Costa Rican surfers travel to the Pan American Games in precarious conditions

Costa Rican surfers travel to the Pan American Games under precarious conditions

The professional surfers, summoned at the last minute by the Costa Rican Surfing Federation, are traveling to the Pan American Surf Games to be held in Punta Rocas, Lima, Peru without a budget, without a uniform and without the official decals required to compete.

Several of the athletes have had to resort to fundraising through social media, local surf tournaments, and even loans to be able to represent Costa Rica in this high-caliber event.

Sam Reidy and Lia Diaz are already in Peru, while Anthony Flores will travel on Sunday the 22nd. Tosh Talbot and Cedrick McCrackin travel on September 25th; the latter doesn't even have a wetsuit to surf the freezing waters of Punta Rocas.

“Cedric was notified he’d been selected a couple of weeks before the competition and told he had to pay his own way. We were just coming off a really slow season, he owns his own business, a surf school, and he got married last year and built a house with his wife when he was 22. So a last-minute trip wasn’t financially feasible, but it was his dream, so I told him to say yes and that we’d take care of the rest. He went on social media and made a post asking for help that he didn’t want to ask for; he felt really embarrassed. Thankfully, his friends, the community, clients, and family rallied around him and donated. He’s so grateful for all the support.”

We also found out that his passport was about to expire, so we went to renew it, but it took 12 business days to send a new one. He had to call immigration and request a resend, and luckily, they did, and he just picked up his passport. It's been very stressful preparing for the trip since he doesn't have a wetsuit, board bag, or cold-weather clothing. Fortunately, he has many friends who offered to lend him these things. Everything has worked out well for Cedric to get to Peru, thanks to all the help from his community. Julie Hickey, Cedric's mother, commented.

Other athletes who have been called up are waiting to secure funding or confirm whether the FSC will release the funds so they can travel.

Costa Rica has a high chance of earning points and winning medals at the 2024 Pan American Surf Championship. Unfortunately, the athletes called up are going through very stressful times due to a lack of resources and logistical support from the Federation, demonstrating their courage and love for Costa Rica by accepting to represent us against all odds.

It is worth noting that at the beginning of August, news broke that the Costa Rican Surf Federation, along with athletics, received the largest budget from the Costa Rican Institute of Sports and Recreation (Icoder) with an amount of 75 million colones.

The 17th Pan American Surf Games will take place at the High Performance Surf Center in Punta Rocas, Lima, Peru, from October 2nd to 13th. National teams from the Americas, including Brazil and the Caribbean Islands, will compete in five categories (shortboard, longboard, SUP Surf, SUP Technical Race, and bodyboard), bringing together 22 athletes, half men and half women.

Written by: Mitzam Fontiveros

Tamarindo, Guanacaste, September 20, 2024