Surfing Republica - Leilani McGonagle qualified for the WSL Challenger Series
Costa Rican will begin his Challenger participation in Australia in search of a spot for the CT 2023.
After an extraordinary 2022 season in QS stops, the national team finished in sixth place in the ranking and with this achieved its qualification to the Challenger series of the World Surf League, which will define the next qualifiers for the Dream Tour 2023.
The national athlete was extremely happy and grateful for this qualification and showed that she is a more experienced athlete and that she will be able to fight hard for a place in the top surfing circuit.
“I officially announce my qualification for another season of the WSL Challenger Series with this 3rd place finish in Barbados. This year I started the season quite low in the rankings, after a rough patch in 2021. I knew I had zero room for error; it was all or nothing. I'm very proud of my performance and how I managed to put the pressure and external factors aside. This experience reminded me how much I love improving as a surfer, athlete, and person every day, and how much I enjoy challenges. Thank you so much to everyone who supported me along the way. Now there are new challenges on the horizon,” Leilani mentioned on her Instagram page.
McGonagle will now face the following competition landscape in this second half of the year:
-Gold Coast Pro presented by Rip Curl: May 7 to 15.
-Sydney Surf Pro presented by Rip Curl: May 17 to 24.
-Ballito Pro presented by O'Neill: July 3-10.
-US Open of Surfing: July 30 to August 7.
-Pro Ericeira: October 1 to 9.
-Pro France: October 12-23.
-Saquarema Pro presented by Banco do Brasil: November 1 to 8.
-Haleiwa Challenger: November 26 to December 7. 
It should be noted that Brisa Hennessy, another elite Costa Rican female surfer, could also compete on these dates as she is a CT competitor.