Huge Swell Approaching for Arica

ALL EYES ON ARICA, HUGE SWELL APPROACHING THE ARICA CHILEAN CHALLENGE, CHILE 2015 – An APB Bodyboarding World Tour Contest.

After a major swell lit up the Itacoatiara Pro Brazil, providing heavy conditions and electrifying performances for the season-opener on the 2015 APB world tour, all eyes will now be focused on Chile with a HUGE swell approaching in the 10 – 15ft range. The next event on this year’s tour will be the Arica Chilean Challenge, which will be the second event for the Men’s World Tour as well as Event #1 for the Women’s World Tour. Having taken a year off from the world tour to pursue personal endeavors, Australian Ryan Hardy will be returning to compete at the Arica Chilean Challenge, which is an event he won in its inaugural year back in 2004.

In years past, Arica has played host to several local and regional Women’s competitions. The 2015 Arica Chilean Challenge will be the first time in the history of this event that the Women’s World Tour will battle it out at El Flopos. In a conversation with women’s professional competitor Begoña Martinez (Venezuela), whom has been residing in Chile for several years now, she spoke about competing at Arica. “I’m excited that I will compete again on that monster. It’s so scary. On the Latin America tour, two years ago, it was huge. I’m mentally training more than physically. It’s no joke.”

No stranger to training hard in his own right, 2-time Defending World Champion Amaury Lavernhe (Reunion Island) will be returning to the Arica Chilean Challenge with the hot hand. Following his second win in three years at Itacoatiara, the Frenchman will be looking to defend last year’s event win at El Flopos. The season-opening victory in Brazil has established Amaury as the frontrunner in the Men’s tour rankings. It has, also, positioned the defending world champion as an odds-on favorite to win this year’s title. Another win in Arica would give Amaury a commanding lead in the points standings.

To repeat as event champion at Arica, though, Amaury Lavernhe will have to overcome several obstacles. First and foremost, he will have to contend with a hungry field of Chilean competitors. The Chileans will be looking to improve upon Christian Fernandez’s 3^rd place finish in 2010 to make the final for the first time and claim victory on their home soil. Then, there is the remaining field of international competitors looking to lay claim to the winner’s trophy. Riders including the aforementioned 2004 winner Ryan Hardy, high-flying Hawaiian Jacob Romero, young guns like Lewy Finnegan (Australia) and newcomer Luke Kitchin (South Africa), seasoned veterans like Jared Houston (South Africa) and 2011 World Champion Pierre Louis Costes (France) will be looking to take out the defending Arica champion. Also, one to keep an eye on will be Hawaiian supergrom Tanner McDaniel. The 16 year old McDaniel is coming off of a Pro Junior win and his best ever result in Men’s competition (=5^th) in Brazil.

In what might be the biggest obstacle for all of the competitors involved with the 2015 Arica Chilean Challenge, the current long-range swell forecast for the competition window at El Flopos is calling for a long period swell in the 3-5 meter range (8-12 ft). If this forecast holds true, the entire field of APB men’s and women’s competitors, as well as bodyboarding fans around the world, could be in store for some classic, if not potentially historic, days to come!

“El Flopos is the most consistent wave in the world and rarely gets smaller than 3 feet in the winter months. This event is shaping up to be another incredible tour competition for Bodyboarding and we know that the riders will be putting their bodies on the line and going hard for the title”. – says APB Ceo – Alex Leon

ACC Press conference information:

Press Conference 1 – Mall Sports, Santiago 14^th July 4:00pm.

Address: Las Condes 13451, Santiago Metropolitan Region, Chile

Press Conference 2 – The Boulevard, Arica 15^th July 5:00pm

Address: Francisco Bolognesi 340, 058 Arica, Décima Quinta Región de Arica, Chile