Presented by: Chivipizza

Luis Lacalle Pou, the president-elect of Uruguay, a surfer for 35 years, has said that he will surf during his term. A system has not been established for how he will do it, but he does not doubt that surfing will be part of his agenda, he said in an interview he gave to DUKE last Monday (see video).

He rules out surfing during the week, like many of the Montevideo natives who undertake the 120 kilometers that separate them from the ocean, leaving at 4 in the morning to be ready for work at 9. He believes that he will be able to surf on the weekends and that he will definitely do so this summer, prior to taking over.

“I am a public servant above all else,” he said when asked if he had chosen a bad job considering he is a surfer. But he explained that although it has been painful for him to be away, he hopes to be a president “that I paddle it, not that I paddle the wave (laughs), but that I paddle it,” he said and added: “And I like that he has an attitude that the oven is not for buns, it is not for partying, so there is the balance between practicing a sport that does you good, that keeps you healthy and in the meantime people are having a bad time… 'Shake off the sand and go to work', that is the balance that I think we have to find.”

He said that he cures his fissure by watching surfing videos every day. He says that he follows “everything about surfing” on Instagram and has already accepted that he will miss out on good days, but that he hopes to make up for the time away from the sea in the future. “What I want to do when I grow up is live near the sea if my wife can handle it,” he said.

He considered that although some advisor suggested that he should appear more like a surfer, it did not come naturally to him to do so: “When I was a kid I made a lot of fools of myself saying I was a surfer, if you like surfing you shouldn't go around like that, it's not to pick up women (laughs),” he said.

Although on the one hand he never hid being a surfer, he acknowledged that when he went on a trip he sent his boards with friends."so that they don't comment." And he reflected: "They have to know everything about the President of the Republic, that is, they have to know the person, not the character, with his defects, with his virtues and with this (surfing), which is part of my life."

He was unable to identify whether being a surfer has helped him in his political life, he says that it is “naturalized” to him, although for example he mentions that the only time he took advantage of a political event in Rocha to go surfing, “totally calm and patient”. He also states without hesitation: ““I think surfing makes you a better person.”

Although he explained that his government plan does not have specific actions related to the activity he loves, he said that “surfing is a sport to be popularized, on the coast (…) Uruguay has not yet realized what it has and we have a lot to do around the sea,” and added: “You have to keep going and you have to keep going with the sea, and surfing synthesizes these two things.”

One of the things that will be planned is to deepen the experiences that coastal schools have had in taking their children to surf.

He found it very difficult to build a wave pool in Uruguay, but not so difficult to implement an artificial reef, “it's not crazy,” he said. He even said that he had seen with a specialist specifically the chances of building one in the Balneario Buenos Aires area.

Lacalle Pou was confirmed as president of Uruguay on November 28 after a final vote count was carried out due to the narrow difference he had over his rival, Daniel Martínez.

DUKE sent the president-elect a WhatsApp message that same day and shortly after received two calls from Lacalle Pou who agreed to give a statement the following Monday, the same day he met with the outgoing president, Tabaré Vázquez.

Amidst the commotion surrounding this event, he gave DUKE 42 minutes to talk about surfing.

More details about the meeting with Lacalle Pou:

Some impressions on the meeting

Photo gallery of the president-elect surfing around the world