After eight years of competing on the world circuit, Melanie Giunta achieved her first QS victory last Sunday. It seems like a joke that she has been competing for eight years and is only 21 years old. After all, the championship came to her at a young age but with a huge amount of competitive experience.

On social media, Melanie is seen all the time surrounded by a huge group of Latin American friends who are the ones who rule the WSL events in South America. She knows how to manage her social media very actively, but she also showed that she knows how to put her cell phone aside and beat the best in the championships. The Peruvian was so serious that she beat the Brazilians in their own home on a beach full of locals.

This is what Melanie had to say about her victory, her friends, her social media, her jokes and her goals.

How do you feel about this, your first QS win?
A first QS win is incredible. I still haven't really taken it all in, I always thought I was going to cry like crazy, I cry with everything. This time I think I was so happy that I still can't believe it, I can't sleep. The fact that I finally broke that ice and got that first win I think fills me with confidence and will help me a lot for the future.

You told the WSL press today that the year wasn't going the way you'd hoped and that you hoped this win would change that for the next year. What did you mean? What happened that didn't go so well?
I actually started the year pretty well. I had two good championships in Australia and then a mediocre one in Martinique, and after those three results in a row I had a really bad slump after like seven championships. I didn't get through more than one heat and I was a bit frustrated, exhausted.

It was a long year for me with a lot of championships, not being at home much, not being able to train often. Fortunately I had the chance to prepare hard for two or three weeks before coming here, and that was the opportunity I needed to get this victory. It kind of gave me a breath of fresh air after those difficult moments this year.

You also said that it was crucial that Mimi advised you to go and have fun in the water in the final. Do you find that you are easily pressured?
Having the opportunity to be with my friends at this championship was incredible, we always help each other. I was also with Daniella Rosas who is competing in Pro Junior and we always told each other that we had to win in our category, we gave each other good energy and when one of us passed the other also wanted to do her best. I think that was something super important.

In this case, things didn't go so well for my Mimi, but she was a key piece for me. She became my coach and helped me a lot in the semi-final, which was super difficult, with super low scores and I felt a little bad. I wanted to show that my surfing was there and that I deserved it. She told me to let go, to have fun, that I had nothing to lose. She made me realize that I was surrounded by all my friends and that I just had to have a good time. Thank God everything worked out for me to beat her, it was a heat that I enjoyed to the fullest. It's one of the heats that I've had the most fun in.

Why do you think you won this time? What did you do differently?
I didn't put too much pressure on myself. I had suffered a lot of losses and I wanted to take it as a training session, not to think too much about the points, the ranking. I took it as something of the moment, to take advantage of each heat, try to improve, look at every detail. Make sure the fins were good, my boards, be there early, check the waves.

I took it more as a kind of training and I focused on each heat instead of thinking about whether I would make it or not, how many points I would win or lose. I think that was playing tricks on me. I didn't take the final as a life or death matter, but as just another heat and that was the key.

One important fact is that you always post a lot of Instagram stories and on the Sunday of the final, at least during the event, you didn't post anything until a while after winning... Was that part of the plan?
It was a bit of both sides. Actually, whenever I'm on a competition day I always try to post as little as possible. In fact, I know it's super important to keep everyone up to date, but I like to leave my phone in my backpack three hours before I compete and forget about it so I can focus 100%.

In this championship I had poor wifi, I only had it outside the house and in a booth. So I practically didn't use wifi any of the days and I focused on making the most of the time here with my friends. I only went in to send messages to my family and then I focused on the championship and the moment. It was definitely a good point for me.

From what can be seen on social media, a very large, united and fun group of Latina friends has formed. What can you say about it? How did this great friendship of so many come about?
There has been this Latin unity for quite some time now. Whenever we travel around the world, it's nice to feel like we're part of the family, at peace. Especially when you travel to places with a different language, it's nice to feel at home. So we always try to stay united, and in this championship it was mostly Latin women against Brazilians.

In the end we are all friends, but in the final it was me against a Brazilian girl who is really good friends, but at that moment the groups were formed. It was incredible to have all my friends there as part of my fans and to know that they all wanted me to win and that I could win for them. That was an emotion and motivation that led me to be able to achieve it. We always do it screaming like crazy with a band with all the incredible vibe that we Latinos have.

In that group, you can also see many jokes between you, some heavier than others, which was the best, the one that went down in history books?
Definitely, like all Latin people, there are always jokes. The jokes between the women are not so abusive either, they are softer. In the championship, you could say that it was a video that was made just when I came out and had won. All the girls entered, at first they didn't want to get wet, then Daniellita ran with clothes to hug me and got all wet. The others had no other choice and at one point you see how Danilita is entering while Luchi was throwing water at Mimi, Mimi moved away so as not to get wet and in the end they all ended up wet.

It's all recorded and we've been laughing about it for days. One of them went in and the others were forced to go in, it's each one's reaction. I'm posting the video these days so everyone can share it and have a laugh.

There is still a 3000m event in Japan and a 6000m in Australia, how do you see yourself winning both and making it into the CT?
In the end I won't be competing in Japan, I'm going to focus on Chile, which is more or less at the same time. I can do all three, but it's going to be very tiring. I took a chance on Chile. Then I'm going to Australia to finish the year in the 6000m, which is super important.

Actually, I think I'm going to try to repeat what I did in this championship. I know it's difficult and things happen sometimes by fate too, but I'll try to give my best. Now Peñascal is coming up, which is a super important championship at home. I'm going to enjoy it to the fullest and I hope it results in the maximum points and then we'll go all out to Chile and finish strong in Australia. I'm going to continue with the same strategy, trying to focus heat by heat, without thinking too much about the classification, the ranking. I'm going to give my best and let fate do its thing.

How do you assess your situation in terms of sponsorship?
I am happy with the ones I have, Jeep, AOC and the Regatas Club. The truth is that they have been incredibly good to me, and now we also have the support of the IPD and FENTA, so we have been able to travel a lot with coaches, travel to some championships in teams for training prior to the Pan American Games, and that has been a super important plus.

In fact, it is not enough to do the whole circuit for free. There are times when winning, for example here, allows me to recover a little money for the next one. The support of my family is also fundamental. I try to be able to travel to all the events with the support of sponsorships. Today I still don't have 100% but I am definitely grateful to each one of those who give me a hand. I hope that little by little more will join.

How is everything going for you?
Now I have to rest for a couple of days, I'm leaving for Peru in the early hours of the morning. I only have three days left and the Peñascal championship is already starting, so I have to keep up the pace, try to recover quickly and get used to it.

It's a super big wave so it's definitely going to change the game a bit, but I'm going to try to enjoy those days at home and do my best. Then I think I have about two weeks of training at home if I don't make mistakes, so I think it's going to be good to finish strong in Chile and Australia. I'm going to take advantage of the time at home with my family, my friends, which sometimes is a bit lacking. Everything will work out, let's hope so. I thank you for this interview and I hope it goes well for you.