One of the greatest Chilean surfers in history, Manuel Selman, apologized for his statements to the sports newspaper As, referring to Reñaca not being the venue for Santiago 2023.

“I feel in the position of having to explain and apologize for how things really are, since at no time was it intended to offend anyone or belittle the place. I know that hard work is being done to help surfing grow in Reñaca and I support that 100%, my apologies to everyone,” Selman begins his letter published on Instagram.

“On the contrary, I was born in Reñaca and without a doubt it is a place where I have the best memories of my childhood, at the same time I have won and lost and I have had good days of surfing. Reñaca has epic days and on those days it is among the best beach breaks, excellent for bodyboarding and shortboard surfing,” he adds.

He then justifies that if all the disciplines that will be in the Pan American are taken into account, then SUP and Longboard will be disadvantaged for the event and that the percentage of epic days in Reñaca is lower.

In reference to his statement: “Reñaca is one of the worst waves in the world. It is like playing football on a soccer field,” he said that the interview was taken out of context and that he, who does not know anything about football, was offered the expression and answered affirmatively.

“The point is how do you explain to a journalist who doesn't understand surfing the difference between surfing the southern tips and Reñaca, which is what they asked me.”

“I exaggerated, sorry I expressed it badly to a journalist who doesn't know anything about surfing. Guilty. It didn't look good, sorry, it looked ugly and that wasn't the intention. I hope you understand. Peace,” he concluded.

Below is the full letter from the former Pan American champion, Olympian and QS winner from the Dominican Republic.

The interview that the Chilean gave to As caused negative reactions from the locals of Reñaca, as could be seen on social networks.

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A post shared by Manuel Pascual Selman Garcia (@manuelselman)