Arena Rodríguez had a solid campaign at Newcastle CS, and those strong performances came at the right time: The WSL reserved her a South American wildcard in the only CT in the region, the South American one.

The criteria for determining wildcards is not fixed, but one that has been fairly adhered to is the one followed with her: The best in the regional challengers receives a wildcard, and that's what happened with her.

Other South Americans had reached the round of 16, but she had been the one who had won the most series, and therefore the little gift, the important little gift, was for her.

Once again, a Peruvian has earned this spot on the world tour's biggest stage. Miguel and Sol have already been there, and now it's Arena's chance; an arena that's seen surfing better than ever and heard with its head in the right place, eager to shine and with the spirit to achieve it.

Below is a brief interview.

How did you receive the news? Who contacted you? How did you react?
I received the news last Monday, as soon as I landed in Lima. I was making several stops from Australia to Lima and when I took the last flight from Santiago, upon landing I turned on the information to let my dad know I had arrived and then I got a message from an unknown number and it said it was Renato Hickel from the WSL and that they were giving me the wildcard for the Rio Pro.

At first, I didn't believe it and was incredibly confused. Then I became incredibly happy and cried with my mom on the plane; it was quite a sight.

"At first, I didn't believe it and was super confused. Then I became super happy and cried with my mom on the plane; it was quite a show."

From there I called my dad who was going to pick us up and I told him and the three of us were very happy.

This will be your first CT, which is an achievement in itself. How do you feel about it?
It's a super achievement, in fact, it's a very good opportunity, and the truth is that I want to take full advantage of it, learn as much as I can, take every chance or opportunity that comes up these days to learn.

And well, in fact, we all want to advance as much as possible, so I don't know what to expect, but I just want to surf and have a chance against the best in the world.

You're up against Gabriela Bryan and Lakey Peterson in your series, what do you think about that matchup?
Lakey has been on tour for many years, and Gabriela is now number 1; I'm really just super motivated. I've always followed them since they started on tour, and they're very powerful surfers, and I've always really liked their surfing.

I'm really just motivated. I want to give it my all, and I know that against them I have to bring my best surfing and be on the best waves to have a chance. So I'm super motivated to give it my all because there's really no other way. You have to give it your all on the CT and minimize mistakes, and well, that's what we're here for, to go big, right?

How do you feel in Saquarema?
It's a beach I've been to for at least four years in a row. I've been in pro juniors, QSs, a few challengers, and now a CT tour. Of the CT tour beaches, it's actually the one I'm most confident in because it's the one I've surfed the most, probably the only one I've surfed on the world tour.

"It's a beach I've been to for at least four years in a row. I've been to pro juniors, QSs, some challengers, and now a CT tour. Of the beaches on the CT tour, it's actually the one I feel most confident in."

It's a beach where, despite all its chaos, I feel pretty confident, and it's a good place to compete against them because, given that Brazil has both good and bad waves, it can work for anyone. So it's a very good opportunity.

Who will you be working with in the championship? Who will be your coach?
I brought my mom, who has been accompanying me to almost all the championships. From there, I'm bringing Gonzalo Noriega, who will be my filmmaker, and as a coach, I've brought Luis Eduardo Escudero, who has been my coach for the last three years. I feel really strong with him. After this, I'll be going to South Africa for the challenger with him.

We've been training really solid here since Tuesday, and we're just going to give it our all, represent the team as best we can, and simply enjoy the process.