Six Costa Rican surfers will take part in the biggest surfing event in the world, the Vans US Open of Surfing, that will be held July 31 through August 6 at “Surf City”, Huntington Beach in California

The event includes four World Surf League (WSL) events; the men who take part of the Qualifying Series (QS) are going after 10,000 valuable points toward the Championship Tour Qualification.
Carlos “Cali” Muñoz; Noe Mar McGonagle, Leilani McGonagle, Emily Gussoni, Aldo Chirinos and Malakai Martinez, are the six surfers representing Costa Rica in this event. The fourth category is the Women’s World Surf League Championship Tour, no Costa Rican surfers are part of this event yet.

Leilani and Emily are in the Female Junior PRO category, Malakai and Aldo are part of the Male Junior PRO and Carlos and Noe are going for the WQS 10,000.

The surfing competition is part of a sports festival that includes Skating and BMX events as well as cultural and entertainment activities that gather more than 500 thousand people.

Noe Mar McGonagle, from Pavones, is in position 48 of the WLS ranking with 4,540 points; while Carlos Muñoz, from Jacó, is in the position 107 of the ranking with 2,610 points which means he has to make a huge effort to climb up positions in the ranking. “The US Open grants 10,000 points, but that is not all, it’s one of the events that attracts a large audience, so it’s not just about the points but about possibilities of sponsorship, so we have to give a good performance”, said Muñoz

The first position in the ranking is held by Brazilian Jesse Mende.

Noe Mar McGonagle was also selected along with other 11 surfers to take part of the Hurley Pro Trials at Trestles, San Clemente California, this Thursday, one of these surfers will win a Wild Card entry to the WCT in Lower Trestles in September.