The surf keeps cranking! Day 4 from El Salvador – wrap and photos

Here is the press release direct from the ISA. And if you’re following the Aussies, all four are still in the running, AND, Clint Guest just racked up the two highest scores of the comp so far – a 9,93 and a 9.17! (And yes we do know there are 44 nations represented, but we are from OZ after all)

Over to the ISA:

Incredible Surf Continues as Eliminations Begin on Day Four of the 2025 Surf City El Salvador ISA World Longboard Championship

* Searing performance from Clinton Guest (AUS) delivers near-perfection 

* Puerto Rican pair, Jazmine Dean (PUR) and Emilia Huminski (PUR), progress together in meaningful victory

* Norway’s first WLC representative, Nina Heiberg Joyeux (NOR), claims first-ever heat win for her nation

Surf City El Salvador – April 28, 2025: Beautiful, clean swell once again lined El Sunzal for day four of the Surf City El Salvador ISA World Longboard Championship (WLC). Repechage Round 1 was completed for men and women, along with all of women’s Round 2 and the first five heats of men’s Repechage Round 2, in the powerful four-to-six-foot waves, resulting in the first eliminations of the competition.

Feeling at home on a long, right point, Clinton Guest (AUS) posted the two highest wave scores of the event in a single heat, earning a 9.17, followed by a 9.93, to collect a near-perfect 19.10 heat total. Though unexpectedly appearing in the first repechage round, the multiple-time Australian National Longboard and Logger Champion was happy to be able to unleash in today’s ideal conditions.

“It was just absolutely amazing out there and to link up with two really special waves and showcase my surfing, it's an amazing start for the comp for me,” Guest said. “We were sitting up there, Team Australia, just looking at the surf going, I don't think it can be any better. Six-foot, glassy walls to showcase this type of surfing was just like a dream. Coming over here, that's what we want to surf.”

Utilizing skills learned growing up surfing the classic Australian points of Noosa and Burleigh, Guest delivered long, clean nose-rides on big opening sections, before carving down the line, to defeat Sitipong Chapman (THA) and Blake Jones (WAL), who both surfed incredible waves of their own.

Hawaii took a major hit to their Team World Champion title defense when Natalia Wunderlich (HAW) was eliminated in Repechage Round 2 after drawing an interference for the second heat in a row.

The remaining team medalists from 2024, Japan, France, and Brazil, continue with all four surfers in the Main Round, along with 2023 Team Copper Medalist Philippines and Uruguay, who are chasing their first-ever ISA team medal.

In their second year competing in the WLC, the South Korean team are continuing to prove their skills. Dongkyun Kim (KOR), Soojin Kim (KOR), and Hyehyun Song (KOR) each earned heat wins to continue onto Repechage Round 3, while Joonho Kim (KOR) will appear in the final heat of men’s Repechage Round 2 when competition continues.

The local El Salvador team also kept half their team alive in Repechage Round 2, with Henry Salinas (ESA) and Sindy Portillo (ESA) claiming heat wins. Their remaining member, Amado Alvarado (ESA), will surf in Heat 11 of men’s Repechage Round 2.

Puerto Rican pair, Jazmine Dean (PUR) and Emilia Huminski (PUR), progress together in meaningful victory

The first heat of women’s Repechage Round 2 went down to the wire. Jazmine Dean(PUR) ran away with the lead, opening with an 8.17 and backing it up with a 7.90, for an excellent 16.07 heat total. But the three remaining surfers, Emilia Huminski (PUR), Carolina Mendes (POR), and Hannah Kohn (NZL), were left waiting on the beach after the buzzer as judges reviewed multiple waves. Huminski’s backup score was ultimately enough to usher her through to the next round alongside her teammate, a meaningful victory for the Puerto Rican pair.

“It's been a huge mix of emotions,” Huminski said. “I'm really grateful for all this, like the opportunity to be here with my teammate, she's my biggest inspiration. She's the reason why I'm here, basically. I'm so grateful. I really, really love representing my island, it's really emotional for me.”

“Today, I just went back to my roots,” Dean said. “I like to charge big waves and I just went for it. I went back to what I should have done yesterday. I just hope that we can continue bringing up Puerto Rico, both of us.”

Norway’s first WLC representative, Nina Heiberg Joyeux (NOR), claims first-ever heat win for her nation

Competing in her first-ever surf contest, Norway’s first WLC representative, Nina Heiberg Joyeux (NOR), was ecstatic to claim the first heat win for herself and her nation in the event in women’s Repechage Round 1. After realizing that other Scandinavian countries were present in the event, but not hers, the 46-year-old decided to attend, hoping to motivate other Norwegians to join her.

“I was just feeling so blessed to be able to go in the water in these kind of conditions,” Heiberg Joyeux said. “The wave is amazing. It was already a dream come true for me to be here in the first place. Then to surf it in these conditions, dream come true. And then to pass the heat is like, beyond my dreams.”

Heiberg Joyeux was channeling the spirit of her brother-in-law, Malik Joyeux, a Tahitian waterman and big-wave charger who tragically passed away at Pipeline 20 years ago. Despite being from Norway, Heiberg Joyeux has lived most of her life on islands, including Hawaii, Tahiti and the Canary Islands, and is loving her time in Surf City El Salvador.

“The whole competition scene, the whole organization is so amazing, I'm really impressed by everything,” Heiberg Joyeux continued. “For me another dream was just to be around these amazing surfers and see them and be inspired by them. To see them live in action these days has just been insane. It's so cool to see. I'm more than blessed to be out there with them.”

Competition will continue with the remainder of Men’s Repechage Round 2 tomorrow, Tuesday, April 29, at CST 6:30 a.m.  WATCH LIVE HERE