The finals of the 9 categories disputed during the «Arucas Oleaje Bodyboard Contest 2022» have started strong from the first hour of the morning, but the most anticipated women’s final has been, in which the rider from Gran Canaria Ilenia Suárez has faced the Tenerife Alexandra Rinder, two-time world champion in bodyboarding. Both competitors have been exchanging the first position throughout the final, although the rider of the Oleaje Surfing Club, organizer of the competition, achieved since she went out on the water the best score in the women’s category with a combination of reverse spins and rollers (qualified with 7 points out of 10). However, it was not until the last wave that the Moyense athlete managed to beat Rinder by a few tenths.
“I am very excited, since it is my second championship this year and the second won, in addition to succeeding on the beach where I have always been training since I started”, declared the winner of the women’s Open category.
For the current bodyboarding world champion, Alexandra Rinder, this championship has a long history, with more than 12 years competing on the beach of San Andrés, where the increase in Canarian riders in a traditionally minority sport stands out. However, the rider from Tenerife confessed that she has always had a hard time reading this wave “because it has a sandy bottom and it moves a lot”. In her opinion, the conditions were quite difficult, so you have to have good technique. “This wave is difficult for me to read, I am a person who needs big waves, also because of my height,” Rinder confessed. In her words, the level of the Canarian riders has risen a lot, “they are giving a lot of cane and it is super nice that there are more girls and that the Canarian level is seen at the top”, said the athlete from Adeje. Rinder also stressed the importance of participating in local events like this, joking that she “should practice more” considering the result obtained this time.
Another of the outstanding riders of the competition has been Jonathan Vega, who has been improving his performance in each heat and in each contested race, both in the Open and Master categories, in which he demonstrated his superiority, even obtaining a «wave» in each class. excellent» (waves rated between 8 and 10 points, maximum score). “He is a very complete competitor, both on the right and on the left, he also controls all kinds of waves”, commented Darío Rodríguez, judge of the Canarian Surfing Federation. Vega, current champion of Spain in the Open modality, also highlighted that the level of the canaries is still very high, especially among the youngest. After the rider from Teldense, two other Gran Canarians occupied the podium positions: Samuel Brito and Carlos Suárez.
In the category of the most veterans it has also been quite a spectacle, even for some judges being the class that “has given the most game”, according to Lucas Turón, judge of Beaches of the organizing entity, surprising above all “a backflip (somersault towards behind) on the shore of Abián Perdomo”, 3 times champion of Spain (Master). Even so, the Master class was undoubtedly led by Jonathan Vega, the winner with 16.67 points, the sum of his two best waves, against Alberto San Román (9.34 points). Jonathan Vega won all the heats and got the 3 best wave scores in this category. In fact, he got the best score from him on a wave in the final. Third place was finally held by Abián Perdomo, who has recently returned to compete, so he will continue to fight to retain the title of Spanish champion (Master).
Rough diamonds from the “Canarian bodyboard quarry”
Winners of the absolute categories had words of encouragement for the young promises of bodyboarding who gathered at the Arucas Oleaje Bodyboard Contest 2022, even reaching a podium position in the Open classes. Jonathan Vega stated that he had time over the weekend to observe and enjoy the young Canarian bodyboard quarry, whom he encouraged “to put aside their egos and enjoy the sport”. During the awards ceremony, Ilenia Suárez stressed that “we should compete more internationally, because the Canary Islands have a high level, both male and female”, while Alexandra Rinder encouraged the rest of the riders to go out and compete abroad to strengthen and grow. the Canarian bodyboard team. The finalists in the Dropknee category also encouraged young people to practice this modality, “since it is a part of bodyboarding, its culture and history and we cannot let it get lost”.
As for the winners of the FESurfing Junior Bodyboard Cup categories, Mar Suanzes stood out mainly as a strategist when choosing which waves to catch to score points, in fact, the first two waves he caught earned him the best score and succeed in the female sub18 category. Meanwhile, in the men’s category, it was Gadiel Martel who dominated during the disputed heats, achieving the two best scores in the final to obtain a total of 10.50 points. Among the under-16s, Néstor Reyes dominated from the start, achieving his best score in the first two waves (7 and 6 points respectively). However, Reyes did not have it easy, since Jorge Hernández followed closely, getting the best wave scored in the final of the sub16 category (7.67 points), but he lacked a second wave to be proclaimed champion. Finally, in the sub14 class, the youngest rider to be crowned was Hugo Medina.
Dropknee: fighting the waves with one knee on the board
One of the most surprising categories contemplated during the Arucas Oleaje Bodyboard Contest 2022 has been that of Dropknee, one of the oldest and most classic forms of bodyboarding that consists of surfing with one knee on the bodyboard. “It is a special modality because it combines surfing and bodyboarding that allows you to enjoy the wave and the sea in many ways in contact with the buggy”, explained the winner of the class, David Valladares, who has shown absolute superiority over the board, obtaining a final score of 18.16, with which he surpassed the second classified by more than 9 points. In his opinion, in the Canary Islands there is a high level of bodyboarding, and more specifically of this class, although he feels that “Canaries should be traveling around the world representing Spain.”
