Nations gather in Ecuador for ISA World Surfing Games
posted on 10th March 2004
Teams from the four corners of the earth are set to gather in Ecuador next week to participate in the 20th biennial World Surfing Games that will crown champions in five wave riding disciplines, the ISA Trophee team event and the overall world champion national team.
Approximately 30 of the 50 national governing federations affiliated to the International Surfing Association (ISA), the San Diego based organisation that is recognised by the IOC as the world governing body for surfing and bodyboarding, will send nearly 400 participants to the tournament, which held in a different country every two years.
Scheduled for March 19-28, the 10-day event will be staged on the beaches of Playa de FAE, near Salinas in the South West corner of the country, just two degrees South of the equator and a venue that receives consistent swell from the South Pacific at this time of the year.
Started in 1964 at Manly Beach in Sydney, Australia, when surfers from the host nation, the USA, Hawaii, Peru and a single South African representative competed for men and women’s surfing titles, the event has become progressively larger over the years and is now acknowledged as the world’s biggest surfing event in terms of participant numbers.
The countries are represented by teams of between one and 20 members and the entire complement march in the colourful ‘Parade of Nations’ in their official team apparel and then attend the emotive ‘Sands of the World’ ceremony where sand from the beaches of each of the participating nations is mixed together in the presence of the assembled gathering.
South Africa, the host nation for the 2002 games, are the defending national team champions and top seeds this year with 2002 runners-up and six-time champion nation Australia seeded second and 2000 champions Brazil in third spot. Only Hawaii of the top 10 ranked nations at the last WSG will not be present in Ecuador, with France, Spain, 2002 ISA Trophee champions New Zealand, Tahiti, Japan, Puerto Rico and the USA filling the top 10 seedings.
A full team comprises 10 competitors made up of four open men and two women shortboard surfers, two male and one female bodyboarders and one longboard surfer. Not all nations send full teams while many send extensive management and media complements.
The magnificent sculptured IOC President’s Trophy, donated by the IOC to recognised federations, will be presented to the country winning the 2004 ISA World Team Champion title. This is determined by accumulating the points scored by all the team members and the winning nation also is awarded the Basil Lomberg Perpetual Trophy, named in honour of the then President of South African surfing who resurrected the World Surfing Games in 1978.
The 2004 ISA World Surfing Games is produced by the Federacion Ecuatoriana de Surf with FES President Manuel Lozano and Juan Miguel Salvador Alban the coordinators and Marcos Bukao (Brazil) the ISA appointed contest director. Paul Botha of Life’s a Beach Communications is the English language media director.
For further information:
Life's a Beach Communications
PO Box 48272, Kommetjie, 7976 South Africa
Tel / Fax: +27 (0) 21 783 4965
Mobile: +27 (0) 82 423 1964
Email: [email protected]
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