Pantín, Valdoviño, August 29.- For more than twenty years, Rob Gunning (Brisbane, 1970) has been setting foot on the sand of Pantín year after year. The first time was as a judge in 2002, and in 2010, this Australian, who has settled in the North, returned to Valdoviño as tour manager of the World Surf League for the European circuit.
This year was no exception, and this week he returns to lead the technical team at the 37th edition of the Abanca Pantin Classic Galicia Pro (from August 24 to September 1) in one of the oldest events, following Lacanau (France), which is celebrating its 43rd year.
“Pantín hasn’t changed. Essentially, it’s the same perfect beach as twenty years ago. It hasn’t been urbanized or disturbed; it’s an incredible natural space where there’s still calm, and it always delivers waves,” he says in perfect Spanish.
Discreet and reserved, he recognizes almost all the athletes by their surfing style and prefers to look to the future rather than the past. “Pantín is a place that meets many of the requirements needed for an event like this. The beach and the waves are liked by the surfers, it has a loyal audience that comes to spend the day, and good organization.
“For a young athlete today, making a living from surfing is very complicated. The boom of brands and sponsors is over, and now they and their parents are the ones who pay for the trips,” he comments.
Top-level competition, cash prizes, and the support and involvement of Public Administrations and private sponsors, like those who have made the Abanca Pantin Classic Galicia Pro possible, are among the best tools to promote surfing as a sport and the Galician coast as the best stage on the international scene.
DAY 3 WSL QS 3,000 ABANCA PANTIN CLASSIC GALICIA PRO
Third day of top-level competition in the only WSL event in Spain, in Galician waters, which you can follow live here, where on Thursday the men’s rounds continued progressing towards the final stages -round of 32 and round of 16- which will be held this Friday, August 30, squeezing the waves to the limit under variable weather conditions, with strong winds, intermittent drizzle, and occasional sunshine.
Among the men, Spanish Olympic surfer Andy Criere (Donostia, 1999) -Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024- advanced solidly in his heats, leaving behind British surfer Arran Strong, as well as Kai Odriozola (first in his heat), Hans Odriozola, and Connor Donegan Santos. Galicia was represented in heats 8 and 9 by brothers Juan and Manuel Fernández, the winners of the Galician Open, which earned them direct entry to the main competition.
Alfonso Antunes, Enzo Cavallini, Nicolas Paulet, and Lukas Skinner all advanced in their respective heats -Spanish surfer Vicente Romero was eliminated by 0.7 points-, along with Renan Grainville, Ilay Bochan (ISR), Luan Nogues, and Ian Fontaine.
The competition resumed on Thursday at 1:30 p.m. by decision of the WSL technical team, depending on the waves and tides, and the heats progressed from 1 to 7 in the round of 64 until after 7:00 p.m. The women’s competition will resume on Friday with the first call to competitors at 8:00 a.m.
PANTIN SOUND
A music festival within the event itself. If Thursday was Virginia Red’s turn, this Friday from 7:00 p.m. on the main stage of the event, it will be the turn of the band Smile from Getxo, Euskadi, and Pucheros Atómicos. Finally, on Saturday 31, DJ Mario Azurza (Saturday 31), FUAH, and DJ Caste will take the musical reins.
Until Sunday, September 1, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., the Espazo Corresponsables of the Xunta’s Directorate of Equality continues, for children aged 4 to 16 as a resource for education in equality and active leisure, which allows professionals taking part in the event, as well as athletes and families visiting, to balance their work.