.blogspot.com

Perez, Acosta, Iturria, Vázquez, Barboza and Lorenti will defend the “Celeste” in the surfing competition of the First South American Beach Games

Press release sent on October 16, 2009

The Uruguayan Surfing Union, National Governing Body for Surfing in Uruguay, announced today the Uruguayan National team that will represent us in the first edition of the South American Beach Games that will take place in Montevideo and Punta del Este from December 3 to 13.

The six men and women selected and two reserves for the surfing competition are:

Men Open
Julián Pérez – Punta del Este
George Acosta – Punta del Diablo
Luis María Iturria – Punta del Este
Lucas Vázquez – La Paloma

1^st Reserve: Claus Giorgi – La Paloma

Women Open
Celia Barboza – La Paloma
Martina Lorenti – Punta del Este

1^st Reserve:: Natalie Pezzoni – Punta del Este

The team will now begin a training process that aims to reach the competition well prepared.  Surfing will be carried out in Montoya Beach, Barra de Maldonado, beginning on December 9 thru 13.

During the referred occasion, Uruguay will compete against the best exponents of Argentina, Brazil, Peru, Ecuador and Venezuela in the following divisions: Open Men, Open Women, Aloha Cup (Tag Team) and Aerials.

A few days before the Games, the second and definitive event of the National Surfing Tour will take place, during the weekend of November 21-22.  In this occasion, the 2009 national champions will be defined.

Celia Barboza, Sebastián Olarte, Diego Furiatti, Antonio Pita, Pablo Urioste, Rafael Piriz, Gastón Scala, Diego Furiatti, Antonio Pita and Francisco Morosini were champions in the other categories

Rip Curl Pro
Monday, October 12, 2009
Punta del Este – La Barra

Punta del Este local Julian Perez reigned in the waves of El Emir during the third and last day of the Rip Curl Pro, first event of the National Surfing Tour that also defined the champions of the other eleven categories being disputed.

Perez, who is an expert in the El Emir waves, showed an excellent surfing level and placed behind him in second place, George Acosta from Punta del Diablo; Lucas Vazquez from La Paloma took third place, and fourth was Luis Maria Iturria, also from Punta del Este.

Excited with his win, Perez commented after the final: “I am very happy, I haven’t competed for a long while, and winning was a personal challenge to me.  The championship was awesome; I liked the fact that it was mobile so we could take advantage of the best waves, and the organization was excellent.  Now I have a new challenge, the South American Beach Games. I will give my best to represent Uruguay.  This is not a personal challenge anymore – it’s even more important because we have to defend our country that seeds the event”.

With this result, the athletes ensured a place in the National Team that will represent Uruguay in the South American Beach Games.  Apart from Perez, George Acosta and Celia Barbosa who won the woman’s event also classified.  The complete team will be defined on October 16 by the Technical Committee of the Uruguayan Surfing Union.

In the other categories, 11-year-old surfer Francisco Morosini stood out as he won in the Under 12 and Under 14 categories.  Pablo Urioste showed great surfing skills and won in the Under 16 category.  Sebastian Olarte was the great Under 18 champion.

Among the veterans, Rafael Piriz of Montevideo was the clear Masters Champion (older than 35) and Gaston Scala from La Paloma, aged 50, did the same in the Grand  Masters (older than 40).

The six time National Longboard Champion, Antonio Pita de Salinas, won again in a National Tour event and becomes a clear probable winner to continue stretching the title that belongs to him.  The same happened to Diego Furiatti of Punta del Este, Uruguayan champion in eleven opportunities, who was by far the best bodyboarder in the final heat.

The 2009 National Surfing Tour continues with its second and last event during the last days of November, also in Maldonado.  The national champions will be defined and the Uruguayan Surfing Team will prepare for the South American Beach Games.  The surfing competition in these Games will take place from December 9 to 13 in Montoya Beach, Barra de Maldonado.

Final Result and 2009 National Surfing Tour Ranking

Open
1) Julián Pérez
2) George Acosta
3) Lucas Vázquez
4)Luis María Iturria

Women
1) Celia Barboza
2) Sofía Aolonso
3) Natalie Pesoni
4) Julieta García

Bodyboard
1) Diego Furiatti
2) Juan Gutierrez
3) Juan Morán
4) Sebastián Méndez

Under 18
1) Sebastián Olarte
2) Gonzalo Vidal
3) Lucas Madrid
4) Matías Sosa

Women Under 18
1) Sofía Alonso

Under 16
1) Pablo Urioste
2) Diego Campomar
3) Segundo Vargas
4) Juan Barú

Under 14
1) Francisco Morosini
2) Luca Piscione
3) Daniel Giorgi
4) Santiago Medeiro

Under 12
1) Francisco Morosini
2) Nicolás Malet
3) Francisco Segundo
4) Camila Meana

Masters (+35)
1) Rafael Piriz
2) Juan Aroztegui
3) Gonzalo Eiris
4) Federico Maisterra

Grand Masters (+40)
1) Gastón Scala
2) Javier Gutierrez
3) Eduardo Mendez

Kahunas (+45)
1) Gastón Scala

Longboard
1) Antonio Pita
2) Gonzalo Eiris
3) Lucas Vazquez
4) Arnold Glutz

Attention Media
The official page of the event is: www.laisla.com.uy/rcpro.

High quality photos free for editorial use as well as resolution videos with free TV rights for editorial use can be found @:

ftp.laisla.com.uy
Username: ftplaisla
Password: laisla

The results and the video will be broadcasted live at: www.laisla.com.uy/rcpro.

About the Uruguayan Surfing Union (USU)
The Uruguayan Surfing Union (USU) is the governing body for surfing and all its disciplines in the national territory, recognized as a Managing Sports Authority by the Ministry of Tourism and Sports of Uruguay and by the most important sport international federations, the International Surfing Association and regional entities, such as the Pan American Surfing Association.

It was created in the beginning of the 90’s, when a group of surfers, aware of the growth of the sport in Uruguay, got together to organize events and create a team to represent the “Celeste” (this is how the national team is known, it means light-blue and represents the colors of the flag and official sporting gear) in international events.

In 1993, at the Pan American Games in Margarita Island – Venezuela – Uruguay made its first international appearance as a team.  From then on, Uruguay participated in all ISA and PASA international events up to the year 2000.  The team returned to international competitions in the Pan American Surfing Games (Peru, 2006) and the 2006 World Junior Surfing Championship and the 2007 Pan American Surfing Games in Iquique, Chile.