KEIKI

ISA FINAL DAY
The ISA World Bodyboard Title, celebrating 40 years of bodyboarding, was decided in epic 3-5 foot conditions and golden light, near Galdar, Gran Canaria this afternoon. Narrowly taking the Open Men’s Title from countryman Amaury Laverhne was a man who seems to be in the best competitive form of his life, Mr Pierre-Louis Costes. 

 After an indecisive morning, the contest was moved from Fronton to nearby La Guancha, getting underway around midday. As the regular and repcharge rounds whittled down, it was Pierre, Amaury, Yeray Martinez and Australia’s own Lachlan Cramsie left standing.

The final had just about everything one could hope for; big boosts, barrels and heated rivalry. Most importantly though, it showcased the very best of our sport for the world to see.

Final results were as follows:
1st Pierre
2nd Amaury
3rd Lachlan
4th Yeray

The Frenchies epic finals efforts sealed the overall victory for the French team, bringing the end to what has been an amazing week of global camaraderie and competition, not to mention an incredible lead up to the final IBA event of the year and the crowning of the 2011 World Champion.

First episode of the second series of the BossItUp Podcast was filmed during the waiting period of the Confital Pro 2010  El Fronton Wild Wild Wave.

The Trials event will Start on Tuesday the 6th of December and the conditions are looking great.

As each of the 23 nation’s competing in the ISA World Bodyboarding Championships put sand from their local beach into a giant glass jar and paraded, proudly waving their country’s flag, the games were declared open.
Competition begins tomorrow with a swell forecast looking better each day into the weekend. There will be some incredible action if El Fronton delivers what has been predicted.

The Spanish Surfing Federation along with the International Surfing Association are advancing on the preparations to crown the 12th ISA World Champion at the first ever, stand alone ISA World Bodyboarding Championship. The event will take place in the heavy slab waves of El Frontón and la Guancha (Galdar City) in the Canary Islands, Spain from November 30 until December 4, 2011.

The ISA included the Bodyboard division in its World Surfing Games beginning in 1988, when USA’s Chris Cunninghan won the Gold Medal.

The ISA’s Bodyboarding Gold Medalists includes:

1988 (Aguadilla, Puerto Rico): Chris Cunninghan (USA)

1990 (Chiba, Japan): Jackie Buder (HAW)

1992 (Lacanau, France): Nicolas Capdeville (FRA)

1994 (Río de Janeiro, Brazil): Jefferson Anute (BRA)

1996 (Huntington Beach, USA): Guilherme Tamega (BRA)

1998 (Carcavelos, Portugal): Gonçalo Faria (POR)

2000 (Maracaipe, Brasil): Guilherme Tamega (BRA)

2002 (Durban, South Africa): Nicolas Capdeville (FRA)

2004 (Salinas, Ecuador): Andrew Lester (AUS)

2006 (Huntington Beach, California): Manuel Centeno (POR)

2008 (Costa de Caparica, Portugal): Marcus Lima (BRA)

This will be the first time ever that Bodyboard-only teams from all over the world gather to compete in the following divisions: Open Men (Prone), Open Women (Prone), Under 18 Men (Prone) and Open Drop Knee.

Each team will consist of:

2 Open Men

1 Open Women

1 Under 18 Men

1 Drop Knee Open

Plus Alternates and Team Officials.

Athletes will compete for the medals and the honor of representing their countries. The event’s biggest honor goes to the winning team, the one that combines more individual points, which will win the Team Gold Medal.

El Frontón and La Guancha are located in Galdar, on the island of Gran Canaria, which was originally populated by the Canarii (Guanches), who are believed to have arrived as early as 500 BC. The Canarii named the island Tamarán, “Land of the Brave.”  After more than a century of European invasions and attempts at conquest, the island was conquered in 1483 by the Kingdom of Castile.  This resulted in a significant step towards the expansion of the unified nation of Spain.          

The capital city of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria was founded in 1478, under the name “Real de Las Palmas.”  Today the city is bursting with cultural and social features of entertainment, in addition to the four main beaches visitors are often drawn to, Las Canteras, Las Alcaravaneras, la Laja, and Confital.

Considered the European Hawaii, Canary Islands have world-class waves, constant temperature throughout the year (between 20ºC and 32ºC) and warm water. Galdar City generates some of the best waves in the world for bodyboarding. It has abundant, good accommodations and very welcoming people.

Everything’s getting revved up as the world’s best bodyboarders kick off the competition in El Frontón and La Guancha for the ISA World Bodyboard Title on November 30.

About the International Surfing Association: The International Surfing Association (ISA) is recognized by the International Olympic Committee as the World Governing Authority for Surfing. It was originally founded as the International Surfing Federation in 1964 and has been running Open Division World Championships since 1964, Junior World Championships since 1980, and Masters World Championships since 2007. The ISA also sanctions the World Kneeboard Titles and the Tandem Surfing World Title, and will hold the first World Bodyboard Championship in 2011, and the first World Standup Paddle (SUP) and Paddleboard Championship in 2012.

ISA membership includes the surfing National Governing Bodies of 69 countries on five continents. Its headquarters are located in San Diego, California. It is presided over by Fernando Aguerre (Argentina), first elected President in 1994 in Rio de Janeiro and re-elected seven times since.  The ISA’s three Vice-Presidents are Alan Atkins (AUS), Karín Sierralta (PER) and Debbie Beacham (USA).

Good luck to Team SA bring home the gold boys !!!