By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

The Surf Federation announced that the Costa Rican team managed eighth place out of the top ten of the best in the world, at the 2019 ISA World Surfing Games in Miyazaki, Japan.

"Costa Rica not only returned to the Top 10 for nations but the team rose to 8th place," said the Federation in its statement.

The Costa Rican team, chosen by coach Jim Hogan, are Jair Pérez, Noe Mar McGonagle, Carlos Muñoz, Eva Woodland, Leilani McGonagle, and Brisa Hennessy. The goal for the team is to occupy a space in the Top 10 in the world.

In the national team, the best scores were for Brisa Hennessy, in the women's team and Carlos Muñoz in the men's team. Both managed to be among the top ten of the 100 competitors who participated in the competition.

Brisa Hennessy was interviewed by the World Surfing Games to include in the promotional material for the games. The video interview: Costa Rican Olympic Dream Brisa Hennessy, can be found at the official games site here.*

Other team members managed to be in the top 25, such as Jair Pérez, Carlos Muñoz, and Leilani McGonagle.

The winner of the World Cup was Italo Ferreira of Team Brazil, who won the perfect 10-point ride score. Team USA earns Silver, Japan Bronze, and Peru Copper.

For the Costa Rican team, the final results were:

-Female surfers: Brisa Hennessy 7th, Leilani McGonagle 17th, and Eva Woodland 49th.


-Men surfers: Carlos Muñoz placed 11th, Jair Pérez placed 25th, and Noe Mar McGonagle 73rd.

More information on the 2019 ISA World Surfing Games can be reached here.*

As A.M. Costa Rica reported in August, the deputies of the Legislative Assembly voted in the first round in favor of bill No. 21.241, to declare the third Saturday of October as Surf National Day, in addition to declaring this sport as a public interest.

According to deputy Melvin Núñez-Piña, this approval is important to support tourism because "600,000 people a year bring surfboards to the country. This is a great market, these surfers rent a car, book hotels, or cabins, go to restaurants, and buy surfboard waxes. It benefits the economy and brings a lot of money to Costa Rica."

The new bill also authorizes the Costa Rican Sports Institute and the Costa Rican Tourism Institute, to take action and promote activities whose purpose is the commemoration of the Surf National Day.







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Besides declaring the National Surf Day, what else should the government do to increase the number of professional surfers in the country?  We would like to know your thoughts on this story. Send your comments to news@amcostarica.com

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