This year, the Games, sponsored by Lost Energy Drink, will feature surfers from over 28 countries including Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Costa Rica, France, Jamaica, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, South Africa, Tahiti, the United Kingdom and our own USA Surf Team, in what has been deemed the “Olympics of Surfing.” “Lost Energy Drink is very excited to partner with the ISA World Surfing Games. This will be an amazing event showcasing surfing talent from around the globe and we are proud to be the title sponsor,” remarked Jade Huntley, brand manager of Lost Energy Drink.
The Games mark moments of great personal triumph and cultural unity as the top national surfing teams from around the world compete in team and individual events, over the course of 10 days for the honor of representing their respective countries.
Each national team consists of 10 competitors among five divisions: four men’s open shortboarders, two women’s open shortboarders, one longboarder, two men’s bodyboarders, and one woman bodyboarder. The top four finalists in each division are awarded gold, silver, bronze and copper medals, as well as the top four national teams.
“Hosting the 2006 Lost Energy Drink ISA World Surfing Games is an incredible honor for Surfing America,” said Mike Gerard Surfing America’s executive director. “We would like to thank Carlsbad, Calif.-based Graffy Inc. for helping to secure the event’s partnership with Lost Energy Drink. This is our first World Surfing Games since becoming recognized as the United States’ National Governing Body in 2004 and Surfing America is committed to making this one of the best World Surfing Games in ISA history. We look forward to working with ISA’s family of surfing nations to help grow the sport on a global scale. Finally, we would like to welcome all competing nations to the Official Home of the USA Surf Team, Surf City USATM, Huntington Beach, Calif.”
The colorful “Parade of Nations” ceremony will mark the commencement of the Games and will showcase each team as they march down the Huntington Beach Pier and through the contest area with their nations’ flags leading into the “Sands of the World” ceremony. Each team will then pour sand brought from their respective country into a large acrylic box. All of the sand will be combined in a ceremonious display of unity and brotherhood. The Opening Ceremony will begin on Saturday, October 14, at 2:00 p.m. near the Huntington Beach Pier. Spectators will begin lining the beach at 7:00 a.m. on October 15, 2006, to catch the first official day of competition.
“The 2006 Lost Energy Drink ISA World Surfing Games represent the pinnacle of national team surfing. The competitive level along with the camaraderie and friendships celebrated at the Games, is proof that a peaceful co-existence is very much possible in our world. We will see surfers from the broadest variety of nationalities, races, religions and languages in any surfing contest in the world,” remarked Fernando Aguerre, president of the ISA. The WSG tradition is marked with a storied history starting in 1964 at Manly Beach in Sydney, Australia where surfers from around the world, representing their home nation competed for men’s and women's surfing titles. As the event progressively grew, it was renamed the World Surfing Games and first staged in Huntington Beach in 1996 where the USA National Team won the Team Championship and the gold medal. At the 2004 ISA World Surfing Games in Salinas, Ecuador, Australia won the honor of Team Champion.
The Games will now head back to the United States, for the first time since 1996. The 2006 Lost Energy Drink ISA World Surfing Games will be available to view online with live scoring and streaming video allowing for the action to be experienced around the world. Check out surfingamerica.org for more details.
Surfing America is the ISA-recognized National Governing Body (NGB) for surfing in the United States and is responsible for holding the official USA Championships and for selecting and fielding the official USA Surf Team.
