An important part of the Chica Brava camp experience here in Nicaragua is our ‘theory’ sessions. Everyday, after breakfast, we go over some component of surfing – whether it is a discussion about paddle technique, wave conditions, or how to read surf reports. The ‘surf history’ section is early on in the week, and a personal favorite to share, as I come from Hawaii- widely known as the surf capital of the world. One of my mentors from home said it best in an email she wrote to me a few weeks back saying, “Think about this….there are gazillions of miles of coastline on earth…..many, many of them with waves….but it was a Hawaiian who said- give me that flat wood and lemme’ see if I can catch this wave. Wow!”
Aunty Pam was writing in response to an email I wrote speculating on how interesting it is to watch surfing develop in Nicaragua, where it is such a young sport in such a pivotal moment of it’s growth. While it was generations upon generations ago that Hawaiian’s experimented riding waves, it has been only a couple of decades since the first surfers starting wave riding here in the ‘Land of Lakes and Volcanoes’. And this year, more specifically earlier this month, marked the second time in history that Nicaragua not only hosted but also participated in the International Surfing Association World Surfing Championships- The first contest being in 2012 for the Masters Championships, and second time in June 2013 for the Juniors Championships.
When we go over surfing history in our theory sessions I focus little on the past, and rather encourage dialogue about the present, as history is literally in the making here in Nicaragua. The fact that the ISA returned for the World Junior Surfing Championships here this year is monumental. There were over 300 of the worlds best up and coming surfers that came to represent their country at Playa Jiquiliste (just north of San Juan del Sur) competing for both individual, and more importantly, team world titles. All of the kids rip, but the performances of the girls were particularly impressive, with a number of countries having solid representation (including Peru, Hawaii, USA, Australia, Costa Rica, and France), surfing with both power and style.
The competition was obviously exciting to watch, but it was the free surfs before and after the event that was particularly inspiring, to be in the water, surfing with world class surfers, in a line up scattered with both boys and girls. Seeing these chicas take off deep, hit the lip like they mean it, and get barreled was a beautiful. As I picked off waves here and there and paddled back out, duck diving under floaters and getting around cutbacks I held back my desire to paddle up to these groms and share my excitement. I’m not sure they understand that they are making history, but for a country that has little to no past in this sport, it’s the youth of this competition that are setting the stage for a future.
The finals were a battle between USA, Australia and Hawaii, all three of which have a strong history in surfing and a huge support base. Hawaii took three golds in the womens sub-18 (Tatiana Weston-Webb), womens sub-16 (Mahina Maeda), and mens sub-18 (Josh Moniz). Australia took mens sub-16 gold and also won the team competition overall. Nicaragua was competing against some countries that have generations of surf history and others that are also fresh on the competitive surf scene (such as Russia and Switzerland). While the Nicaraguan surfers did not advance into the finals, 15 year old Jackson Obando gave an epic performance going back through repo-charge heats and exiting the water into the arms of over a hundred Nica supporters. Nicaragua ended up placing 20th out of the 30 participating countries – an impressive accomplishment considering that this is the first generation of young surfers the country has ever seen. As the ISA Junior World Surfing Championships illustrates the success of the winners in the competitive surf circuit, it shows that its directly related to the depth of past that country has in the sport. Nicaragua is in the midst of making it’s own surfing history, building the blocks for a bright future where Nicaragua will perhaps be known as the “Land of Lakes, Volcanoes, and SURF”.
To see their website check it out here!
~ Noelani
