Costa Rican surf experts will have their own Surf Cup. The event will take place next June 2nd at Playa Hermosa, in Jaco. The tournament will also serve as a pre-selection process to define the surfers who will make up the National Surf team that will represent the country at the ISA World Masters Championship in Nicaragua.
“The idea for the realization of this event is first and foremost to select athletes for the World Championship in Nicaragua, which will be held in July. And second, to have surfers compete with a format very similar to that of the Masters World Championship,” said Randall Chaves, Director of Events for the Surf Federation of Costa Rica.
Once the members of the Costa Rican National Surf Team are preselected, a special training will define the twelve athletes that will represent Costa Rica at the World Championship, which will take place from July 14th through July 22nd in Playa Colorado de Rivas, Nicaragua.
With a double-elimination format, the same used by the International Surfing Association (ISA) during championships, the 2012 Masters Surf Cup will put the best surfers over 35 to compete in main rounds and repechage rounds.
The event will open inscriptions for the following categories: Masters (35 – 39 years), Grand Master (40 – 44), Kahunas (45 – 49) and Female (over 35). Around 30 athletes from all over the country are expected to compete in the tournament.
“The purpose of this format is to have a simulation of what will be the Masters World Championship, in which the top two winners advance and stay in the qualifying round, and the third and fourth places are relegated to the repechage,” said Carlos Brenes, a spokesman for the Costa Rican Federation of Surf.
The only athlete who has a secured place in the National Surf team is Olympic medalist Craig “Tequila” Schieber.
In October 2011, Craig won the gold medal in the category Grand Kahunas (over 50). After being relegated to the repechage during the first round, he recovered and managed to move back to the qualifying rounds and win the championship.
The Technical Director of the National Surf Team has yet to be selected.
