“Peru, mañana, will smash Brazil!”

A new surf power lurks in South America.

Consensus amongst professional surf aficionados is that Brazil is beginning a long and glorious run atop the World Surf League. Gab Medina, having won his nation’s first title a month ago, is young, hungry and shows no sign of slowing down. But if he falters? How about Adriano de Souza, Filipe Toledo, Miguel Pupo, Jadson Andre? And please do not forget a still young Neco Padaratz. Order and progress!

Except.

While Brazil is looking very good and maybe thinking about ways to sabotage John John Florence just a little bit, a menace lurks to their north west. Firm and happy Peru!

Peru’s most famous daughter, Sofia Mulanovich, has recently launched, alongside Swatch, Proyecto Sofia Mulanovich. It is, “…the shared dream of world champion surfer Sofia Mulanovich and Swatch, to create a surfing academy to give young Peruvian talent direct access to the ocean’s opportunities. At the launch of this unique youth surfing project, 10 high-potential kids and their families gathered in the Proyecto Sofia Mulanovich “beach house” in Punta Hermosa, determined to chase and live their dreams. The Proyecto Sofia Mulanovich is a three-year program that combines top-level, competitive surf training with life lessons anchored in the key areas of environmental protection, healthy living and fair play. The 10 residents were selected from 67 hopeful applicants by Sofia Mulanovich and her team of experts.”

It is a superstar factory! Maybe the greatest idea in surf since Pipeline! In a few years, expect to see these kids on the WQS. And a few years after that on the WCT. And then winning. Winning and stealing all glory from their Portuguese-speaking continent mates. Oh, if I could have attended a program like this as a young man, I’d be at least as Ricardo Christie and probably as good as Bede Durbidge. Alas, it was not to be. The future belongs to Peru. When I told the local Peruvian restaurant owner this his eyes flashed and he slammed a nearby table with his alpaca boot while screaming, “Peru will, mañana, smash Brazil!” And then he broke into the national song.

Glory erected in millennia of history

molded the national sentiment

and it was the yell of Túpac Amaru

which alerts, which demands

and which impels, towards liberty.

And the creole and the Indian embrace

yearning for a single ideal

and the sacrifice of their soul and blood

that gave the white and reds

of the emblem that announced to the world

that Peru rises sovereign.

For the glory of God.