Costa Rica Surf Season: As a result of the deadly spread of the Coronavirus (COVID-19), the Circuito Nacional had to postpone a scheduled contest date. After the announcement of Executive Decree No. 42221-S FSC took into consideration the health and well-being of surfing athletes as well as spectator fans, and suspended the Copa VSSLA, the third date of the Scotiabank Circuito Nacional de Surf presented by Kolbi, which was to have taken place in Guiones on March 21 and 22.
The presidential decree actually requested the suspension of ALL sporting events, and other massive activities in one of the early nationwide measures to prevent the further coverage of the disease.
Randall Chaves, FSC President, announced: “Following orders from the Ministry of Health, we are forced to suspend the date in Guiones and move it to July. We applaud the efforts made by our authorities and join the call to remain calm and comply with basic hygiene protocols to prevent the transmission of disease. “
The pending calendar for the Scotiabank CNS costa rica surf tournament is listed below, but keep in mind it may change again given the fluid nature of COVID-19 in Costa Rica:
Santa Teresa – April 18 and 19
Avellanas – May 23 and 24
Playa Hermosa de Jaco – June 20 and 21
Guiones – July 18 and 19
CNS Scotiabank Grand Final presented by Kolbi in Jacó – August, exact dates to come
Before things got locked down internationally, best Costa Rican surfers were still participating in the World Surf League (WSL) professional contests around the globe.
In March, Brisa Hennessy—the only Costa Rican already pre qualified for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, which are also pending—classified for her second consecutive semifinal on the World Qualifying Series (WQS). Her 3rd place finish took place at the Sisstrevolution Central Coast Pro, a QS3000 point contest at Avoca Beach, Australia. With a previous 1st place in China, Hennessy has maintained a #1 ranking on the QS chart. Her participation on the Championship Tour (CT), has yet to start as the early dates so far have been cancelled or postponed.
Never before has any Costa Rican held the 1st place spot on the QS, but note that Leilania McGonagle took 13th place in this contest and now occupies #15 in the Women’s QS ranking.
Hennessy continued her streak with another 3rd place finish, this time at the Sydney Surf Pro at Manly Beach, Australia. This was a high-point QS10,000, where she faced her Rip Curl teammate , Tyler Wrigth, a two-time Australian world champion who returned to competition after recovering from injuries that kept her out all 2019.
“It has been the best start of the year I have ever had at the WQS, and for that I feel very proud and grateful for all the people who support me in this dream. With my coach, Glenn Hall (Ireland), we have worked hard. I owe a lot to him,” commented Hennessy.
With this win in Sydney, she added 6,500 more points to this season’s ranking accumulation, making it unattainable for anyone else to usurp her #1 spot. All the rest of the 18 QS events are 1,000 and 1,500 points, and Hennessy is sure to rack up some more good scoring placements furthering her lead.
But, in fact, WSL canceled all its March tournaments as a consequence of the global pandemic.
Before that, Thomas King had a beautiful opening day at Ron Jon Quiksilver Pro, a men’s QS1500 in Cocoa Beach, Florida in March. After grinding on the international circuit for a few years, he’s demonstrated lot of promise this year, beginning with his Round 2 debut here.
“I haven’t done any QS events this year and just staying closer to home doing some Pro Am events,” said King. “I’m stoked though, the waves are really fun and I wasn’t expecting much here so that was great. This year I’m just feeling happy and have a different mindset, more relaxed, and I just want to surf my best.”
Later, this mindset paid off in a battle that unfolded in Round 4 Heat 4 to determine the final two spots going into the last day: King and Keanu Kamiyama (Japan), took ended up in the quarterfinals, besting Robbie McCormick (US) and Alan Cleland (Mexico) . King ended his run there.
“That was a good one and happy I got a couple good waves against those guys because I’m pretty heavy compared to them but I want it,” King said. “I’m just trying to give a little extra on every single wave. With all the events called off this is it for a while so it makes me want it that much more. Thinking differently this year and just enjoying the moment has helped and now I’m bringing in some extra fire to back it up.”
Also, looking to make his mark was Jair Perez, who had an early heat win that the WSL said “brought his radiating positivity to a place he finds the comforts of home. The competitive veteran has his eyes set towards bigger ambitions on the horizon but continues to enjoy the moment.”
King finished a respectful 5th place, while Perez concluded at 9th. While neither of these men have cracked the Top 100 of the QS ranking yet, it may be awhile before they can make more moves, as the Men’s QS dates are postponed for the time being because of the coronavirus.
