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Writer's pictureIain Campbell
Aug 17, 20172 min read

Arica Chilean Challenge 2017

The Arica Chilean Challenge 2017 certainly presented some challenges to the organisers and competitors. Organisation presented a few issues, there was a loss of power to the site resulting in delays, and Mother Nature played her part with monstrous conditions for the best part of the event.

Getting through Round 1 was a challenge as the heats were stacked. Due to time constraints, it meant that we had to run 4-man priority heats. This meant that all heats were made up of 4 riders who all had the potential of getting high scores in every heat. In to round 2 and I found some traction, managing to get through with a few decent scores. After a further power failure delay on day 4 of the event, the final day had to run the last few heats of Round 3, Quarters, Semis and the Final! A big ask for all!

Getting through Round 1 was a challenge as the heats were stacked. Due to time constraints, it meant that we had to run 4-man priority heats. This meant that all heats were made up of 4 riders who all had the potential of getting high scores in every heat. In to round 2 and I found some traction, managing to get through with a few decent scores. After a further power failure delay on day 4 of the event, the final day had to run the last few heats of Round 3, Quarters, Semis and the Final! A big ask for all!

30-minute heats and was starting to feel the pressure as well as tiredness, cramp and stiffness setting in. The final was set to 40 minutes and I just couldn’t get it together to get a better result than 4th in the event. An unbelievable display of bodyboarding went down with PLC and Alan Muños both flying high with big air moves and Roberto Bruno got stuck into some amazing barrel rides.

Well done to everyone involved in the event’s success; to all doing duty as the judges and to Alex Leon for putting in some seriously long hours. Lastly, to the city of Arica and Union Flopos: it was a pleasure to be back in Arica and to compete at this phenomenal wave.

Thanks to all the support from home, family and friends all over the world as well as my girlfriend! You’re support, kind words and encouragement has brought me to where I am and I cannot thank you all enough! Lastly a huge thanks to all my sponsors. You guys make it possible for me to do this sport I love so much!

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