BY FERNANDO RODRIQUEZ
The International Surfing Association (ISA), recognized by the International Olympic Committee as the World Governing Authority for Surfing, held their 60th annual world championships on April 19-25 in El Sunzal, “Surf City,” El Salvador. The ISA 60 had record participation, as 129 athletes from 39 nations gathered to compete, surpassing the previous record set in 2023. The World Longboard Championships has broken the record for female participation every year since the ISA was created in 1964.
Coral Bonilla stood out as the best member of the Mexican National Women’s Surfing Team, as she finished within the top 10 in the women’s category. The surfer from Todos Santos reaffirmed her position as one of the best in Mexico, at the young age of 16.
Teammates who accompanied Coral “Coco” Bonilla to El Salvador were Mauricio Núñez, Jonathan Melendres, and Brenda Flores. The small contingent was led by coach Pablo Bonilla and fellow instructor, teacher, and physical trainer, Roger Waters. Team Mexico achieved an 11th place finish in the general classification surpassing other nations such as Ireland, Uruguay and Spain. Although the top 10 was not achieved, the Mexican Surfing Federation (FMS) congratulated its representatives for having obtained the best result in the history of the sport in Mexico.
Pablo Bonilla is a 7-time Mexican National Longboard Champion and was also selected to represent Mexico Longboarding in the Pan American Surf Association Games in Panama, in 2021. Coral Bonilla and her older sister Moana have been working hard towards achieving their lifelong goal of surfing and competing at the highest levels. Moana brought home a bronze medal from the 2022 FeMex Women’s Open Longboard National Championships and remains the Baja California Sur State champ in both women’s longboard and shortboard. Coral earned a silver medal at the same national championships.
Team Italy’s Ginger Caimi, the youngest competitor in the event at 11 years old, gave the world a glimpse of the future generation of longboarders with a first-place finish in her heat. “I like the waves a lot here. It was awesome,” said Caimi, whose favorite longboarder, Honolua Blomfield, is a fellow competitor in the event. “It’s a unique, amazing feeling (to surf among my heroes). Being small or big doesn’t matter. What matters is to have fun!”
