Ferrol, June 13th – A total of 61 athletes from 12 nationalities will compete over the weekend on the shores of Ferrol, vying for the crown of the first official WSL LQS 1,000 event, the World Surf League Professional Longboard Festival held from June 13th to 16th at Fragata Beach. With registrations already closed, there are a total of 29 female surfers and 32 male surfers. Notable among the women are Alice Lemoigne and Zoe Grospiron, both French and strong contenders in the global circuit, in the elite of longboarding. Among the Galician athletes is María Lafuente from Pontevedra, who was the first Spanish Longboard champion in 2018.
Among the men, one of the favorites is Edouard Delpero, a French surfer who has achieved several victories in the European circuit. Also worth mentioning are Ben Skinner, Frederico Carrilho (Portugal), and the Spanish Nicolás Andrade (Xixón, 2023), who participated in the Longboard World Tour last year, not forgetting Jon Garmendia.
Two Galician athletes to watch in the competition are Iago Formosel, who was the runner-up in the Spanish under-18 championship. Among the participants are Lucy Small from New Zealand, Maya Glasenapp from Reunion Island (French department), surfers from Poland, Brazil, Germany, Czech Republic, Denmark, Netherlands, along with many participants from France, Great Britain, Portugal, and Spain.
This event marks the beginning of the season on our shores and is the first of three competitions that the World Surf League will hold this summer in Galician waters, along with the Abanca Pantinclassic Galcia Prol (from August 24th to September 1st) and the Cabreiroá Junior Razo Pro (from September 24th to 28th). Galician athletes will compete in the trials for the wildcards. The competition started on Thursday, June 13th at 8:00 a.m. with the Galician trials, qualifying heats where our community’s athletes can showcase their longboarding skills and earn a wildcard invitation that grants them direct entry from the Galician Surf Federation to the main competition with the world’s best surfers, to be awarded at 7:00 p.m. this evening. The main WSL event will begin on Friday,