Thanks to the efforts of all the young surfers who traveled to Playa Venao in Panama, the Junior National Surf Team of Costa Rica is now number ten in the world, and it could climb to the eighth position.

All eyes are on Noe Mar McGonagle, the 15-year old surfing prodigy from Pavones who could be advancing to the finals, and who currently has a strong chance of bringing home a gold medal.

Noe Mar has had an incredible run in Playa Venao. He has achieved five straight victories in spectacular heats. He is sticking to his aerial maneuvers, and yesterday he introduced a couple of elegant board grabs to add more flair to his tricks. Yesterday he faced two Hawaiian surfers and Takumi Nakamura, an up-and-coming Japanese wave rider who managed to catch the best wave of the heat against Noe Mar. Nakamura, however, interfered during the heat and was penalized by the judges, thereby giving the Tico surfer a clear advantage.

In today’s heats, Noe Mar will face two surfers from France and one from Hawaii. He is in the top five.

Manuel Mesen from Jaco Beach entered a series of sudden death elimination heats earlier this week and was able to collect 400 points for the Junior National Surf Team. Thanks to his contribution and awesome last-minute performances, Costa Rica is now comfortable in the top ten.

The final heats of the championship are taking place now, you can catch them live on webcast at Dakine’s web site for the event.

Source: Carlos Enrique Brenes (FEDESURF)