INAUGURAL ACAPULCO SURFING TOURNAMENT & CLINIC

Translation: Heido Sundstrom

On Sunday, January 26th, 2014, the first surfing tournament & clinic at Playa Bonfil in Acapulco kicked off. It was hosted by Joe Estrada and featured the participation of seventeen shortboard competitors.

Good-sized waves reached 7’ at Playa Bonfil and, at times, there was a moderate current as you entered the water. The event was designed for twenty-four competitors maximum, with double elimination in the sum of their places, allowing eight competitors to enter the semifinals.

Tomas Gallardo from the Barra Vieja team competed well in his first-round heat, catching a right tube that earned him a 9.5 score, and in the end he had a close round against the National Junior Selection (and also from the Barra team), Brandon Cabrera and Kalani Palma. Jonathan Reyes, a local from Bonfil, also put up quite a fight against his fellow competitors.

There were a lot of enthusiastic people supporting the event, including the judges of the Association: Everly Campos, Fernando Garcia and Fili Aleman, as well as surfers that came to judge like Miguel Roque and “Pagui” Chino.

In countries where the surfing culture is more advanced, events are held to raise the level of surfing and everyone is involved; the surfers act as judges so that they understand the judging process, and then enter in competition to get used to competing. The coaches are there to correct their faults and people can rotate through different positions if they’re interested.

The next event is scheduled in two weeks (categories and beach location to be determined). We invite you to visit the event’s Facebook page: Surfing Acapulco, where you can find details and more information.

A big thank you to the competitors, coaches, volunteers and Los Cuates de Alex Restaurant, where you can enjoy a variety of regional dishes, seafood and more.

RANKING
Place---name-------age---team
1/TOMAS GALLARDO 25 BARRA V.
 
2/BRANDON CABRERA 17 BARRA V.
 
3/JHONATAN REYES 17 BONFIL **
 
4/KALANI PALMA 15 BARRA V.
 
5/JORGE GONZALEZ 17 BONFIL
 
5/FERNANDO SOBERANIS 18 BARRA V.
 
7/MARCOS CANDELA 20 BONFIL
 
7/MIGUEL ROQUE 27 PETAQUILLAS
 
8/EFRAIN SMITH 18 BONFIL **
 
9/ERIK LADRON 17 BONFIL
 
9/VIVENTE TORRES 15 BARRA V.
 
9/RIGOBERTO PALMA 28 BARRA V.
 
10/FERNANDO ROQUE
 
11/FABIAN HABANA 19 BONFIL
 
11/OCTAVIO NICOLAS 17 BARRA V.
 
11/CRISTOBAL AGUIRRE 15 BARRA V.
 
12/GENRRY GONZALEZ 17 BONFIL