The effect of surfing's inclusion in Tokyo has generated unexpected situations for the sport: entire governments that were previously reluctant to give money to surfers now look with love at the waves and open their wallets; surfers who had always relied on private companies to survive now pay attention to government sports departments and the money that comes from them; and, among other things, in recent days another pearl has been added: There are surfers who prefer to compete in the Olympic circle than in the always praised WSL.

A few weeks ago, Daniella Rosas from Peru, who is a junior and had qualified for the WSL Junior World Championships, which only the 18 best female surfers under 18 years old can attend, chose to stay in Lima to represent her country in the Pan American surfing competitions that qualify for the Lima 2019 Pan American Games, the second largest multi-sport event on the planet.

Yesterday, at Sunset Beach, Peruvian Alonso Correa did not show up, with notice, in his round 4 heat of the World Cup of Surfing on the final day of the event, preferring to rush to Lima and not miss his participation in the Pan American event.

If he won at Sunset, the Peruvian practically qualified for the CT, but he chose to return to Peru and defend his flag. On the other hand, the 2100 points he received for placing 25th in the tournament were not added to his list and, in any case, he finished the year in a very respectable 51st place in the world.

Correa was surely faced with the most difficult decision of his life. When asked by DUKE, he confirmed that he will compete in Punta Rocas and that he preferred to discuss the case after the tournament is over.

There aren't many instances of a surfer giving up their CT hopes for another commitment. This path taken by both Daniella and Alonso is a giant sign of how things are changing.

Both athletes are part of Peru's Pan American and Olympic plan, and they have taken this path so seriously that they have put aside their WSL commitments. Something that a couple of years ago would have been completely unthinkable.

Someone somewhere in the WSL office should be telling CEO Sophie Goldschmidt to pay attention, that there are other tournaments around the world that are giving her competition a run for her money and that in some places she has started to lose ground.