COSTA RICANS COMPLETE THE 2008 QUIKSILVER ISA WORLD JUNIOR SURFING CHAMPIONSHIP SECOND ALONG WITH PERU AS BEST LATIN AMERICAN COUNTRY IN SURF WORLD

TICO SURFERS FALL OUT IN THEIR FINAL REPERCHARGE HEATS

by: ELLEN ZOE GOLDEN/The Bevy EllenZoe@aol.com 800-548-1753

Hossegor , France May 30, 2008 – With two days still to go to conclude the 2008 Quiksilver International Surfing Association (ISA) World Junior Surfing Championship (WJSC) in Hossegor , France , all of the remaining Costa Rica National Junior Surf Team have finished their participation in the international tournament with their conclusions in repercharge heats. With the final results of all the countries still to be announced on Sunday, June 1, the Federacion de Surf de Costa Rica (FSC) is still hoping for a better result than the previously earned 14 th place earned at the 2007 ISA WJSC in Portugal .

Today, the Ticos featured the participation of the Junior Anthony Segura and Jairo Pérez in Rounds 3 and 4, whereby the latter advanced to the next heat by placing 2 nd behind Chase Wilson of the United States . Pérez then fell to 4 th place in his next round when he surfed hard against 1 st place South African Matthew Bromley, 2 nd place Hawaiian Dylan Goodale and 3 rd place New Zealander Matt Hewitt. It's likely, according to the FSC, that Jairo could close-out the competition at position 16 of the Juniors, Less than 18 years category. However, the final official results will be made by the ISA at the conclusion of the contest.

Segura , for his work, ended his international run in Round 3 at 4th place. 1st place went to Chilean Maximiano Cross, 2nd place to Tahitian David Aariimoana, and 3 rd place to Portugal 's Francisco Souza.

Costa Rica 's other outstanding surfer, 15-year-old Nataly Bernold, today finished her work in repercharge Round 4. After a valiant effort, Bernold fell to 3 rd place, with Hawaii 's Malia Manuel scoring 1 st , and Tahiti 's Heiriti Manuel coming in 2 nd . The Costa Rican technical body is predicting that she may earn position #13 for the Junior Girls, but again, must wait for the contest to end.

According to Jose Ureña, President of the FSC, who was unable to accompany the Costa Rica National Junior Surf Team on this trip because of personal business, Bernold was able to excel in a category featuring girls much older than her 15 years of age. This was, in part, due to her previous experience on the Costa Rica national contest circuit, Circuito Nacional de Surf, where she has been the 2006-07 National Women's Chamion and the two-time National Junior Women's Champion (2006-07 and 2007-08), as well as her Central American Women's Championship title. In addition, Nataly has participated in three international World Championships.

“Nataly managed to advance in Rounds facing great international surf names and had very good participation,” Ureña said. “Her work means even more, considering her youth, and she could surprise us even more in the international tournaments coming up later in the year.”

As to the Ticos, Less than 16 Years, Carlos Muñoz, Anthony Fillingim and Mykol Torres today also proudly finished their run. Muñoz, who had received accolades for being the Most Outstanding Latin Surf in the 2007 ISA WJSC in Portugal, again obtained the best participation for the Costa Ricans, and the second best performance for Latin America after the Peruvian Carlos Mario Zapata. He, like Bernold, has participated in three international competitions with the Costa Rica National Surf Team, and one more Sub 16 contest.

“Every year, we have managed to improve when we attend a World Championship. The Junior category is of extreme importance because it hardens the soldiers to fire because they are up against the best in the world there. Little by little, we exert ourselves within the worldwide surfing powers, because everything is a process,” concluded Ureña.