National pre-selected athletes continue their third training session prior to the world surfing championship in El Salvador.

Yesterday and until Thursday, the Costa Rican pre-selection team will continue training at Playa Hermosa in Jacó, seeking to assemble the best team in pursuit of Olympic spots at the 2021 World Surfing Games in El Salvador.

In total, this world championship will award seven male and five female spots. If the national athletes wish to qualify, they must be ranked above athletes who have not yet obtained their qualification to secure an Olympic spot, of which our country already has one via CT, with Brisa Hennessy.

“The qualification process began with the Pan American Games, where two Peruvians are currently qualifying. Costa Rica also has another qualification through Brisa via the CT (Central Training Center). Now, the final qualification opportunity is the 2021 World Games in El Salvador. Due to Japan's qualification via the CT, or the Asian spot secured at the 2019 World Championships, this last event offers one more spot. Now, we will have seven women's and five men's spots up for grabs, of which Costa Rica could add one more women's and two men's spots. We have been planning the qualification route. We went to El Salvador and analyzed which hotel was best near the event venue to minimize fatigue. We attempted a second trip, but due to COVID-19, the trip couldn't be made. However, we addressed this by holding training camps nationwide,” stated José Jimenez, Methodologist for the National Olympic Committee.

Brisa Hennessy, Noe Mar McGonagle, Tomas King, Anthony Fillingim and Leilani McGonagle, among others, were unable to attend this training session, as they were unable to be present for various reasons at this third training session held at Playa Hermosa in Jacó.

On the women's side, the experienced Lisbeth Vindas stands out, who after a brief period of time not being part of a national pre-selection for different reasons, is once again among the options for coach Jim Hogan.

“Actually, the training has been quite intense. In Nosara, the focus was on the technical and tactical aspects of surfing, since after a difficult year due to the pandemic, we needed to experience that feeling of pressure again, of competing in heats, wearing a wetsuit, and facing challenges. We also worked on our physical conditioning with Mario Ríos and learned a lot. Overall, the group's energy is very positive, and the Surfing Federation has made a significant effort and done a great job,” added twelve-time national champion Lisbeth Vindas.

These various training sessions aim to bring out the best in Costa Rican athletes, in order to form a high-level national team, seeking to obtain Olympic places in the next World Games, as well as having the aim of observing athletes for other international tournaments with national representation.

Written by: Enrique Hernández

General Management: Marco Montero