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Posted on Thursday July 30th 2009 at 1:51 p.m.
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Monday 11th August 2009
One Huge week for the Kiwis!
That's it, done and dusted, the grand finale of the ISA World Surfing Games has officially come to an end. Three gold medals were awarded yesterday afternoon at Playa Hermosa, Costa Rica. The Longboard final went to the French, the USA took out the Open Womens and the Open Mens was again a French victory all surfing in front of an incredible crowd who packed the beach shoulder to shoulder for a few kilometre spread.
Saturdays surf held the size from Friday but the consistency was less so it made things hard for a wave for wave final. We took off in our van after a much needed sleep in only to find we would be pretty much walking to the contest sight. There were cars, buses, trucks and motorcycles jamming up the road to Playa Hermosa, all wanting to see their share of international talent hit the shores of their country.
The walk was not so bad, I handed out spaceship pamphlets and made friends along the way so we were there in no time. It's lucky we jumped out of the van when we did because we definitely made it to the beach before it without missing the finals.
There has been some amazing surfing over the last week and seeing all 36 countries combine together at a world event sharing their culture and conversing even if there was a lack of understanding of the different languages, a smile said it all and the attempt to learn a new phrase of a different language brought laughter and knowledge.
Pura Vida mi amigos!
Daisy
Photo Gallery - 2009 Billabong ISA World Surfing Games
Friday 7th August 2009
Ups Downs, round and rounds
Once again apologies for the lengthy update, extreme technical difficulties have taken place but here it is filled with juicy info for you all to cast your eyes on....
Tuesday hit us hard, taking out both Kiwi girls and the remaining open shortboard men, excluding Jay Quinn who is still going strong in the main round. The day started off with me being the first heat of the day, the conditions felt tricky and after watching the ocean for a good hour things did not go to plan when I opted to sit on the right hander which was holding perfect punchy rights reeling off to the beach. They decided to disappear, which felt like as soon as the hooter, well..umm hooted. Lesson of the situation; be flexible in your heats. Laura was next up, she had a tough heat ahead of her, with two Hawaiians and a Tahitian. The Hawaiian girls seemed to be in complete sync with the oceans rhythm, picking the bombs and taking them all the way to the sand. Laura got herself some good solid turns under her belt, but the Hawaiians, unfortunately could not be caught. They boys were out too with Rangi getting through his repercharge heat and having to surf again that day. Matt Hewitt's heat was difficult again, surfing well but unfortunately not matching up to the judges scores
Wednesday was a much cooler day in terms of weather, the sky above was grey after last nights downpour. As we drove to the contest site in the morning the locals were working hard to unblock drains and clean up the mess the rain had caused. Tom Kibblewhite was the first out in the water today for the Longboard division, he picked off some crackers, pulling himself into the second round which was to be surfed later on in the morning. Dan Procter was next up, unfortunately not finding his rhythm he got knock back to third, pushing him into the repercharge round but not to worry he made sure he delt to his last two heats. A nice early day for us all with the lads still going strong.
Thursday began with an early call from team manager DVS, breakie and on the bus, so we downed our bananas and oats and shot off on the bus to Playa Hermosa. There was only one podium up and running today with Jay Quinn ready to rock. We were interestingly entertained by an older local character dressed in nothing but a pair of fluro budgie smugglers aka the good old fashioned speedos and a bag of tricks by his side including a pottery cat mask which he would wear and crawl along the sand as though he was in a play and then he would whip it off as a grand finale, a conch to accompany his dramatic dance moves to support the Costa Rican Team and I would think a few beers by the way he was acting. He got the crowd cheering him on for an on chore though!
The rain came through hard today and called for a delay in the contest as a tree had fallen and cut the power out. The storms here are not just your average storm, the sky turns blacky blue and the rumbles boom across the sky with flashes of lightening until it hits, down comes the rain. Tom Kibblewhite showed good form today progressing through his heat but unfortunately coming unstuck in his final heat of the day just getting pipped in the last minute.
NZ is sitting in 9th position with Dan Procter and Jay Quinn still in. The tag team will be up tomorrow so make sure you check out the live webcasting to watch the NZ team take it to the world J!
Cheers, Daisy
Sunday 2nd August 2009
How's it all going guys and girls. Due to technical difficulties I have been unable to update you folks but here we have a solid update for your interest. If you're wondering what's been happening here at the ISA World Surfing Games, you should be, the action has been HOT...literally. The opening ceremony took place on Saturday morning, although it felt like the height of the sun with not a cloud in the sky and a good 27 degree heat pounding all of the athletes, who were dressed in their team uniforms waving their countries flags proudly.
This was the beginning of the parade which took us on a mighty hot march through the town of Jaco. Lined up in alphabetical order we gathered and marched to the sound of the countries biggest and most famous band. They were a full brass band echoing beats through the streets dressed in pink with white hats and feathers.
