By Maria Alejandra Peña, from Caracas 

The new board of directors of the Venezuelan Surfing Federation (FVS) held its first national tournament last weekend in Caracas and selected the preselection from which the athletes who will represent the country at the World Surfing Games of the International Surfing Association that will take place in September in Japan will emerge.

The athletes summoned are the following six open men: Daniel Piña, Rubén Cedeño, Nehomar Romero, Harold Zunino, Carlos Pérez and Santiago García, and the following four open women: Bárbara Hernández, Rossany Álvarez, Yocelin Aldana and María López.

Of these, three men and three women will be chosen to attempt to travel to the land of the rising sun (the federation is trying to raise the approximately $100.000 that is needed to make this happen).

75 surfers (54 men and 21 women) participated in the event and no champion was crowned. According to what FVS technical director Ronald Golindano told DUKE, the objective was to identify the talents and based on what they saw, make the pre-selection. Thus, there were surfers who lost in qualifying rounds and were still selected.

Now the organization faces the challenge of obtaining the resources to go to the World Cup and seeks to continue with the organization of events, check-ups and preparations so that they are ready for Japan.

Golindano also said that these 10 athletes will undergo medical check-ups, anti-doping tests and evaluations to verify that they are in ideal condition to represent the country at the World Cup.