Surfing Costa Rica - Ten things you should know about the World Surfing Games El Salvador 2021
The World Surfing Games El Salvador 2021 will feature the best exponents of the discipline in search of twelve Olympic places.
From May 29 to June 6, the best National Surfing Teams in the world will be looking to achieve their dreams of being part of the first wave of Olympic surfers.
These are the 10 things you should know about the competition:
1. Olympic Dreams
The 2021 WSG is the final Surfing Qualifying event on the road to Tokyo 2020. The event will fulfill twelve Olympic dreams by qualifying the final 7 women and 5 men, for a grand total of 20 qualified athletes. Qualifying spots will be awarded to the highest-ranked eligible athletes in each division.
28 of the 40 Olympic surfers have already provisionally qualified through the 2019 World Surf League Championship Tour (WSL CT), the 2019 ISA World Surfing Games, and the Lima 2019 Pan American Games.
At the Closing Ceremony, the ISA will recognize and pay tribute to all Olympic Qualifiers present at the event.
Note with information about the classification system:
2. Where to watch the event
The event will be streamed live daily on the official event website isasurf.org or on the Facebook page.
The event website will be updated daily with photos, videos, news, and schedules – it will be your home for all information related to the event.
Viewers in Latin America will also be able to watch daily recaps and live coverage on ESPN.
Additionally, the event will be streamed daily on Olympics.org .
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3. History
Originally named the International Surfing Federation World Championships, the World Surfing Games crowned the first World Surfing Champions at Manly Beach, Australia in 1964. The WSG has crowned champions ever since, with events held on all five continents of the world.
Central America last hosted the World Surf League (WSG) in 2016 in Costa Rica, with a historic edition that celebrated surfing's inclusion in the Olympic Games. However, 2021 will mark the first time the event is held in El Salvador.
4. Gender equality
In an effort to promote gender equality in surfing and encourage female participation, the ISA adjusted its competition format in 2017 to offer the same number of competition slots for men and women across its World Championship Series.
Since 2018, the WSG has set new records for female participation every year, demonstrating the growth of women's surfing on every continent in the world.
In 2021, a record 121 women (47% of the competitors) will participate and represent their nations.
5. Health and Safety
With the health and safety of the athletes as the top priority for this event, the ISA and the government of El Salvador have created and implemented a robust health and safety plan. The plan includes, but is not limited to, a testing protocol, limits on the number of people present at the event site, vaccination of event staff, and contactless team registration.
Find the complete health and safety plan here .
6. The waves
The WSG 2021 will take place at two world-class waves in El Salvador: La Bocana and El Sunzal.
La Bocana is a river mouth with a rocky bottom and multiple peaks. The waves break to the left and right, with powerful and steep sections, suitable for high-performance surfing.
El Sunzal is a point break with a long right-hand wave, located west of La Bocana, which runs for hundreds of meters along the coast.
7. Defending Champions
Brazil's Italo Ferreira and Peru's Sofia Mulanovich, the defending Men's and Women's Gold Medalists respectively, will return to defend their titles in 2021.
Ferreira, who has already provisionally qualified for Tokyo 2020 through the 2019 WSL CT, will be seeking her second ISA Gold Medal in as many attempts. Mulanovich will be looking to defend her title and secure one of the seven available women's spots at Tokyo 2020.
Brazil won the Team Gold Medal in 2019 and will be looking to repeat with a squad that has stars like Ferreira, Gabriel Medina, Tatiana Weston-Webb, Silvana Lima, Filipe Toledo, and Julia Santos.
8. The Schedule
The event will unfold as follows:
May 29 :
Opening Ceremony 10:00 am
Possible start of the competition depending on the conditions
Competition
Finals and Closing Ceremony
9. Join the community
The ISA will be posting live updates, photos, and videos from the competition on social media. You can follow the event on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. Don't forget to use the official hashtags #ISAworlds, #SurfCity, and #ElSalvador.
10. The support and #SurfCity
The ISA would like to thank the government of El Salvador and especially President Nayib Bukele, who has been a great supporter of the World Surfing Games. The ISA is pleased that President Bukele and his government have made surfing a strategic priority, with “Surf City” being part of a five-year plan to promote tourism on El Salvador’s beautiful beaches.
Credits: International Surfing Association (ISA)