We finally made it to the end of the parade after walking through the streets of Jaco with hundreds of local supporters flocking on the footpaths, screaming and chanting support for their favourite teams, the kiwis got some good cheers. The support here for the Costa Ricans is Incredible, they will amp the whole entire beach up to chant for their surfer in the water it's crazy, but you can see the way their support give the surfers an extra boost of confidence.
The pouring of the sands is my favourite part of the Opening ceremony and this time I was honoured to mix our NZ sand with the rest of the world! A big glass box stood sturdy on the front of the stage with all of the different sands melting into one another and once I put down the bamboo container which held the sand the crowd went wild. We positioned ourselves and began, Dan Proctor was the leader of the Haka, he belted out the beginning and as we followed the stage shook with each stomp, the crowd inched with every bellow. Being on that stage in front of surfers/competitors from all over the world wearing our NZ black and whites was one amazing feeling.
Another huge day for all of the athletes today, with again the Open Womens and Mens including the repercharge heats hitting the water. Everybody from the NZ team is doing Aotearoa proud, we are all still going strong with Matt Hewitt and Jay Quinn both still in the main round, Luke Hughes and Rangi Ormond are on their second life aswell as myself and Laura Rishworth and the longboarders yet to surf, we are ready to rock and roll today!
Conditions have been very consistent, dishing up 2-3ft of clean waves today. Playa Hermosa is a hard wave to feel out, wave selection and ability to read the wave have proved to be what has progressed the athletes. I surfed my second round heat this afternoon, feeling good but unfortunately just not getting onto the linking waves, all is Pura Vida (all good, costa Rican style) though with a second life to grab hold of tomorrow.
The Kiwis are strong and we will be looking to progress through our rounds today, swell is much the same and the competition is hotting up...
Stay tuned...
Daisy
Wednesday 29th July 2009
Hola!
The New Zealand Team are here, sweat beads dripping from the hairline onto our foreheads, boards at the ready we hit the water for our first surf.
24+ Hours since we left for our journey, three stop overs, intense american customs drillings and a dodgy turkey dog later we set foot in the relaxed and friendly land of Costa Rica. A bus was waiting for us to arrive and off we went, travelling in convoy with the Irish and Jamacians.
The sky was dark as we drove through the city and out into the country hills with windy roads, but the flashes of lightening would light the sky and its surroundings up with so much force. These will be pretty common as the rainy season is now and the rain pelts down at night with insane lightening storms zapping the sky. Today the sun is shinning and the water is about as warm as your bath at home, the feeling of jumping into the ocean with bare skin touching my board and the water was a crazy feeling, after spending the last six months in one of the coldest parts of Aotearoa suited up head to toe in rubber, you can imagine the climate shock!
2-3ft, onshore and fun is what the beach out front offered us, a good breakfast and we were out there!
The competition will be starting on the 1st of August so until then we will adapt and get into the groove of Costa Rican style,
Check out this little guy who struck a pose for us out front of our room.
Cheers, Daisy
About the 2009 Billabong ISA World Surfing Games
Costa Rica is the site of the 2009 Billabong ISA World Surfing Games scheduled for August 1 - 8, 2009. The parade of nations and opening ceremonies will occur on July 31, 2009. The games will be held in Playa Hermosa, just south of the popular resort town of Jaco. Playa Hermosa is located approximately two hours from San Jose, which is the capital of Costa Rica and 90 minutes from the International Airport.
This is the first time an international surfing championship will be hosted by a Central American Country. The location of Costa Rica makes it accessible to many nations. Costa Rica is known for their surfing and placed fifth at last year's international competition in Portugal.
Playa Hermosa is at its peak during the month of August for surfing. The waves are 4-8ft with perfect barrels. This is a black volcanic sand beach, which is beautiful and considered one of the best places for surfing in the world. The headquarters for the event is Hotel Terraza del Pacifico.
Star surfers such as Mick Campbell (AUS), Jeremy Flores (FRA), Micky Picon (FRA), Dayyan Neve (AUS), Sofia Mulanovich (PER), Rossane Hodge (RSA), Amee Donohoe (AUS), Samantha Cornish (AUS), Harley Ingleby (AUS) and Antoine Delpero (FRA) among others, are getting ready right now to defend the colors of their countries in the most important team event on the planet.
Joining them will be ISA medal-holders, former ASP World Tour members, WQS surfers and regional champions such as: Cory Lopez (USA), Ben Bourgeois (USA), Matt Bemrose (AUS), Maxime Huscenot (FRA), Lee Ann Curren (FRA), Marc Larcomare (FRA), Brandon Jackson (RSA), Nikita Robb (RSA), Ryan Payne(ZAF), Gabriel Villarán (PER) among many others.
Billabong ISA World Surfing Games Costa Rica 2009