Surfing Crowns Its Champions at Santo Domingo 2026
- Ayelet Fuentes Guerra
- 48 minutes ago
- 2 min read
After an intense day of competition, the surfing program at the Central American and Caribbean Games Santo Domingo 2026 came to an end this Wednesday with the finals of Shortboard, Longboard and SUP Surf, which determined the new champions in both the men’s and women’s categories.
The day began with the Men’s Shortboard final, where Venezuelan Rafael “Nono” Pereira delivered a solid performance to defeat compatriot JJ López with a total of 14.84 points to 10.10, earning the gold medal. In the women’s division, Costa Rican Rachel Agüero delivered one of the day’s standout performances by defeating defending champion Chelsea Tuach of Barbados, 10.50 to 9.33, securing first place.
Then, in the Men’s Longboard final, Mexico’s Jonathan Melendres claimed victory by defeating Panama’s Agustín Cedeño 13.60 to 12.27 in a closely contested final. Later, Colombia’s Margarita Conde celebrated the gold medal in the women’s category after overcoming Puerto Rico’s Jazmine Dean with a score of 12.17 to 11.50.
Finally, the competition concluded with SUP Surf, where Mexico secured the men’s gold in an all-Mexican final. Juan Pablo Melendres remained ahead of Giovanni Bercián, finishing with a total score of 14.60 to 11.06. The same situation occurred in the women’s category, where Puerto Rico secured the gold with two of its representatives in the final. Puerto Rican Mariecarmen Rivera took first place after defeating compatriot Nimsay García by a score of 8.40 to 4.67.
In the cases of Nono and Agüero, their Shortboard results provisionally earned them continental berths for the Lima 2027 Pan American Games. However, the qualification still needs to be confirmed, as higher-level competitions remain on the calendar and could change the representatives for each country.
The conclusion of the surfing program at Santo Domingo 2026 also confirmed the strong momentum the sport is experiencing across the continent, with high-level finals and notable competitiveness among the participating delegations. Mexico stood out by securing two gold medals, while Venezuela, Costa Rica, Colombia and Puerto Rico shared the remaining four titles.
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