An ISA Gold Medalist and a Pipeline Master´s Champion, Australia´s Robbie Page will be aiming to increase his medal count by putting his barrel-riding skills to use at Colorado Beach at Hacienda Iguana. Photo: ISA/White
Three Former ISA Medalists and the ASP Masters Champion to Compete for Australia at Colorado Beach at Hacienda Iguana
Nicaragua ISA World Masters Surfing Championship
July 14 to 22, 2012
Colorado Beach at Hacienda Iguana, Nicaragua
A month from now hundreds of the best over-35-year-old surfers from nearly two-dozen nations will walk the streets of Rivas, Nicaragua, waving their national flags during the Opening Ceremony of the 2012 Nicaragua ISA World Masters Surfing Championship. Among the participating nations will be Australia, wearing the traditional Bushman hats, anxious to begin competition and aiming to reclaim the Team Gold Medal which was theirs just two years prior. The team finished fifth last year in El Salvador.
A true superpower of surfing, Australia plans to bring a seasoned team of surfers to compete at Colorado Beach at Hacienda Iguana. Two of the competing Aussie athletes were on the 2010 team, which won the Team Gold Medal, and who were individual medal-winners that year, as well.
Joining the roster for the first time – and hoping to help Team Australia reclaim the Gold – will be the defending ASP Masters champion, Nathan Webster. Along with his Masters credentials, Webster competed on the ASP World Tour for a decade. His trip to Nicaragua will mark his first ISA event, where he will compete in the Men’s Masters (over-35) division alongside teammate Robbie Page, another former ASP Tour surfer and decorated ISA competitor. Page is a former Pipeline Master, winning the heralded title in 1988, while holding off the likes of Derek Ho and Tom Carroll. In 2008, Page put together an impressive display at the ISA World Masters at Punta Rocas, Peru, pulling double-duty and winning medals in both the Men’s Masters (Bronze) and the over-40 Men’s Grand Masters (Gold) divisions.
Rod Baldwin will be the lone Aussie competing in the Men’s Grand Kahunas (over-50), but much like Page, he has a history of success in ISA competition. In 2008, when Page won his two medals, Baldwin won the Bronze Medal in the Men’s Kahunas (over-45), and at the following edition of the event in 2010 he managed to ascend to the top of the podium, winning the Gold Medal in pumping waves at Santa Catalina, Panama. He had to withdraw from the 2011 event and was therefore unable to defend his title.
“It’s definitely an honor to represent Australia. I know the whole team is very excited to be traveling to Nicaragua, especially for Colorado Beach, which looks like a fantastic spot to hold the ISA World Masters,” Baldwin said. “This is my third ISA World Masters; I really appreciate the opportunity to travel to these events and experience a different part of the world. It’s great to escape our winter at home and get into some warm water and, hopefully if conditions are right, world-class waves.”
Groomed daily by offshore winds, the pristine wave conditions at Colorado Beach at Hacienda Iguana will present an ideal venue for the world´s best Masters surfers. Photo: Emiliano Gatica
Sandra English will be competing in the Women’s Masters (over-35) division. One of the most prolific female Australian surfers of all time, English has won 10 national titles and 13 state titles in her prodigious career. She’s also a two-time ISA World Masters medalist, winning the Bronze Medal in Peru in 2008 and Copper in Panama in 2010.
David Hammond and Mark Cameron are both ISA newcomers and will be representing Australia in the Men’s Grand Masters (over-40) division. Both are longtime surfers and have placed well at numerous national events in Australia.
Rounding out the roster will be Scott Weinreich and John Schmidenberg, who will be surfing in the Men’s Kahunas division. Schmidenberg is a veteran ISA competitor, and is the defending national champion in his age group.
Team Australia Roster
Men’s Masters
Nathan Webster
Robbie Page
Men’s Grand Masters
David Hammond
Mark Cameron
Men’s Kahunas
Scott Weinreich
John Schmidenberg
Men’s Grand Kahunas
Rod Baldwin
Women’s Masters
Sandra English
Team Manager
Leo Schulze
Be sure to check in to www.isasurf.org for further updates about the event as they are released.
The Nicaragua ISA World Masters Surfing Championship is made possible with the backing of the following sponsors: Nicaragua Tourism Institute, Gray Line, AmericanAirlines, Canal 13, Amnet, Hacienda Iguana, Taca, VOS TV, Municipalidad de Tola, Flor de Caña, INISER; the following cosponsors: Movistar, Dollar, Alamo, Comité Olimpico Nicaragüense, Hilton, Nuevo Diario, Guacalito, Condor, Servipro, Aqua Spa, CDNN canal 23, Nicasurfing; and the following supporters: Surfari Charters, Corona, Paso Pacifico, Renisa, Parmalat, Credomatic, Cruz Roja, Pantaleon, Canatur. The media partners are Pasión Xtrema, SurfersVillage and Surfos. The Official Forecaster for the event is Surfline.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 the Open Division World Championship since 1964, the World Junior Surfing Championship since 1980, the World Masters Surfing Championship since 2007, the World Bodyboard Championship since 2011, and the Hainan Wanning Riyue Bay International Surfing Festival in China and the World Standup Paddle (SUP) and Paddleboard Championship beginning in 2012. The ISA also sanctions the World Kneeboard Titles and the World Tandem Surfing Championship.
ISA membership includes the surfing National Governing Bodies of 71 countries on five continents. Its headquarters are located in La Jolla, 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 four Vice-Presidents are Alan Atkins (AUS), Karín Sierralta (PER), Debbie Beacham (USA) and Layne Beachley (AUS).
More on www.isasurf.org
About Gray Line Tours Nicaragua
Gray Line Tours is a leading tour operator in Nicaragua, and is affiliated with Gray Line Worldwide, which provides tourism services around the world. The company offers complete services in accommodation, transportation, tours, as well as the organization of congress and incentive travels (DMC). It offers quality and professional services, as well as personalized attention to its clients 24 hours a day.
Gray Line offers competitive rates and a wide range of products from nature and cultural packages to surfing and adventure programs. International surfing competitions in Nicaragua have been possible since 2010 thanks to Gray Line Nicaragua efforts.
