Since yesterday, the world’s best surfers are competing for national pride, gold medals, and Olympic qualification at the 2024 International Surfing Association’s World Surfing Games (WSG), held February 23 – March 3, 2024, at La Marginal, in Arecibo, Puerto Rico. Yesterday, Primera Hora gushed over the New Zealand team’s haka performance at the WSG opening ceremony (sorry to have missed it)! Here are excerpts from the ISA site:
[. . .] This year’s WSG features a who’s who of the absolute best surfers in the world:
- 9 former ISA gold medalists, including defending champions Alan Cleland Jr (MEX) and Tatiana Weston-Webb (BRA).
- 27 of the 40 Olympians who competed in Tokyo 2020, including gold medalist Carissa Moore (USA), silver medalist Kanoa Igarashi (JPN) and bronze medalist Amuro Tsuzuki (JPN). 27 of the athletes present in Puerto Rico have already qualified for Paris 2024.
- 6 WSL Champions – five-time WSL Champion Carissa Moore (USA), three-time WSL Champion Gabriel Medina (BRA), two-time WSL Champion Tyler Wright (AUS), two-time WSL Champion John-John Florence (USA), two-time WSL Champion Filipe Toledo (BRA) and 2023 WSL Champion Caroline Marks (USA).
Arecibo, Puerto Rico: The ISA is excited to return to the world-class waves of Puerto Rico and further the storied surf history of the region. Having hosted ISA events that date from as far back as 1968, to as recently as 2022, Puerto Rico has established itself as an iconic surfing location.
The competition will take place in the municipality of Arecibo at the world-renowned reef-breaks of Margara (heavy water waves) and the twin breaks of El Pico and Rastrial, which both offer solid waves.
[. . .] Promoting Sustainability with the Surfrider Foundation
The ISA is working with the Surfrider Foundation to ensure that the WSG directly supports the conservation of Puerto Rico’s incredible coastal and marine resources. As with all ISA competitions, the ISA has committed to the elmination of all single-use plastic in order to reduce plastic waste from entering our ocean. A series of education initiatives and environmental talks will take place on-site throughout the event window featuring experts in conservation and sustainability. [. . .]
Where to Watch: The live webcast will be streamed on www.isasurf.org from February 23 – March 3, 2024. Visit our website for results, team rosters, photos, videos, and news pertaining to the competition.
60 Years of the ISA: In 2024, the ISA is celebrating 60 incredible years of championships. Originally named the International Surfing Federation, the organization crowned the very first Surfing World Champions in Manly Beach, Australia in 1964. The ISA has been crowning champions ever since, with competitions being held across multiple disciplines on all five continents of the globe. [. . .]
Puerto Rico Welcomes World’s Best Surfers with Festive and Emotion filled Opening Ceremony for the 2024 ISA World Surfing Games
Today, over 260 of the best surfers in the world, representing 55 nations, gathered in Arecibo, Puerto Rico to celebrate the opening of surfing’s final qualifier for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, the 2024 ISA World Surfing Games (WSG).
With a total of 16 Olympic slots on the line, 9 for women and 7 for men, each of the athletes have arrived with high hopes as they chase Olympic dreams. Their passion poured out as they marched along the Arecibo waterfront in ISA’s traditional Parade of Nations with flags flying high and chants ringing out.
The iconic ISA Sands of the World Ceremony saw representatives of each of the nations gathered pouring sand from their home beaches into one container as a symbol of the peaceful gathering of nations of the world through surfing. Two new nations, British Virgin Islands and Slovakia, poured their sand and raised their flags at the WSG for the very first time.
The athletes present included multiple former WSG gold medalists, WSL Champions, and Tokyo 2020 Olympians, including Olympic gold medalist Carissa Moore (USA), who represented as sand-pourer for the USA.
Multiple dignitaries were also present, including ISA President, Fernando Aguerre, the President of the Local Organizing Committee and Member of the International Olympic Committee, Richard Carrion, Mayor of Arecibo, Carlos Ramírez Irizarry, Executive Director for Tourism Puerto Rico, Carlos Mercado, and the President of the Puerto Rico Olympic Committee, Sara Rosario. [. . .]
For more information and live webcast, see https://isasurf.org/
[Shown above, photo of Ecuadorian surfer Dominic Isabel Barona by Pablo Jiménez.]
Since yesterday, the world’s best surfers are competing for national pride, gold medals, and Olympic qualification at the 2024 International Surfing Association’s World Surfing Games (WSG), held February 23 – March 3, 2024, at La Marginal, in Arecibo, Puerto Rico. Yesterday, Primera Hora gushed over the New Zealand team’s haka performance at the WSG opening
