Gary Saavedra peeking at the future
Source: Surfpress

Gary Saavedra, the Panamanian who won more national titles in the country’s history, is at home training to face a busy international agenda during the following months. The second part of the ALAS Latin Tour and the VIII Panamerican Surf Games that will take place in Iquique are the main competitions for the surfer.

The twelve-time champ made an examination of the new surf generations from his country and Latin America.

On a telephone conversation to Surfpress he said: “There is a Junior’s generation that is very good, there are not so many but there are some that are really good and I hope that we all support them to become great champions. In Panama we have a gap between generations and that’s a reason to be worried. We have to focus on getting new talented surfers to replace and represent us.”

Have you had the chance to see any Junior that impressed you?
Yes, I have my eyes on some of them. They don’t even know that I’m studying them and I always try to give them some pieces of advice and I believe they could be very good. I will keep on searching to prepare them and make them national champions.

What would you consider the appropriate work to do with Latin American new generations of surfers?
To go overseas is always an obstacle for them, I would promote more frequent exchanges between Latin American countries so they could be at ease on that kind of stuff and participate in more Junior events.

Who would you consider that in the future they could reach the WCT?
There is a lot of work to do, WCT is the big leagues and to get there you have to go around the whole world. But I’m discovering a talented Latin American generation that could get there as Cristobal de Col –Peru-, Carlos Muñoz -Costa Rica- and Carlos Mario Zapata –Peru- among others that I can’t remember now. I’m thinking about them because they still have 11 and 14 years and they are already surfing as any other Open division surfer.

Some time ago the ISA introduced a Surf Academy Programme, what do you think about that?
It’s really good since I’m sure it’ll attract more young people to practice in the sport and new talents could be the result of it, and maybe, a WCT in the future, why not?

With twelve national titles, I’m pretty sure that many kids admire you. What would you say to these new generations?
First of all, I always tell them that they can go as far as they want, but this only works with discipline and a lot of sacrifice. I try to explain to them what to do for the companies to take them seriously. I will always be here to support those who want to be corrected and have another vision of surfing.

Gary Saavedra is sponsored by: Billabong, Red Bull, Nissan X-trail, Reef, Balboa Beer, Vonzipper, Byrne Surfboards, Free Style, Prolite, Futures Fins, Copa Airlines, Super Deportes, Extreme Surf and Skate.

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