Epic Conditions Deliver Exciting Competition for Day Five of the 2025 Surf City El Salvador ISA World Longboard Championship

Two-time Silver Medalist Rachael Tilly (USA) earns event-high women’s numbers in quest for first gold

Led by 2010 World Champion Rodrigo Sphaier (BRA), Brazil holds strong in the Main Round to carry team advantage

Long, committed nose-rides deliver top men’s scores to former medalists Rogelio Esquievel Jr. (PHI) and Taka Inoue (JPN)

Surf City El Salvador – April 29, 2025

El Sunzal continued to deliver on day five of the Surf City El Salvador ISA World Longboard Championship (WLC). The long, right point was lit up with clean four-to-six-foot waves for men’s and women’s Main Round 3 to be completed, along with multiple repechage rounds.

Brazil remained the only nation with all four surfers in the Main Round, giving their team a strong advantage heading towards team medals, though five other teams remain at the top of the leaderboard with full teams intact; France, USA, Philippines, Peru, and Argentina.

Many surfers spoke of today’s conditions being amongst the best they’ve ever had in competition, including Rachael Tilly (USA), who earned both the highest heat total (16.33) and equal highest single wave score (8.50) of the event for the women. The two-time silver medalist and reigning WSL World Longboard Champion put on a masterclass in flow, drawing classic lines the entire way through the nearly minute-long waves as she connected stylish nose-rides with powerful carves.

“I’m just so stoked to have been able to surf in conditions like this, it’s so beautiful,” Tilly said. “I was just trying to stay really calm and really enjoy myself out there. It was my goal to get at least an 8, or just like, I wanted to get in the excellent range for this one, have one of my waves be that. So yeah, I’m really happy with that.”

Also earning an excellent 8.50 was Mara Lopez (PHI). The 14-year-old yet again showed confidence in defeating competitors with far more experience, holding poise through long nose-rides on the large outside sections. Lopez progressed ahead of Luana Soares (BRA), the pair sending Hiroka Yoshikawa (JPN) to the repechage.

Soares is competing as a part of Team Brazil for the second consecutive year, alongside Kate Brandi (BRA), who joins the team for the first time, and competitive longboarding veterans Jefson Silva (BRA) and Rodrigo Sphaier (BRA). Sphaier is competing in his fourth ISA event and has a team medal from each of his previous appearances; silver from 2023 and copper from 2010 and 2024. The 2010 World Champion is as determined as ever to back-up his gold medal, both for himself and for his nation.

“It’s been 15 years since my first gold,” Sphaier said. “I’ve been working very hard and I’m very focused on bringing the next gold to Brazil. I’m going to be strategic and stay focused and be ready for whatever comes to me.”

Defending Gold Medalist Kai Sallas (HAW) barely needed half of his 20-minute heat to catch two waves that he was happy with, before coming in and watching the remainder from the comfort of a chair in the shade. Having posted an early 7.00, the two-time ISA World Champion and 2023 WSL World Longboard Champion had enough confidence in his second scoring wave that despite Matías Maturano (ARG) and Rafael Cortez (CHI) posting rides higher in the 7-point range, the Hawaiian returned to shore with a full eight minutes left on the clock to await the number that landed as an 8.40, securing the heat win.

“I’m just here to have fun, go do some good hang-tens in the next couple days, and just surf the way I want to surf,” Sallas said. “So if I don’t feel like paddling back out, I’m going to come in. My second wave just felt good, and it’s hot, and the paddles are really long. Not that I thought that I had the heat or anything, I just thought that I probably couldn’t have bettered those two waves.”

Maturano progressed behind Sallas, with Cortez and teammate José Manuel Boza (CHI) both relegated to the repechage. Two South American teammates also met in the following heat, when Ignacio Pignataro (URU) and Julian Schweizer (URU) faced Ben Skinner (ENG) and Johnny Van Hohenstain (HAW). In a hotly contested heat, the two Uruguayans were also sent to repechage together. In the final heats of the day, Pignataro and Manuel Boza were eliminated, while Schweizer and Cortez powered on.

2023 Copper Medalist Rogelio Esquievel Jr. (PHI) repeated his day-topping performance from the previous round, collecting two solid 8-point rides for an excellent 17.20 heat total. The 28-year-old’s critical backhand nose-rides continued to set the standard, his single wave scores topped only by Taka Inoue (JPN). Inoue, the 2024 Silver Medalist, earned a 9.33 for an exceptionally long nose-ride, backed up by multiple sweeping turns through the inside.

Equievel’s teammate Crisanto Villanueva (PHI) snuck through a stacked heat in the last second. Surfing against not one, but two World Champions, Rodridgo Sphaier (BRA) and Benoit ‘Piccolo’ Clemente (PER), Villanueva took off on a wave with less than 15 seconds on the clock, needing a 4.18 to advance and send Clemente to the repechage. After an extended wait on the beach, the score landed as a 4.50, igniting an explosion of joy from the Philippines team. Now, Villanueva and Esquievel will face each other in Main Round 4, along with Jon Garmendia (ESP) and multiple-time medalist Edouard Delpero (FRA)

Six surfers were eliminated in Women’s Repechage Round 3 today, including both women representing Puerto Rico and South Korea. Sive Jarrard (ASA), Liv Stokes (CAN) and Margarita Conde (COL) earned the best numbers of the round, with the majority of heats going down the wire.

The same was true for men’s repechage, which completed rounds 2 and 3, along with the first four heats of Round 4, cutting their numbers by 34. Two surfers, Tom Breen (IRL) and Clinton Guest (AUS), managed to progress through all three rounds today to keep their campaigns alive heading into Repechage Round 5. Steven Newton (USA) and Surfiel Gil (ARG) also progressed from Round 2 through Round 5, having surfed their Round 2 heats yesterday afternoon, while an additional three surfers from Round 2, Nicolas Garcia (ESP), Agustin Cedeño (PAN), Yonatan Amir (ISR), and Francisco Freitas (POR) will appear in the first two heats tomorrow, hoping to do the same.

Competition will continue with the remainder of Men’s Repechage Round 4 tomorrow, Wednesday, April 30, at 6:30 a.m. CST live on isasurf.org.