The Costa Rican representative will be the fifth athlete in the history of Costa Rican surfing to compete in this important junior world competition.

After an extraordinary 2022 season in World Surf League junior stops where she finished in second place in the North American region, Costa Rican representative Rubiana Brownell will have the privilege of being the fifth surfer in the history of our country to compete in an event of this caliber.

The national athlete achieved two third places in this 2022 season in junior stops and with this she combined for her ranking a total of 1,300 pts, placing only below the American Sawyer Lindblad and surpassing athletes of the stature of Alyssa Spencer, Caitlin Simmers, Ella McCaffray, among others and in this way obtained the second place for the WSL Junior World Championship that will be run in the waves of Seaside Reef, San Diego, California, between January 9 and 15.

The Costa Ricans Carlos Muñoz, Noe Mar McGonagle, Leilani McGonagle and Brisa Hennessy are the only surfers in Costa Rican history to have competed in the WSL Junior Championships; however, it is important to clarify that Brisa Hennessy participated in this competition while representing Hawaii, but upon defining her nationality as Costa Rican, her participation is counted for the record as the fourth Costa Rican in this type of event.

“It means a lot to me to have the opportunity to be part of such a prestigious event, but more than anything, the confidence that qualifying for this Junior World Championship has given me. This confidence is what I needed most right now. Competitive surfing is one of the hardest things there is, since it's so difficult to win, and the feeling of earning one of the two spots for North America was what I liked most. I'd been having a tough time in competitions for the last few years. My surfing felt better than ever, but I'd go into the heats and fall apart. By the end of last year, I was so frustrated that I decided I wanted to quit competitive surfing and dedicate myself to other things. But my dad believed in me and my abilities and convinced me to give it one more year, to take the pressure off and just have fun and enjoy the journey to each event. At the end of that year, if I still decided to quit, I would. And boom, in the first two months, I got my best QS result in the last two years and made two consecutive Junior finals, which... “They ranked among the top two in my region, and most importantly, they helped me believe in myself and rediscover my love for competitions. Since then, I’ve found my rhythm and achieved better results throughout the rest of the year, as well as improving my surfing and competitive mindset, which is truly priceless,” Rubiana Brownell told Surfing Republica.

Rubiana arrives at this world championship with a high competitive level and after obtaining the continental runner-up title and making important participations in World Surf League events, a situation that motivates for a great participation from the national team.

Written by: Enrique Hernández