I remember that last year, while interviewing Bertrand Piedrasanta, president of the Guatemalan surfing federation, about the Guatemalan surfing revolution, he mentioned that one of his main goals was to win a Pan American Games.

He said it as if it were something far away. We were already at one ALAS, and the country had already managed to organize a couple, but the man was determined to go further.

I reacted a little incredulously, but Bertrand said it with the conviction of a madman who, he doesn't know how, but will achieve what he sets out to do.

Six months later, I write these words from El Rosario beach, in Guatemala, where the first day of the 18th Pan American Surfing Championship, the first in Guatemala, has just taken place.

The Guatemalans made it happen, and seriously, it's not easy to organize something like this.

If you look back, Peru, with its massive structure and organizational expertise, hosted the vast majority of the Pan American Games. Then there were two in Panama, and far away, those in Margarita and Guadalupe.

That dream, that madness, is absolutely real. And I must say, how wonderful it is for those who dare, how wonderful it is for those who dream, and how wonderful it is for those who follow through!

Events like these mark a before and after in the life of a country, not to mention in the surfing of a country.

This Pan American Games will leave a huge mark. And just today, the president of the Guatemalan Olympic Committee, Gerardo Aguirre, came to the broadcast booth, and we talked with him about the power of sport to change lives and benefit a society.

The Pan American Games are just another grain of sand for this federation.

And for those of us who came to work and enjoy ourselves, it's really hard to come up with something that does it justice, but I'll try: The coast of Guatemala is at the perfect point of taste, the sweet spot of evolution... It's still rootsy, but it has the development, the roads, the infrastructure, and the comfortable places to stay at the right level.

And it is far away from the skyscrapers and excessive development.

And yes, you can surf alone on hundreds of miles of coastline. And the waves are tubular and powerful.

Congratulations to Guatemala and congratulations to this Pan American Games. And congratulations to that message and that madness, to dream it and to make it happen.