Peru had the best start in its history in QS events. A seventh and a ninth in Pipe, a victory in San Bartolo, another victory in Barbados, two thirds in QSs 3000, among other very respectable results.

For some years now, the Inca presence in QS tournaments has not been small, what happened now is that it became more solid, more multitudinous and with results that suggest that a second CT of the country is increasingly possible.

Several athletes have commented that traveling with such a packed team motivates everyone and makes them want to excel. And it gives them security; traveling alone is not the same as having the whole band in the arena watching over you, a coach filming and giving advice… Counting the pesos is not the same as having peace of mind that the tickets, lodging and food are paid for.

This scenario, so unthinkable a few years ago in Latin America, has become the reality for a good part of Peruvians in the QS. The message of “thank you to the surfing federation and the Peruvian Institute of Sport” is repeated on social media along with the rest of the sponsorships championship after championship around the world.

According to DUKE, the Peruvian government's support for surfers is part of a program called "Priority Plan for Lima 2019," which aims to ensure that a selection of athletes arrives at the Pan American Games in the best possible shape.

Approximately 10 shortboarders are part of this path that will serve to prepare the best four (two women and two men) who will compete in Lima 2019.

To achieve this, Peru spends more than half a million dollars a year on tickets, hotels, athletes' salaries, equipment (yes, it has bought surfboards and leashes) and coaches, to make a surfer's dream come true and to create the most powerful surfing nation in Latin America after Brazil, sources from the Surf Federation informed DUKE.

It is even worth saying, making a rough calculation, that since both Brazil and the United States do not spend much public money on surfing, Peru is the nation in all of America that invests the most from the government towards the sport of surfing.

Peru has always produced world-class surfers and international results, even when nothing came from the government. Now that this is happening, nothing can happen other than the disaster that is taking place.

Alvaro Malpartida, Semifinalist at the Volcom Pipe Pro, who spoke to DUKE on behalf of other members of the Inka Team such as Miguel Tudela and Alonso Correa, said: "The truth is that I feel that the support from the government and the surf federation goes beyond a financial relief, it changed our way of thinking. Knowing that there are more people interested in promoting a Peruvian victory is a great feeling for the athlete. It united us as a group, several surfers who previously had limited events due to economic issues joined and this strengthened the @inkateam.”

“The level of each training session is very high and we support each other in everything as a functional family! Making decisions as a group or receiving advice or words of support at a critical moment in a championship can positively change the result,” added Malpartida, who took the opportunity to thank FENTA on the road to the 2019 Pan American Games and Tokyo 2020.

Lucca Mesinas, the QS 3000 champion in Barbados, explained to DUKE: “We all know that doing the QS tour is quite expensive. And now that we have this support from the government, who are helping us with the tickets and in some championships we are travelling with coaches and with filmers, it is something incredible, it is something that has never happened before; it is a new experience that is at the same time incredible.”

“It has made us happier,” says Lucca. “If you travel with a coach you are much more focused (…) For me and my family this is a huge support, now that we are all getting paid, we are traveling more as a group, which is something we have always wanted, because we have always done very well in the ISA as a group and that was what we wanted to do because we know that when we are all united we always do well.”

“I think that is one of the reasons why many Peruvians have done so well lately and in fact we will continue to do well as long as we are traveling as a group and we are all united, supporting each other and giving advice in each heat, in each place we go,” concluded Mesinas.