Tons of action and challenging conditions in a marathon of great surfing at the Eurosurf Junior.
Santa Cruz hosted nine hours of incredible surfing on the second day of competition in this 2022 Eurosurf Junior, with several stand outs and some dramatic twists.
One of those plot twists belonged to the Italian under-16 surfer Leonardo Apreda, who scored the highest wave and total score of the contest so far, a 9.50 and a 16.75 respectively on his first round just to lose to the repechage on the second. A perfect example of what makes surfing so exciting to watch but also a testament to the challenge of today’s conditions in Mirante Beach, where the contest takes place until the weekend.
Something that Italy’s coach, Ian Martin explains, talking about the performance of the “squadra azzura” in this event, having lost three surfers to the repechage round:
“We had some real good surfing but we also had a lot of mistakes like what happened with Leonardo Apreda and also with the interference in the first podium with the girls and with Filippo on the longboard. They improved a lot but this team needs experience. With the COVID we didn’t have the opportunity to compete a lot. We trained and improved very much on our surfing but we lacked the consistency of competition.”
Meanwhile, Spain and Portugal also lost some surfers to repechage. Two for each: spaniards Daniela Sevillano (Longboard) and Hans Odriozola (U16) and Portuguese Aurora Dantas and Martim Fortes (U16).
Spain’s sporting vice-president Lourenço Chaves de Almeida makes a positive evaluation of the team’s performance: “We are optimistic. Although we have lost some surfers to the repechage rounds, we know that the team is still intact and, for instance, in the case of Hans, we know he can still reach the finals. So, we are in the race and that’s the most important.”
Portugal’s national team coach, David Raimundo, has a similar approach regarding his team’s career in the championship:
“I said this before and I say it again: France and Spain are the favorites for the victory in the Eurosurf Junior but we are proving to be strong contenders. We had a very good collective performance today, even losing two surfers to the repechage rounds. We are surfing and competing well and that fills us with confidence. And yet, we also know that this is a marathon and not a sprint.”
On a positive note, among the standouts of the day, a word of praise for Portugal’s Gabriela Dinis, with the highest scoring total of the girls under 18 surfing (14.25), Italy’s Leonardo Apreda who we referenced before, Spain’s Kai Odriozola, with a awesome performance on the under 18 division or Germany’s Lisa Boos on the women’s longboard.
Tomorrow we will have another long day of competition with double podium and the promise of more great surfing.