Note submitted by Pure Surf

You can be the most talented surfer on the planet, but without magic, without fortuitous events that you cannot control going your way, it is very difficult to achieve glory.

A few months ago, Bryan Pérez was a young professional who stood out, especially for his performances in videos. He had been included in the Billabong team in the United States and was beginning the difficult path in the stages of the world tour.

His life took a big turn when the qualifiers for the Lima 2019 Pan American Games began to take shape. Basically, what happened was that the Olympic committee of his country preferred not to include the last person classified by ALAS ranking, Colombian Daniel Olmos. Continuing down the ranking table, Bryan appeared, who had participated in the El Tunco tournament and was in 52nd place.

If it were up to his ranking and seeding, all the chances were against him, but the opportunity was there and he did not waste it. In the number 1 series he faced the best seed, the 2018 ISA world champion, the Argentine Santiago Muñiz, whom Bryan beat with ease.

The right-handers at Punta Rocas in Peru have some similarities with Punta Roca in El Salvador, the beach where Bryan grew up. Victory after victory followed until he finally took home the bronze, the surfer's medal was one of the four that his country returned with, and up to that point the only one that Central Americans had won.

This opened the eyes of his Olympic committee, his government's sports department and the expensive and historic 2019 World Surfing Games in Japan, which he wasn't going to go to, he ended up going to. And it was quite an experience, finishing in 25th position out of 140, above several CTs like Julian Wilson, Jeremy Flores, Michel Bourez, Jordy Smith, Conner Coffin and a bunch of other top surfers on the planet.

And Bryan traveled well equipped, with his coach Marcelo Castellanos and the good Salvadoran filmmaker known as Mario Filmmaker.

Now he is in Indonesia, the boy has to train on lefts, he already has too many right-handers in his life.

In the following paragraphs, Bryan shares his Japanese experience, another grain of sand in his ascending career and a milestone for Salvadoran and Central American surfing.

Initially you weren't going to come to these WSGs, but at the Pan American Games things changed, how did it go?
At first we weren't going to go to the World Cup because we didn't have enough support and it's very expensive to travel to Japan. Last year we had to pay for everything and it was super expensive so this year we decided not to go, but thank God everything changed after the Pan American Games, I won the bronze medal and the government realized that we had the potential and began to support us, thank God the government is paying for everything on this trip. I feel super grateful to them for supporting me.

And besides traveling with your coach, Marcelo, you did it with the filmmaker, Mario. Is there going to be a clip about the World Cup coming? A movie?
Yes, I do. With my coach and the filmmaker who is very useful for making video analysis of the recordings of everything we are doing. Now we are going to make a documentary of the whole trip, from when we left El Salvador, how we brought the boards, California and we arrived in Japan. A documentary of all that.

Why do you think El Salvador couldn't bring a full team?
I do believe that a complete team can come to the next World Games, but unfortunately we do not have the federation or enough support for everyone to come, so hopefully in the next few years this will change and we will travel with a complete team. That would be the best thing for the country, to have a good representation at the World Games. We have the potential and we have good athletes.

How was it competing against the best in the world? What did you learn?
It was great, being in a heat with one of the CT was super incredible. You learn more from your mistakes, you learn from them, in every event we go to we always learn. I am super happy to have competed with one of them (Jeremy Flores) and beat him, it motivates me more and I know that I have the potential to give much more.

What surprised you about them?
That they were there as a team representing their country. It was great to see them as a team, focused, giving everything for their country, super happy to have seen them there. I was surprised that some good guys like Jeremy Flores said that there were very small waves and that he wanted to surf real waves in his heat, but there wasn't really any.

We were prepared for all kinds of waves and I was really surprised to hear that from Michel Bourez too, they are people who surf really heavy waves. But I was surprised to see them and that they were there alongside you, it was incredible.

Who was the one you liked watching the most?
Kelly Slater, after so many years, is still fighting and made it to the final day. I really admire him, I have a lot of respect for him. He is a super great surfer and it was really good to be surfing with him, to see how he had fun, going heat by heat. Every heat he went on, I would watch how he was doing and he always won, he was the one I liked to watch the most.

Did you talk to any of the CT people? What?
Yes, I spoke to Filipe Toledo who is a good friend and also Kelly Slater who I met at the airport. Jeremy Flores, all of them, I spoke to them and nothing, they are all super nice people, very humble, calm, it is very good that they are at the event and being next to them is super good.

Did anyone recognize you?
Yes, Toledo, which I already knew and we talked.

You finished in the top 30, are you satisfied?
I think I finished in the top 25 and the truth is I'm super happy to be in that position because it wasn't that easy with the level of the event. I think it's one of the highest level events in the history of those I've competed in. I'm super happy to be in the top 25 and giving that to El Salvador makes me very happy and proud of my work. We gave it our all in the water and we continue fighting for the dream, always firm.

What was your favorite series?
My favorite heat was the one with Callinan, Ferreira and Ramzi, that was the heat I enjoyed watching the most, the best goofys in the world and the truth is that they surf really well, watching that heat was very exciting, incredible how they surf.

And the best wave you surfed in competition, the one that felt the best?
It was on the north podium, which was good for a couple of days, it looked like Lowers, so I think that was the best wave we surfed there, it was super good and fun, a couple of small waves came out and we had a lot of fun.

And Japan, what did you think?
I found it super nice, the people super good, kind, friendly, the truth is the country is very peaceful, I liked it a lot, last year we came and we left enchanted by the country.

Were you able to go to the other spots?
No, we couldn't go to other spots, we wanted to go, but we couldn't. We went for a walk, to ride a bike and we saw a couple of small waves there, but it was too small, in the end I think it turned out good. We caught waves too, in front of the hotel there were a couple of small waves and it was super fun.

What did you think of seeing Kelly?
Watching Kelly seemed really good to me, a great surfer, very focused, he is an example to follow and it was good to have him in the water, to see how he surfed, how he had fun, when watching Kelly you learn a lot as a surfer and athlete.

How do you feel when a trip like this ends?
Super good, finishing in 25th place is great, we arrived yesterday and nothing, another dream that we are fulfilling, that I always wanted since I was little and here we are, the trip is not over yet, it has just begun and now we are going to enjoy the good waves of Indonesia.

How does the journey continue?
We are going to surf lefts for my backside, pure focus on the backside and nothing, I had to fulfill the dream of surfing good waves, super happy to be here and I think for now I will enjoy this paradise of waves as much as possible.

It's always nice to come back to El Salvador when the waves are like those at home, isn't it?
It's always nice to come back to El Salvador, you feel good, you feel at home, being with your family, with all your friends, it's always good to come back home, the waves are incredible, there are waves every day, it's always good, there's always something and the truth is I'm always happy to be at home with my family.