COSTA RICA SELECTS NATIONAL SURF TEAM TO DEFEND THE COUNTRY'S TWO CENTRAL AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIP TITLES AT THIS YEAR'S TOURNAMENT IN PANAMA

COSTA RICA SELECTS NATIONAL SURF TEAM TO DEFEND THE COUNTRY'S TWO CENTRAL AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIP TITLES AT THIS YEAR'S TOURNAMENT IN PANAMA

by: ELLEN ZOE GOLDEN/The Bevy EllenZoe@aol.com

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica March 11, 2008 – José Ureña, President of the Federacion de Surf de Costa Rica (FSC), announced today the selection of the national surf team that are charged with defending the two, currently held, Central American Surf Championship trophies. The new Costa Rican National Surf Team will get to work during the third annual Central American Surf Championships, set to take place March 21, 22, and 23 in Playa Venao, Provincia de Todos Los Santos , Panamá. With the Ticos, all five Central American delegations have confirmed including Guatemala , El Salvador , Nicaragua , and Panama .

For the selection of the Costa Rica National Surf Team, the FSC used the top-4 ranked surfers in each division of its Circuito Nacional de Surf (CNS), the organization's countrywide surf tournament currently in its 8th year, with 4 of 7 dates completed so far.

For the categories of Women, Longboard, Bodyboard, only two surfers were chosen, while just one athlete was able to make it into Bodyboard Women's.

(As of this moment, it is uncertain whether the current two-time Central American Open Surf Champion— Costa Rica 's Federico Pilurzu, will be able to join his National Team. The conflict is due to Pilurzu's rigorous schedule on the international contest circuit, particularly the Association of Surfing Professionals [ASP] World Qualifying Series contest dates, where Federico is currently ranked #28.)

The 2008 Costa Rica National Surf Team heading to the Central American Surf Championships are:

Open

Gilbert Brown

Mattias Braun

Jason Torres

Diego Naranjo

Junior (Less than 18 years)

Jairo Pérez

Anderson Tascón

Carlos Muñoz

Ariel Agüero



Women's

Lisbeth Vindas

Nataly Bernold

Longboard

Mauricio Umaña

Cedric Auffret

Bodyboard

Joan Mojica

Richard Marín

Bodyboard Women's

Jimena Calvo

The selected team, which hails from all over the country—from Puerto Viejo , Montezuma, Jacó, Herradura, Esterillos, Tamarindo to Boca Barranca—will travel by bus from San Jose , Costa Rica to Panama on a trip of 11 hours in duration. Once again, the work will be a union between the competitors and the technical body of the FSC, with a lot of hope for success. Costa Rica , to date, has been the only Central America champion after the two previous matches—the first one in Costa Rica in 2006, and the second in Guatemala in 2007.

In addition to Pilurzu as the double Open champion from Costa Rica , the present Central American Surf Champion in the Junior and Women's categories are also Ticos with Jairo Pérez and Lisbeth Vindas holding those titles from last year. For this year's challenge, the Costa Rica National Team will look for a new trophy in a location that will likely be a harder fight than the previous two encounters. The reason: Gary Saavedra is the 13-time Panamanian National Champion and a great international competitor.

In addition, the Central American Surf Championships will welcome back some other strong competitors—and champions in their own countries—such as Jimmy Rotherham and Wilbert Alvarenga of El Salvador ; Luis Chamorro and Roque Calderón of Nicaragua ; Abner Rivera of Guatemala ; as well as Diego Salgado and Alejandro Alfonso, also of Panamá,

Nevertheless, it has been a characteristic of the Central American Surf tournaments to introduce new faces that surprise many, particularly in the Junior category.

The Costa Rican group that will be fighting for the National honor in Panama is a strong one, as demonstrated by the high level of surfing they demonstrated in the last dates of the Circuito Nacional. Prior to leaving for Playa Venao, the selected members will participate in another date of the CNS, this one March 15-16 in Playa Carmen.

After the Circuito contest in Playa Carmen, the Tico delegation will train together in front of the Hotel Terrazas del Pacífico in Playa Hermosa. This point delivers waves at the country's highest levels, and is similar in structure to Playa Venao. Venao is a sand bottom beach break, typically featuring waves of 3 to 5 feet in continuous offshore winds.

“For the Central American Surf Championships, the only goal is to go there and leave champions. We have all the pieces necessary to obtain that. The level of the selected team members is very high and the objective is to manage that level, and project it in the water in Panama ,” affirmed Ureña, who will attend not only as President of the FSC, but as the team's coach.

The Costa Rica National Surf Team will leave for Panama on Wednesday, March 19 and will start in Playa Venao on Thursday, March 20 with an intense training at the competition point. Their return is planned for Monday, March 24.

For more information on the Circuito Nacional de Surf or the Federacion de Surf de Costa Rica , please go to the new webpage at www.surfingcr.net .