All photos: Pablo Zanocchi Lima 2019 special coverage is presented by Quiksilver Peru y Surf School Tubes 

Pan American surfing is a reality and the strict rules that it entails have shocked many. Below are some situations or novelties that became noticeable in a few hours during the tournament:

-Entering the place without a ticket or accreditation is practically impossible. Even if a friend of the president comes, he will not be allowed in. Security is present everywhere.

-The complex is impressive with a swimming pool, gyms, offices, all facing the sea and located opposite the wave. Local authorities say it is better than the HPC in Australia.

-Moving around is not easy: Each area is assigned to a certain level of access and there are places where you can and cannot stand. This may not be new, but it is so specific that it is difficult to know where exactly you can stand.

-Live broadcasts via Instagram or Facebook are prohibited, and Instagram stories are prohibited if they are video. This seeks to defend the investment made by those who paid for the image rights sold by PanamSports.

One tends to believe that one can get away with it, but there are staff constantly checking and pointing out what can and cannot be done. And if the rule is broken, the penalty is that they take away your credential and without it you cannot enter the complex again.

-It is new that there is no live broadcast and indeed there is not. Surfing fans, accustomed to watching hours of webcasts non-stop, suffer from this aforementioned sale of rights. The options were previously mentioned, they will come through the channels that bought the rights and can choose or not to show surfing.

-The press room is big, comfortable, clean and well organized. The same people who deny you the possibility of doing a live on Instagram offer you interviews with the athletes (whom they go and find and bring).

-The surfboards are stored in a large storage area at Punta Rocas. Athletes do not have to carry them back and forth every day.

-There is a volunteer with a megaphone and a piece of paper that he reads and repeats to each person who passes by: “Welcome to Lima 2019.”

-The 100% sticker rule and the boards that are covered in marks were either painted over or covered with white stickers.

-Everything is arranged so that the press that paid for the rights will have more benefits than those that did not. The mixed zone, located where the surfers come out of the water, is the only place where the press can get close to the surfers.

-A giant screen shows replays of the waves and scores showing how the series is going.

-There is a speaker specifically dedicated to talking to people (Mateo Rojas from Argentina) and two who pass information to surfers (Anotnio Sotillo from Venezuela and Kevin Moore from Peru).

-The water patrol is carried out by two Australians, along with the experienced Peruvian Augusto Villarán, brought exclusively for the task. They are the same people, a source told DUKE, who work in the Quiksilver Pro, the first stage of the year in the CT. They themselves gave a rescue course to Peruvian security personnel.

-A lot of non-surf fans are present and make themselves felt, they are part of the show, as if it were a stadium. There have never been so many people on the first day of an international tournament in Punta Rocas.