David Valladares is crowned European Dropknee champion, and Ángelo López wins the Open category at the ETB event in El Socorro
Luana Dourado triumphs in the Women’s category in an all-Portuguese final
Mauro Bolaños wins the ProJunior final
The Canary Islands Surf Federation predicts “more Socorro Classic” and new editions of the European Tour of BodyBoard at this beach in northern Tenerife
The results from the last competitive day of the 2024 ETB El Socorro event include Ángelo López from Puerto de la Cruz winning the Open category, Luana Dourado from Portugal in the Women’s category, and Mauro Bolaños in the ProJunior category.
The European champions in these three categories will be determined after the final event of the ETB, which will take place at the end of November in Morocco. Valladares, however, has already secured the Dropknee European title as the European circuit only included two events for this category this year, held at the Gran Canaria PRO and the Socorro Classic, which concluded this Sunday, September 29, in Tenerife.
The European Surfing Federation bases its scores on the 15-wave limit for athletes in each heat. They select the two best waves per athlete, which are scored based on the most radical maneuvers executed in the most critical sections of the wave.
In the combined score, Ángelo López obtained 14.05 points, winning heat 25, which ended the Open category competition, according to data from the European Surfing Federation’s technical team. The heat ended with 13.60 points for Gran Canarian Armide Soliveres, 13.35 points for Chilean Gustavo Neira from Antofagasta, and 12.60 points for Gran Canarian Jorge Hernández. Ángelo López dedicated his award to his family "and the kids from El Castillo, who are always surfing."
David Valladares scored a total of 14.00 points in heat 8 of the Dropknee category, corresponding to his final. He was followed by Samuel Figueroa with 11.00 points, Hugo Hernández with 7.45 points, and Ramón Fernández with 6.25 points. Valladares’ victories in the two Canarian ETB events crowned him the European Champion in his discipline. Valladares shared his award with the Canarias Crew: "When I arrived in the Canary Islands, I felt great inspiration and motivation, and now I feel like one of them. Tenerife deserves the best from Europe and the world in this sport."
The Women’s final was an all-Portuguese affair, with four Portuguese athletes competing, showcasing the growing strength of bodyboarding among women in Portugal. Luana Dourado emerged victorious in heat 7 of the Women’s category with 15.15 points, followed by Teresa Padrela with 12.40 points, Mariana Rosa with 11.05 points, and Francisca Ribeiro with 9.00 points. Dourado thanked the event organizers, her club, and her friends and expressed satisfaction in competing alongside three other Portuguese athletes, noting that "they’re all deserving."
Finally, in the ProJunior category, Gran Canarian Mauro Bolaños shone with 12.00 points in heat 15, the final of the category. The ProJunior podium was completed by Portuguese Vicente Campos with 11.45 points, Spaniard Damiano Bonazzi with 10.05 points, and Gran Canarian Jorge Hernández with 9.70 points. After receiving his trophy, Bolaños expressed satisfaction with winning the event at El Socorro and thanked his sponsors for their support, stating that he is ready to compete in the next European championship event.
Future editions
“The Socorro Classic event, part of the European bodyboard circuit, has been very important. We had over a hundred participants, and the results were excellent for our Canarian competitors. We managed to make it to all the finals, except for the Women’s category, and we always won, so the Canary Islands Surf Federation, which organized this event, is very happy, and we will surely see many more editions and much more Socorro Classic in the future,” said Ángel Lobo, president of the Canary Islands Surf Federation, during the trophy ceremony.
Lobo also highlighted that “throughout the competition, the sea conditions were incredible for a bodyboard competition, with waves over a meter high, series of a meter and a half, almost no wind, and a northwest swell. The competitors took advantage of most of the peaks that the beach offers, and everyone was amazed by the quality of the waves at El Socorro.”
Before the awards were presented to the finalists and winners, the director of the Antofagasta Bodyboard Festival, Chilean Arturo Soto, who accompanied competitors Gustavo Neira and Constanza Soto from his country, announced that the winners of the ProJunior and Women’s categories would receive an invitation to participate in the next edition of this international event, the most important bodyboard competition in the world, held in what is considered the world capital of the sport, Antofagasta.
Each finalist was awarded a trophy handcrafted from wood in Los Realejos and a necklace made of traditional pottery beads, handcrafted by Canarian artisan Cristina Toledo Siverio. This unique piece, made without machinery, using local materials and fired in a wood oven following the ancient techniques of the Guanches, the original inhabitants of Tenerife, also features a representation of Magheq, the Sun god, one of the principal deities of the Guanches. In this way, each finalist takes home a piece of the Canary Islands' intangible heritage.
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