Tico Gilbert Brown Surfed His Way to 13th in the World this Week.

This weekend marks the final rounds of the Billabong World Surfing Games 2009 in Playa Hermosa, Costa Rica. Event organizers expect to see an even larger turn out than the 10,000-strong crowd that arrived for the opening days of the event. The final competition, which is set for tomorrow, Saturday, Aug. 8, will bring out the creme of the crop in surf, who will hopefully be met with great wave conditions to put on quite a show for the anxious attendees.

So far, despite some minor delays due to rain and a power outage, the event has been a real success for the country, drawing worldwide attention to the sleepy surf town of Playa Hermosa, and hords of foreign visitors to the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica.

Waves throughout the week have averaged around 4 to 7 feet with strong barrels, though some afternoon heats have struggled to find the right breaks. This weekends conditions are expected to be strong with smaller chance of rain than the rest of the week.

The Costa Rica team has faired as well as expected, according to the President of the Costa Rican Surf Federation, José Ureña, who hopes to see them finish in the top 5 countries in the world. The team’s hopes now rest on the two remaining surfers in the competition: Carlos Muñoz (16-year-old current national champion of Costa Rica) and Jason Torres, both of whom have made it to the top 10 in the men’s Open category and competed earlier this morning.

The rest of the team surfed strong through the week, breaking many of their own past records. Lisbeth Vindas and Nataly Bernold, the two female competitors nabbed 11th and 15th place respectively while Gilbert Brown, who was bee-lining for a top 10 placement fell just short yesterday, coming in 13th out of 128 competitors in the Open division.

The current team standings as of the close of yesterday’s events are as follows, with the U.S.A. and Hawaii clenching first place from the hands of Australia after stellar performances by the team members in the 6th day of competition:

1st – USA
2nd – Hawaii
3rd – Australia
4th – South Africa
5th – France

Eight teams also have a chance to shine in today’s Tag Team event, which invites the top teams from last year’s Surfing Games to present five surfers to face off in an accelerated competition. Costa Rica took home the Bronze Medal for this event in last year’s games in Portugal, crediting their team unity for the win. The event will take place around noon today, with the top four teams moving on to the Tag Team final on Saturday around the same time.

The award ceremony will follow the final hours of competition on Saturday, acknowledging the top scoring nations and individuals in each of the three categories: Open, Women’s and Longboard.

While the entire week has been one giant party, tomorrow, Saturday, Aug. 8 will mark the peak of the partying, when the surfers can finally let loose and celebrate (or mourn) the week’s activities and results. The closing event for the WSG2009 will run from sunset at 5 p.m. to sunrise at 5 a.m. with national artists Kurt Dyer, Ojo de Buey, Sonambulo and Mustang 65, with headliner Los Rabanes, a latin rock group from Panama. The beach party will also feature a bikini contest and a giant international turnout, so don’t miss the fun!

If you haven’t made plans to rub shoulders with the world’s best surfers this weekend in Playa Hermosa, you can still join in on the fun online. The official website for the Billabong World Surfing Games 2009 is offering live feeds from the event, allowing users around the world to take part in the action. The final heats will be broadcast live today and tomorrow and are accompanied by a Real Time score card showing points earned for each wave and the position of the surfers here.

Original Source

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3. Costa Rican team named for the WSG 2009
4. WSG 2009 Coming Next Week
5. A New Era of Surf Emerging in Costa Rica