Presents Surf City El Salvador - On the cover photo: Seated, from left to right: Pochito Suarez, Roberto Gallardo, Luis Miranda, Luis Garzona el Chijuillo, Rodolfo Morales, Chico Alcala. Standing: Juan Carlo Rodriguez with hat and glasses, Benjamin, El Chele, Mincho, with the big cup is the multiple champion Ruben Tobar, known as Buttons. According to details Roberto Torres "Hawaii"

The history of Salvadoran surfing is a meeting of local sea lovers with adventurous American travelers who sought to escape the surfing boom of the sixties, added to Salvadoran travelers who witnessed surfing in California and realized its waves were ideal for carrying out that practice.

Sixty years of history can't be compressed into a website, but it can be compressed into a book. Francis “Chute” Hasbun, one of the country's most knowledgeable historians, who also plans to publish the research he is conducting on the sport, presented DUKE with several keys to how local surfing was built in one of the nations with the best waves in the world.

The following paragraphs present some of the key points of the country that will reactivate the action with ALAS this year and next year will define the last ones to enter Tokyo 2021, where surfing will debut in the Olympic Games.

The first person to surf in El Salvador is believed to have been Roberto Levy, he lived in the United States and  He brought surfing and boards with him after seeing him in California. He used to come every year to spend the holidays with his paternal family in their summer house on La Paz beach, in Puerto de La Libertad.

The father of Salvadoran surfingThat is to say, what caused a group of people to become infected and start surfing was the swimming club at Sunzal beach, and they organized themselves to be the first group to practice surfing, among which the Suarez brothers, Federico and Roberto and Sergio Hasbun stood out. Along with them were José Alfredo Rivas known as “Conchalío” and Carlos “Butute” Salazar, the first local from Punta Roca and La Paz, born in La Libertad.

Legends say that the first person to surf Punta Roca was a gringo named Russell, who would sneak away when there was a good swell without telling anyone, since the congregation of surfers was mostly in El Tunco, and secretly go to Punta Roca.

Until they finally followed him to investigate where "this mysterious gringo" was running. Previously it was believed that the wave that ran in La Libertad was exactly what is now known as La Paz.

A late sixties American photographer, journalist and adventurous surfer Bernie Baker visited the country with another friend and they surfed La Libertad and La Bocana, and wrote an article in Surfer magazine.

In 1973 Roberto Rotherham arrived in the country with Eric Penny in 1973. He was known as Caballo because he ran over one just before reaching the port of La Libertad in his Volkswagen van.

Two other adventurous foreigners who visited the country were Craig Peterson and Kevin Naughton in the early 70s.

The movie Big Wednesday The film, which follows the lives of three surfing friends from Malibu who reach their peak the day their wave breaks, was shot in La Libertad because of the waves' similarity to the classic Californian right-hander.

Gerry López, Peter Towned and Bill Hamilton traveled to the country in 1977 for the film.

It is said and rumored Punta Roca has always been a protected wave and in the seventies a group of locals called Da Hui, including Omar "El Sheriff" Rodriguez and Benjamín "El Mincho" Gomez, created a special bond of friendship with Gerry López that ended up leaving him his epic Lighting Bolt as a gift.

The board is still on display at the Susy restaurant in Playa El Obispo, in La Libertad.

The first national shapers They are Ruben “Buttons” Tobar also from Punta Roca in the seventies, he was a national champion in all disciplines, with a great tuber Ricardo Nina Guardado, “el Cara”, owners of a great style. He shaped boards on the slopes of the Chilama River and also did repairs.

There was also William Rodriguez, a Punta Roca local in the eighties, and Óscar Amaya from El Tunco in the nineties.

It is also worth mentioning El Pollo García Prieto, who surfed in El Zunzal and La Bocana, and Sander Resinos, Yeppi, who was the brave man of Punta Roca. Creator of legends. He set up his first board shaping and repair stand on the dock of Puerto de La Libertad.

And, Roberto “Hawaii” Torres with the Maxwell brand, who set up his workshop in San Salvador but he surfed in El Sunzal and Kilómetro 59.

The first Salvadoran professional was Jimmy Rotherham. He is the son of a talented surfer, Bob Rotherham, who went on a car trip in search of waves from the United States and for obvious reasons chose to stay in Punta Roca.

When Quiksilver saw Jimmy they couldn't help but offer him a sponsorship contract. He had CT talent.

The first national competition It was in the sixties.

The first international competition in El Salvador It was in 1985, the Marlboro Cup that had the participation of Guatemala and Costa Rica.

El Salvador's first international presentation abroad It was in 1985 in Playa Hermosa in Jacó, Costa Rica.

"It was the first delegation,  which I chaired as head of delegation representing the competing team from El Salvador, Jaja, Chiquillo, Yogy and myself, organized by Frank Mora, it was called: 'International Championship Playa Hermosa, Jaco'," says Alejandro Moises.

The best international performances before Bryan Pérez's bronze in Lima 2019 It was Jimmy Rotherham's fourth place at Playa Venao in 1999, Policía Albarenga's second place at the ALAS in 2005 in Punta Roca and Amado de Jesús Alvarado's Bolivarian gold in 2016.

In addition, the Salvadoran team won the Aloha Cup at the Beach Bolivarian Games held in Peru in 2012.