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Costa Rica team advance to round three
by Ellen Zoe Golden
17/10/2006:// Nino Myrie, Gilbert Brown and Diego Naranjo each decisively capped off a day of powerhouse surfing in cold water waves of 2- to 4-feet that allowed them to advance to Round 3 in the Open of the 2006 Lost Energy Drink International Surfing Association (ISA) World Surfing Games (WSG) in Huntington Beach.
Myrie passed to Round 2 of the Open after taking 1st place over Venezuelan Jean Carlo Schaeffer at 2nd, Hawaiian Shane Valiere at 3rd and Canadian Nico Manes at 4th. During the next Round, the Tico from Puerto Viejo had the top spot for most of the heat, but the pro from Peru, Javier Swayne, took advantage of time Myrie spent chasing a loose board to score well enough for 1st place. Nino came in 2nd place, but is poised, and ready to compete tomorrow against World Championship Tour (WCT) competitor Damien Hobgood (United States) and ISA Junior World Champion Julian Wilson (Australia).
"The truth is I feel very relaxed,” said Myrie. “The waves are small; however, I could make good maneuvers today. Now, what I must do is to concentrate very hard because I want to give the champs a good challenge. I love to be close to real surfers.”
The smack downs kept coming with fellow Puerto Viejo surfer Gilbert Brown, whose 1st place crown was earned in Round 1 with a high-scoring series of maneuvers put over 2nd place Gavin Gillette (Hawaii), 3rd place Peter Rangel (Venezuela) and 4th place Marty King (Canada). Later, in his 2nd run, Brown obtained his ticket to the next Round in a shootout with Tahiti’s Teiva Mare, who ultimately capped the heat with 1st place. Gilbert was 2nd. Tomorrow, he faces another WCT competitor in Chris Ward (USA).
Today’s Day of the Ticos included the Jaco surfer Diego Naranjo’s two Open heats. While Brown and Myrie both surfed near Huntington Pier, Naranjo paddled out in Area 2, further North, and decidedly more closed out. He managed to earn 2nd place behind Hawaii’s Alex Smith early on, but Diego really stepped up for his second heat.
“I thought it was going to be a really tough heat because I had Martin Passari that great surfer from Argentina in this one with me,” Naranjo recalled afterwards. “But I worked hard with my Coach Jose (Ureña), and he put me in the right place. With that strategy, I was able to catch the right waves, to make the right maneuvers and win big.”
Australia’s Blake Thornton came in 2nd place, Portugal’s David Raimundo was 3rd, with Passari taking 4th.
While Luis Vindas earned 2nd place in Round 1 behind Venezuela’s Francisco Bellroin, he struggled with poor waves when he moved ahead, coming in 4th behind Australia’s Tom Whitaker at 1st, Peru’s Sebastian Romana at 2nd and Tahiti’s Steve Pierson at 3rd. Vindas will get a second chance to return to the Open by competing in Repercharge. That next heat has not yet been scheduled.
Today’s positive placements were a boast to the Costa Rica Surf Team, who Sunday were challenged in the Bodyboard and Longboard divisions. In the case of Naranjo, the Open surfer had entered the Longboard category, and even with great hope—and a recent 1st place Longboard division win in a contest down in Boca Barranca, Costa Rica—the Tico only placed 3rd in his heat behind former Longboard World Champion Bonga Perkins (Hawaii) who was 1st, and Gehrard Wilheim (Venezuela) in 2nd. Diego will go to the Repercharge Round, date and time as yet determinded.
Bodyboarders Walter Gatgens (Jaco) and Iván Castillo (Quepos) will also get another chance at a big prize in Repercharge. While both Costa Ricans surfed valiantly in Area 2 Sunday—once again in smaller, more closed-out conditions—neither passed their heats. Castillo, making his international contest debut, earned 3rd placed behind 1st place Alberto Colucci of Venezuela and 2nd place Rafael Rivera of Puerto Rica. Gatgens, who made interference on his second wave, had one of his scores halved because of this, and ended up in 4th place behind Puerto Rico’s Javier Baez at 1st, Venezuela’s Pedro Rosario at 2nd and Aruba’s Jeremy Loefstock at 3rd.
Costa Rica’s five-time National Women’s Champion Lisbeth Vindas of Jaco rode the Bodyboard Sunday in the Women’s division, but she came in 4th place. 1st place was Aruba’s Ebrina Curet, 2nd place was Peru’s Moica Narrea and 3rd place was Ireland’s Ashley Smith. Lisbeth, too, will Bodyboard once more in Repercharge.
Tuesday morning, at 8:00 a.m., Brown, Naranjo and Myrie return to Round 3 of the Open. The entire Costa Rica Surf Team will be on the beach to cheer them on.
Ureña, Team Coach and Vice President of the Federacion de Surf de Costa Rica explained: “It doesn’t matter what category we have during the day, we are a team, and we eat together, train together. We need every body to show up, to surf, to make points, to have the energy on the beach so that the surfer in the water can kill it. It a rarity that people get to go everywhere together, and at the beach we are together. This keeps everyone calm and happy and focused to win.”
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