JSA hopes for higher ranking

WITH A mixture of youth and experience, the Jamaica Surfing Association (JSA) is hoping that the national team can put in a creditable performance at the World Surfing Games and raise Jamaica’s ranking.

The 2022 edition of the Games surfs off on Saturday in Huntington Beach, California, with competition in the Open men’s and women’s divisions.

Jamaica will be represented by veteran surfer Icah Wilmot, along with Elishama Beckford and Ackeam Phillips on the male side, with Imani Wilmot, Zoe-Anais Bain and Gabrielle Chung representing on the female side.

President of the JSA, Inilek Wilmot, hopes that the experienced male surfers can bear the brunt of the scoring for the Jamaican team over the week-long competition, as the nation looks to improve on their 38th-place world ranking.

“For the more experienced surfers, we are hoping for them to carry the burden of advancing our international ranking. Our ambitious hope would be to make it into the quarter-finals or maybe the round before that,” shared Inilek Wilmot. “If they have good waves and the conditions work well for them, they could go further than that.”

The Jamaicans did not fare well at the recent Pan American Surfing Championships in Panama where they finished 16th out of 17 participating nations.

This time around, team manager Greg Chung expects the team to perform much better, with a few changes from the Panama trip.

“We have adjusted the equipment because one of the apparent things was that the other teams had numerous boards to fit the conditions. For us, resources were a challenge as we had one or two boards at max. We have looked at this location, and we will be going with the right boards,” said Chung.

With much colder waters expected in California, President Wilmot expects some challenges for the team, but remains confident that the athletes will do well.

“I know Icah and Elishama have surfed this spot before, but Ackeam hasn’t, but the type of waves in Huntington Beach will suit his style of surfing, so I expect an overall good performance,” Inilek Wilmot noted.

With the championships being an Olympic qualifier, some of the top nations such as defending champions France, Japan, Portugal, Peru and Australia are expected to send their pro surfers to the event.

Along with Jamaica, 22nd-ranked Barbados is the only other English-speaking Caribbean nation that will be fielding a team at the championships.