Athletes Arriving at Colorado Beach Are Greeted By Head-High Barrels

Argentina´s Sebastian Galindo navigates an early-morning aquamarine barrel in beautiful Nicaragua just days before the event begins. Photo: ISA/Rommel Gonzalez

Nicaragua ISA World Masters Surfing Championship Begins On Saturday 

Nicaragua ISA World Masters Surfing Championship
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Colorado Beach at Hacienda Iguana, Nicaragua

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With the Opening Ceremony for the Nicaragua ISA World Masters Surfing Championship this coming Saturday, the lineups at Colorado Beach in the Municipality of Tola are starting to fill up with anxious, barrel-seeking surfers. The waves are head-high and the winds are blowing offshore from sunrise to sunset, so none of the seasoned athletes seem to be having any trouble shaking off the jet lag. Instead, they’re trying to conserve energy for the beginning of the event by not spending too many hours in the lineup.

“I’ve never been to Nicaragua before. The water’s warm and the waves are super fun; it’s amazing so far,” Australia’s Robbie Page, an ISA Gold Medalist and the 1988 Pipeline Masters Champion, was overheard saying in the lineup, just minutes after arriving at the venue.

The top over-35-year-old surfers in the world have made the trip to Colorado Beach at Hacienda Iguana to try to catch some memorable waves and achieve what USA’s Tom Curren, Puerto Rico’s Juan Ashton, Costa Rica’s Craig Schieber and Australia’s Mark Richardson and Layne Beachley did last year – joining an exclusive group of ISA World Masters Gold Medalists.

In order to reach the summit of ISA surfing competition, the 150 surfers across five divisions will have an ideal high-performance wave on which to perform.

On low tide, the waves at Colorado Beach at Hacienda Iguana offer racey, left- and right-hand barrels. Photo: ISA/Rommel Gonzalez

Before practice sessions, surfers are sitting on the patios of their beachfront accommodations and watching as picturesque peaks break up and down the beach. On middle and high tide, the waves are long, rippable faces, and then during low tide the waves start barreling, and surfers start racing for daylight.

“I’m fortunate to have surfed this wave several times before; I’ve seen it in different sizes and shapes. It’s a wave that I really feel comfortable with. Also, the Argentinean team is staying in a beachfront house, which is really good because we can check the conditions all the time,” said Martin Passeri, who’s a five-time Argentinean national champion. “I think this is a great location to make have event like this, one that is getting bigger and stronger every year, with more famous surfers, better levels of competition, and the teams get better preparation.”

According to Surfline.com, the Official Forecaster for the event, a few minor swells are looming in the Pacific, which should send waves ranging from chest-high to slightly overhead.  Winds are expected to remain offshore – courtesy of the Lake Nicaragua Effect – for the duration of the event.

While some teams will be primarily focused on individual medals and enjoying their stay in Nicaragua, the surfing and competition powerhouse countries will have their sights set on the perpetual Eduardo Arena Trophy, which will go to the Gold Medal Team Champions of the entire contest. Peruvian Eduardo Arena founded the ISA in 1964.

In total there will be 26 countries from all five continents represented in Nicaragua. In addition to the hosts, the other national teams competing are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, France, Germany, Guatemala, Hawaii, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Puerto Rico, Switzerland, Tahiti, Uruguay, USA and Venezuela.

The event will begin on July 14th with the Parade of Nations, Sands of the World Ceremony and Opening Ceremony in Rivas, and competition at Colorado Beach will commence the following day.