A schedule of summer surf events is designed to position Mexico as the surf capital of Latin America, among other goals.

The Surf Open League, the sport’s governing body in Mexico, announced that the Pacific resort towns of Puerto Escondido, Acapulco and Ixtapa will each host a surfing event this summer.

It wants to promote Mexico’s surfing beaches internationally and encourage the sport in Mexico while at the same time help Mexican athletes, reactivate tourism and raise awareness about ocean conservation.

The surf season begins tomorrow in Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca, where the best 24 tube riders in the world, including seven Mexicans, will compete.

The Puerto Escondido Cup competition will run throughout June at Zicatela beach, where surfers will await the call of organizers who will monitor the wave heights and determine the moment when the competitions should take place.

The Surf Open Acapulco follows from July 20 to 22, an event sanctioned by the World Surf League, in which more than 100 athletes from 15 countries will be able to earn points toward their world ranking.

The third event will also be hosted in Guerrero: from August 31 to September 2, more than 80 professional surfers from around the country will meet for the third edition of the Loot Surf Open Ixtapa.

The decision to choose the three locations was “based on the waves,” said Gary Linden of the Open Surf League. “Zicatela beach is one of the best places for big-wave matches . . . Acapulco has good and smaller waves all year long.”

He also praised the people of the host towns, who have always shown their support for these types of events.

“We want to help the youth, they are our future, and we want Mexico to be the surf capital of Latin America,” he added. Linden also lamented the absence of surfer Óscar Moncada, killed last year in a traffic accident.

Rey Hernández, born and raised in Acapulco, will be one of the seven Mexican participants at the three events. His goal is high: he wants to earn the most points during the Surf Open League competitions because he wants to represent Mexico at the Olympic Games.

Surfing will make its Olympic debut during the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

Source: Milenio (sp), AM (sp)