Presents Surf City El Salvador - By Jose Madalengoitia

That championship I won in 2005 was an ALAS that took place in Punta Roca with incredible waves. It was incredible, it was like the mirror of Jeffreys Bay. Beautiful waves.

All the top stars of Latin surfing were there. At that time, the most famous Latin surfer in the world was Jimmy Rotherham because he had appeared in a Quiksilver video called Young Guns. He was the talk of the town, and the Americans were amazed by his surfing. He came with this whole background of being a star.

They all began to compete and go through series. From El Salvador, the strongest were Jimmy and Policía, Wilber Alvarenga. As the series progressed, there was a moment when they met, in the quarterfinals. The two local cards that remained to reach the final.

They had to face each other in a heat of four people, I don't remember who the other two were. The heat was very interesting. There were three possibilities: that both of them would go through, that both of them would be eliminated or that one of them would go through and the other one wouldn't.

Jimmy didn't find such good waves and Wilber Alvarenga was on fire, riding incredibly; it's his beach, he knows it better than anyone and, there comes a time when a wave comes in and it was Jimmy's priority. He could catch it and get a good score but that still wouldn't be enough to move on to the next heat.

Since he didn't have the chance, in an act of chivalry and patriotism he gave the wave to Wilber who was right behind him. Wilber grabbed it, smashed it to pieces and moved on to the semi-finals.

From there the story unfolds with Wilber reaching the final and the Salvadoran public going crazy. I think we all share that happiness.

The fact that I had portrayed it and had all the key moments of how it unfolded seemed to me to be an incredible story for Tales of the Sea, which was basically a compilation of these types of situations that happened to me on a trip around Latin America.

I thought it was an excellent story, with turning points, with dramatic situations and with a happy resolution. That's what I remember from that event. And above all, the waves were incredible. Incredible.

Another thing I remember is that until that moment I had never experienced a championship with so many spectators, so many fans, it seemed like a football match.

The people came out without knowing much about surfing and they began to understand it during the days of the championship. There were flags, drums, a deafening band. When I was filming in the water, you could hear it loud from inside. If I were a competitor, I would feel that support, which is intimidating. It was a very nice feeling. Flags everywhere, people dressed up, as if it were a football stadium, incredible.

It is worth noting that the first time that such a big championship was held in El Salvador, people welcomed surfing very well. Without really knowing the rules, they adapted and tried to understand. I have come several times since then and I see that surfing is already part of the coastal culture of the country. So much so that you see signs on the road warning that surfers cross there.

The way the government supports surfing is amazing. They have realized that it is a way to make a country known, like so many countries that have become famous through surfing tourism.

Now the contrast between that championship and this one, with a pandemic in the middle and in which there can be no spectators on the beach, is huge.

It's another thing to be at the front of the wave cheering on your surfers, like they do here, and another thing to be in the solitude of your house staring at a laptop. It's going to be strange either way.

That it is a country that has embraced surfing and made it part of its coastal culture is undeniable.