As part of a long-term plan for the Pan American Games in Lima 2019 and Santiago 2023 and the Olympic Games in Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 (if it has surfing), the Chilean federation informed DUKE of the hiring of its new head coach, the Venezuelan Magnum Martínez.

Martínez is one of the best Latin American surfers of the nineties and early 2000s. He was a Latin champion, a cover artist for Surfer, a QS winner and Master World Champion, among other achievements at a global level. For several years he has been carrying out an integrated training project with group surfers from Puerto Rico, California and Panama, in these three places.

According to the leader of the Chilean Surfing Federation, Jorge Oliva, the hiring of Magnum seeks to continue the process started by former coach Joey Buran, directing the work of the three regional coaches from the south, center and north of Chile and providing his vision on all the surf teams that Chile takes abroad.

“Last year we were looking for different figures in Latin America to bring to Chile and finally we hired Magnum to support us in the junior team on the way to Japan last year and he was with us for about a week. During that week he worked with the entire technical staff and in my opinion it gave very good results. Therefore, we are formalizing the relationship by having him practically all year concurrently in Chile without considering the World Cups where he could go depending on our planning,” explained Oliva.

At this moment, Martínez is in Puertecillo, where one of the stages of the Chilean surfing circuit is taking place. On social media, he could be seen smiling, in photos meeting with authorities from the Chilean Olympic Committee and the Chilean surfing federation.