When they were children, Cuba’s surfers used to transform their school desks into boards to ride the waves.
They now have real equipment, and since surfing became an Olympic sport, it is gaining acceptance in Cuba, where surfers have often faced police harassment.
In the fishing community of Santa Fe, Ayax Borrero, 34, carries his surfboard under one arm as he and two friends meander through the streets that separate his home from the sea.
Photo: AFP
It is a cloudy day and the waves are crashing against the shore.
“Over all, we depend on weather conditions like cold fronts, hurricanes — which are what create the waves here — so that’s why the season begins in winter” from November to April, said Borrero, who is an architect.
Their playground is the ruins of an old rock pool allegedly once belonging to a bourgeois called Antolin before the 1959 revolution that brought the communists to power.
The area now serves as a promontory from where surfers can launch themselves into the water.
Surfing reminds Borrero of his youth, although back then boards were almost impossible to find.
“I started young, around seven or eight, with wooden school desks. That’s what we used back then. They were really heavy,” he said, laughing.
He recognizes that it was a good starting point as “afterward, when my dad bought me my first board at 11 years old, I was able to stand up straight away.”
“It’s a bit difficult to surf here,” the 29-year-old Yasel Fernandez said.
Born into a fishing family, he began surfing at 13, but he only managed to “have my own board at 29 and that was my dream, having my own board and surfing.”
Getting hold of their own board is not the only difficulty for surfers, who have often aroused the suspicion of police in a country where the sea is seen as the escape route to Florida.
“It’s annoying to be surfing, taking part in a sport in a specific place with the best waves, and the police come and tell you to go,” said Frank Gonzales, 35, one of the only people repairing boards in Cuba.
However, things are looking up. Surfing made its Olympic debut at the Tokyo Games last year, and now Cuba’s authorities are recognizing it as a sport.
Since last year, the Cuban Sports Institute has been in contact with the International Surfing Association and has plans to welcome a delegation from the global governing body in the coming months.
“We want to present them a work project that will support us in terms of instruction, equipment, and specific surfing elements such as first aid and refereeing,” said Yaliagni “Yaya” Guerrero, 39, one of Cuba’s first women surfers.
Twelve days after winning her second Grand Slam title at the French Open, Coco Gauff fell at the first hurdle on grass in Berlin on Thursday as beaten Paris finalist Aryna Sabalenka advanced to the quarter-finals. Recipient of a first round bye, American Gauff lost 6-3, 6-3 to Chinese qualifier Wang Xinyu as world number one Sabalenka beat Rebeka Masarova 6-2, 7-6 (8/6) in her second round tie. Winner of 10 main tour titles, including the US Open in 2023 and the WTA Finals last year, Gauff has yet to lift a trophy in a grass-court tournament. “After I won the first
Sergio Ramos on Tuesday outfoxed two Inter players and artfully headed home the first goal for Monterrey at the FIFA Club World Cup. The 39-year-old Ramos slipped through the penalty area for the score just as he did for so many years in the shirts of Real Madrid and Spain’s national team, with whom he combined smarts, timing and physicality. Ramos’ clever goal and his overall defensive play at the Rose Bowl were major factors in Monterrey’s impressive 1-1 draw against the UEFA Champions League finalists in the clubs’ first match of the tournament. “There is always a joy to contribute to the
Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka staged a “crazy comeback,” saving four match points before beating Elena Rybakina 7-6 (6), 3-6, 7-6 (6) in the quarter-finals of the Berlin Open on Friday. Sabalenka was 6-2 down in the final-set tie-breaker, but won six straight points to reach her eighth semi-final of the season. “Elena is a great player and we’ve had a lot of tough battles,” Sabalenka said. “I have no idea how I was able to win those last points. I think I just got lucky.” “I remember a long time ago when I was just starting, I won a lot of matches being down
The Canterbury Crusaders edged the Waikato Chiefs 16-12 in an intense Super Rugby Pacific final battle in Christchurch yesterday to claim their 15th title in 30 years of the Southern Hemisphere competition. Hooker Codie Taylor scored a try and Rivez Reihana contributed 11 points from the kicking tee as the most dominant team in Super Rugby history extended their perfect home playoff record to 32 successive matches since 1998. The Chiefs, who were looking for a first title since 2013, scored first-half tries through George Dyer and Shaun Stevenson, but were unable to register a point after the break and fell to