2 And The Winner Is?
Shane Dorian With The Most Nominations In The Billabong Xxl Global Big Wave 2013

 Translation: Heido Sundstrom

The award’s ceremony for the Billabong XXL Global Big Wave 2013 will be held Friday, May 3rd in the Grove Theater in Anaheim, California. These awards are considered the Oscars of the big wave surfing world, where Shane Dorian has five out of seven nominations thanks to the wisdom and expertise of the photographers that have been able to capture all of his surfing action on camera. The waves that were nominated were captured in Ireland, Fiji, Portugal, Australia, Hawaii and Cortes Bank (100 miles off the southern coast of California).

Dorian is nominated for a variety of prizes, including the Pacific Paddle, XXL Biggest Wave, Surfline Overall Performance, Pacific Tube and the Ride of the Year. If he wins, Dorian could potentially walk away with prizes totaling anywhere from $90,000 - $125,000.

In contrast to the distinguished career of Dorian, newcomer Anastasia Ashley of San Clemente, California was nominated for the first time. Ashley, nominated for the Billabong Girls Overall Performance, has recently won as much social media attention for her figure as a model as she has for her surfing. Ashley can now complete her list of accomplishments with this XXL finalist status, affirming her as one of the great Wave of the Year specialists.

To be nominated is a first-class honor in the Billabong XXL, a ceremony that awards $50,000 to the winner as voted for by an “academy” of more than 500 of the best big wave surfers, photographers and magazine editors from around the world. Nominated beside Dorian is Shawn Cruz Dolar, who is conquering the massive big wave swells in the Cortes Bank (the legendary underwater mountains located 100 miles Southeast of Los Angeles, California) and the surfer of Orange County, Greg Long, for his enormous tube in Hawaii’s “Jaws”. The other two finalists are David Wassel and Reef McIntosh for their spectacular waves at Cloudbreak, off the island of Tavarua, Fiji.     

National Children’s Day – Surfing Style

Translation: Heido Sundstrom

Micha Surf Club, School, Surfboard Fabrication and Repair will organize an “extreme” National Children’s Day on Sunday, May 5th at Playa Revolcadero in Acapulco, Guerrero, beginning at 10:00 am.

Event will include:
Free surfing classes for kids under 15 years of age
Entertainment and games on the beach
Cake
Gifts from the sponsors
Lots of surprises for the kids

Kids, bring your parents to Playa Revolcadero to celebrate National Children’s Day—surfing style!

1 Jahir Garcia Breaks The Spell Of The Escolleras Bodysurf International Tournament 2013

If you find yourself at the beach without a surfboard when there are good waves, the only alternative is to enjoy them with your body. In other words, catch the wave and bodysurf.

According to some, it was only a few centuries ago that man, perhaps by accident, survival instincts, or by imitating certain marine animals, began to surf with their bodies. It became so fascinating that it was soon a part of their daily lives. It could have also been seen as a sort of ceremony to prove one’s superiority or might.

Fourteen years ago, Raul Monroy formed El Club Manta Raya (or, “The Sting Ray Club”) in Zihuatanejo, Guerrero. This club later created an event, the Escolleras Bodysurf International Contest and this year marked its seventh consecutive year. There are few bodyboard events in Mexico and this is the one that has held the most longevity.

This gathering of surfer friends offered two categories in Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo’s Playa Escolleras: Handboard and Bodyboard. Jahir Garcia ended up winning both categories and breaking the spell that claimed no one could win the event two years in a row. The waves were better on Sunday and Escolleras offered a peak that broke longer to the right. There, those from the Handboard Category entered the water with their fins (since they wore mere “sandals” on their hands).

Bodysurf Category:

1. - Jahir Garcia
2. - Hector Jimenez
3. - Daniel Roman
4. - Adolfo Abundiz
 
Handboard Category:

1. - Jahir Garcia
2. - Hector Jimenez
3. - Pablo Guerrero
4. - Arturo Ayala     

This event was made possible thanks to the help of: Yova Arizaga, Liliana Lara, Carlos Rios, Silver Surf, OCV, H. Ayuntamiento de Zihuatanejo, Beach Operator, Sonita Ferreira, Harper Torres.

Mexico To Attend The Reef Isa World Surfing Games

PANAMA 2013
Translation: Heido Sundstrom

The 2013 Reef ISA World Surfing Games will take place between May 4th – 12th at Santa Catalina Beach in Panama, bringing the games back to these waters for a second time since the last event in 2011 (no country requested to host the games in 2012). This year, with the assistance of the President of Panama, Ricardo Martinelli, and Salo Shamah of the Ministry of Tourism, the government is pledging their full support to the 2013 World Championship.

MEDALS AND TROPHIES
It is expected that roughly twenty to twenty-five nations will compete in Santa Catalina for individual medals and three trophies.

* The Fernando Aguerre World Champion Team Trophy: this will be the first year in a long time that the trophy will be named and donated by the President of the ISA and will be awarded to the winner. Aguerre was elected for the first time in 1994 and has been re-elected seven times since then.

* The President’s Trophy of the International Olympic Committee will be awarded to the Champion Team of the Reef ISA World Surfing Games.

* Individual Gold Medals

* In addition, to celebrate the 500th Anniversary of the discovery of the Pacific Ocean during the colonial period by the conquistador Vasco Nuñez de Balboa, the World Champion Team will be awarded the “Copa V Centenario Del Descubrimiento Del Oceano Pacifico,” or 5th Century Cup of the Discovery of the Pacific Ocean.

The ISA World Surfing Games will bring together the best surfers from around the world to compete in the Men’s and Women’s Open Category, awarding individual medals for gold, silver, bronze and copper. The defending champions of the World Surfing Games include: Santiago Muñiz of Argentina (Gold Medalist in the Men’s Open Category) and Canelle Bullard of France (Gold Medalist in the Women’s Open Category), as well as the former champion team from Australia.

THE MEXICAN TEAM
The Mexican team is comprised of this country’s top surfers from around the Republic. First, we have Dylan Southworth, a world-class competitor who’s expected to lead the team in points. Then there’s Julio, who hasn’t competed in many international contests but has a lot of potential to fulfill an excellent role.

“Yuco” Trujillo is another world-class competitor expected to rebound and achieve good results at the competition. Also on the team is Adrian, who showed us a solid performance in the Central American contest some years ago and, in his most recent events, he has been among the top four places. For Leila, this will be her first World Championship. She has many years of surfing in Puerto Escondido under her belt and now in Sayulita, which boasts of some very good local surfers. We’re eager to see her compete, as she is the current National Champion and is sure to put on a show. Then we have Pamela, who has competed in juvenile world championships around the globe.

This will be her eighth World Championship and we hope to see her bring that experience to the team in order to gain a good spot in the rankings and move up from fifteenth place. Their mission is to be among the top ten spots in the world.

Dylan Southworth – Nayarit
Julio Quiñonez – Colima
Jose Manuel Yuco Trujillo – Guerrero
Adrian Rodriguez – Nayarit
Pamela Verboonen – Guerrero
Leila Takeda – Oaxaca
Team Manager – Juan Muñoz

The top seven nations on the table will qualify for an invitation for the 2014 ISA China Cup, part of the ISA Hainan Wanning Riyue Bay International Surfing Festival, along with the host-team, China.

To see the video of the event’s presentation, visit the ISA official website: www.isawsg.com, where you’ll find photos, videos and a live broadcast of the event, which will kick of on Saturday, May 4th with the Opening Ceremony. The competition officially begins on Sunday, May 5th.