By Maria Peña, from Caracas 

Juan Pedro Medina was announced as the new technical director of the Venezuelan surfing team and he has already informed the athletes called up for the check-up for the Pan American Surfing Games that will take place in Punta Rocas, Peru, between December 2 and 9, the coach himself informed DUKE.

The surfers cited for the men's open were: Derek Gomes, Jose Joaquin Lopez, Francisco Bellorin, Rafael "Nono" Pereira, Harold Zunino, Neomar Romero, Carlos Perez and Santiago Garcia.

The check is scheduled for Saturday, November 10 at El Faro beach in Vargas state. If the waves do not favor it, the activity will move to Los Caracas.

Medina, who has a degree in Political Science and is a certified coach by the International Surfing Association (ISA), explained to DUKE that the publication of the selection criteria is an unprecedented event that aims to carry out a transparent process in which people feel proud of the Venezuelan team.

According to the aforementioned criteria, four of the eight athletes selected will be chosen, and the results of each athlete obtained in national and international competitions will be taken into account.

Athletes living abroad must present a valid justification if they cannot attend the scheduled check-up. Likewise, the results of previously conducted national check-ups will be taken into account, but will not be decisive when choosing the final selection.

This is the second time that Medina has been in charge of the Technical Direction of the Venezuelan Surfing Federation. In 2017, he was in charge of the Venezuelan team that traveled to the previous Pan American Games, where Venezuela achieved 7th place among the 17 participating nations.

“The Venezuelan surfing team must be above personal interests. I am taking office because of the problems that have been occurring with the federation, because I believe that it is time to provide solutions instead of more problems,” Medina assured DUKE.

He concluded by explaining that the goal is to bring a complete surfing selection that includes open shortboard, paddle surf, paddle race and longboard in female and male categories, however, the technical process they are starting is in the stage of requesting monetary resources from the Venezuelan state, private companies and contributions from individuals to make the trip possible.