16-year-old Tao Rodríguez won the under 18 and open categories of the second stage of the 2019 Panamanian surfing circuit that took place last weekend in Playa Venao.

He beat Kelvin González, Agustin Cedeño and Kalani García in that order in the open grand final and Kai Gale, Isauro Elizondo and Sam Camarena, also in that order in under 18, rounding off what was a dream weekend.

“It was a great weekend with friends and good waves,” Tao wrote on Instagram. “I’m so happy to have won the open and junior! Thanks to everyone who helped, like the Panama surf foundation, my dad, and congratulations to all the competitors.”

With this result, the ranking shows Oli Camarena in first place in open, followed by Kelvin González and Agustín Cedeño.

In the rest of the categories, Kai Gale, Samanta Alonso, Andrea Vlieg, Marcelo Mora, Richy Chiara and Marcelo Mora dominated (see results by category below).

The interesting fact is that with two victories in two tournaments, Samanta Alonso is very close to tying Gary Saavedra's record, placing one hand on the 13th national champion cup.

The detailed results are as follows:

OPEN:
Tao Rodriguez   - El Palmar Beach
Kelvin Gonzalez  - Saint Catherine
Agustin Cedeno - Venao Beach
Kalani Garcia - Venao Beach

OPEN WOMEN:
Samantha Alonso -  Panama
Andrea Vlieg - Panama
Sonia Garcia - Venao Beach
Çana Chudnenko - Venao Beach

JUNIOR Under 18:
Tao Rodriguez - El Palmar Beach
Kai Galé Grani - Bocas del Toro
Isauro Elizondo - Santa Catalina
Sam Camarena - Santa Catalina

JUNIOR Women - Under 18:
Andrea Vlieg - Panama
Marie Droz - Panama

BOYS Under 16:
Kai Galé Grani - Bocas del Toro
Isauro Elizondo - Santa Catalina
Tao Rodriguez - El Palmar Beach
Jose Alexander Lopez - Cambutal

Longboard:
Marcelo Mora - Scripts, Costa Rica
Edwin Perez - Venao Beach
Luis Calderon - El Palmar
Daniel Henriquez - Punta Barco

SUP Surfing:
Ricky Chiary - Panama
Esteban Colo - Venao Beach

Master:
Gary Saavedra - Venao Beach
Jorge Martinez - Panama
Evys Ortega - Venao Beach
Diego Rodriguez - El Palmar

Analysis of the ranking and the entrants by Ilka Vargas
The new generation of Panamanian surfing was in full force. Around 75% of the participants were young people.  The Open final was contested between competitors aged 16 to 21.

The highlight of the event was the local youth from Playa El Palmar, Tao Rodríguez, with a very good line and fluidity in his surfing, and a very good consistency in the two days of competition. He reached 3 finals, including the OPEN category, winning it; he also won the JUNIOR Category, and third place in the Under 16 category.   

On the other hand, brothers Kai and Teo traveled from Avellanas, Costa Rica, where they now reside,  to participate in this event, and they managed to impress with their notable growth in the level of surfing, where Kai wins the Boys, Under 16 category and reaches the Under 18 final.   

Isauro Elizondo also participated in the event and stood out with very good surfing, achieving two podiums, Under 18 and Under 16; after being absent from the first date of the National Circuit, due to being in Hawaii at the beginning of this year, for a period of almost 3 months.

The locals from Cambutal José Alexander López, reached the U16 final and  His brother Luis Carlos López also showed off his good surfing repertoire.  Kalani García, Dawes Veláquez, Jay Hernández and Eliott Perrochón stood out in Playa Venao.

Kelvin González, from Santa Catalina, with his second consecutive place in the two dates of the 2019 Circuit, is the most consistent athlete so far, after the current national champion, Jean Carlos González, lost in the Semifinals against Tao Rodríguez and Agustín Cedeño.   

After the second round, the top positions in the ranking were Jean Carlos Gonzalez first, Kelvin González second and Agustín Cedeño third.

On the women's side, 12-time National Champion, Samanta Alonso, with her second victory, takes a firm step in the race for her 13th National Championship, seeking to equal the record in national championships of 13-time National Champion, Gary Saavedra.   Junior Andrea Vlieg is second in the women's ranking after two rounds.

In the Longboard Category, Luis Calderón, from Playa El Palmar, leads the national ranking in this category.

A group of surfers from the Nosara Surf Team, from Playa Nosara, Costa Rica, participated in the event, where the Under 18 Nadav Attar, 13 years old, stood out, reaching the Semifinals, and the Longboarder Marcelo Mora, who took first place in his category.

To highlight that  this end  This weekend, National Coaches Gary Saavedra and Giovanni Grecco were at the tournament; following up on the athletes, with a view to developing  the “Long List” of the National Pre-Selection; as part of the previous preparation for  upcoming international events.

The president of the Panamanian Surfing Association, Roger Castillero, addressed the athletes  present and to the public, prior to the awards ceremony, to offer a glimpse of the short, medium and long term plans of the organization that he has led for 5 months. Emphasizing that we must all be united and willing to strengthen and improve the sport of surfing in Panama.   He also thanked the local Clubs (Playa Venao Surf Club and Chitré Surf Club) for organizing the event, and the entire Playa Venao community that actively participated in  make the event possible.