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A little about Playa Zipolite, The Beach of the Dead . . .

Playa Zipolite, Oaxaca, Southern Mexico, on the Pacific Ocean. A little bit about my favorite little get-away on this small world of ours.

Zipolite, a sweaty 30-minute walk west from Puerto Angel, brings you to Playa Zipolite and another world. The feeling here is 1970's - Led Zep, Marley, and scruffy gringos.

A long, long time ago, Zipolite beach was usually visited by the Zapotecans...who made it a magical place. They came to visit Zipolite to meditate, or just to rest.

Recently, this beach has begun to receive day-trippers from Puerto Angel and Puerto Escondido, giving it a more TOURISTY feel than before.

Most people come here for the novelty of the nude beach, yoga, turtles, seafood, surf, meditation, vegetarians, discos, party, to get burnt by the sun, or to see how long they can stretch their skinny budget.

I post WWW Oaxaca, Mexico, Zipolite and areas nearby information. Also general budget, backpacker, surfer, off the beaten path, Mexico and beyond, information.

REMEMBER: Everyone is welcome at Zipolite.

ivan

Wednesday, August 3, 2016

Surfing is officially an olympic sport





Surfing in the 2020 Olympics will be held in Japan, in real waves. Tatiana Weston-Webb talks title dreams after US Open win. And meet Danny Dangerous, an underground hero of Irish slab surfing.
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Surfing is Officially Confirmed as an Olympic sport
An exclusive interview with Fernando Aguerre, ISA president, on realising his Olympic dream.






SURFING IS OFFICIALLY CONFIRMED AS AN OLYMPIC SPORT

Ed Temperley
by  on 

Surfing has been officially confirmed as an Olympic sport
 today, August 3, at a meeting of the international Olympic 
Committee. The 2020 Olympics will be held in Japan, in 
real waves, far from the dirty waters or Rio – hopefully at 
one of their perfect rivermouth breaks during the peak of a 
Typhoon swell.
Opinion is divided within the surfing community (when is it 
not?) about the merits of our sport's inclusion. We caught 
up with ISA President Fernando Aguerre, the co-founder 
of Reef, for this exclusive interview on the day he realized 
his Olympic dream.
Surfing is officially confirmed as an Olympic sport. Huge 
congratulations. You must feel a great deal of personal 
and professional satisfaction?
It has truly been an amazing journey for me and the 
countless people that came along the way supporting 
the cause. I almost feel as though I have spent my whole 
life working towards this moment. Most importantly, it 
was a huge milestone for our sport and for the global 
surfing family. We are thrilled to have realised the Olympic 
dream. We are stoked for the millions of surfers around 
the world who will be able to chase their own Olympic dreams.
To jump right in: what do you hope Olympic inclusion will 
do for surfing?
The extraordinary reach and influence of the Olympic 
Movement will have an immediate positive impact on 
surfing. Surfing’s increased visibility through the Olympic 
platform will allow us to reach millions of new surfers, 
especially in many non-traditional surfing countries. 
Surfing will bring its healthy lifestyle and core values to 
these countries, in addition to providing economic 
growth to developing nations through surf tourism.
And can you foresee an increased level of funding for 
surfing national bodies / training facilities now surfing 
is an Olympic sport?
The majority of Olympic sports around the world are 
funded on a national level by the Ministry of Sport 
and/or the National Olympic Committee. Now that we 
are officially part of the Olympic Program, there is a 
huge opportunity for surfing to benefit from this funding, 
almost immediately and in the lead up to Tokyo.
XXL wave legend Carlos Burle shows his support of Olympic Surfing with ISA President Fernando.
XXL wave legend Carlos Burle shows his support of Olympic Surfing with ISA President Fernando.
© 2016 - ISA
We gather the waves will be real and salty rather than 
artificial? Have you got any particular waves /areas in mind?
The IOC has confirmed that the surfing competition will 
take place on natural waves and we are very pleased with 
this decision. Japan has plenty of exposed coastline that 
receives quality waves. We are in the process of analyzing 
the best options to choose the perfect venue location that 
will allow for the surfers to display their talent in quality 
waves.
I remember that you guys used our edit of the Wavegarden 
in Snowdonia in your Olympic pitch. You think it was this 
which put them off using an artificial wave?
The IOC’s and Tokyo’s decision not to consider artificial 
waves had nothing to do with the video we presented. 
In fact, they loved the video, which did a great job of 
conveying the innovative possibilities that wave-pools 
create for the future of surfing. The fact is, wave pools 
have not been used for Olympic or world championships 
level competition until now and the IOC is simply not 
going to use a technology – no matter how innovative – 
where it has not been used at the highest level of the sport. 
We are all excited about the fast progression of this 
technology and what the future may hold and the IOC is 
fully aware and briefed on its potential so we will continue 
to monitor the technology going forward. For now, the 
surfing competition in Tokyo will be held in the same 
arena in which we have all grown to love the sport, the 
same one that has provided surfers with joy forever: the
 ocean.
How are the waves in Japan? Pretty tasty.
We appreciate details are few at this point but will the 
Olympic surfing have a holding period? And have you 
considered the format?
As with any major surf contest on natural waves, there 
will be a holding period to ensure that the athletes 
compete in quality conditions to show the world the 
exciting appeal of our sport.
While the contest format is to be determined, the ISA 
has over 50 years of experience in this matter. We will 
consult with our team of technical experts, in order to 
choose the most adequate format considering the best i
nterests of the sport and the surfers.
Obviously the ISA and the WSL have come to an agreement 
over working together to bring the surfers to the Olympics, 
which is great news for everyone. Can you let us know a 
little bit about the agreement?
First, I think it’s important to say that the work and effort 
that the ISA has invested over the past decade into the 
Olympic campaign has been for the good of all surfing 
worldwide and everyone stands to benefit as a result of 
this achievement. We are in regular dialogue with the 
WSL. They are fully supporting our efforts and this campaign, 
recognizing that Olympic participation will add significant 
value to them. The ISA and the WSL have different, but 
complimentary roles in this process. It’s very important f
or us – as the world governing body recognized by the IOC 
and the entity that will continue to interface with the IOC 
on all facets of Olympic participation – that we can count 
on a solid and mutually respectful working relationship 
with the WSL. We are encouraged and optimistic that we 
can work together to make this a huge success for everyone.
How will selection work? How many surfers will each country be able to send? And will there be a qualifying mechanism or will world rankings be used? 
As the International Federation recognized by the IOC, we are responsible for determining the qualification system, but this won’t really start to be considered until early next year. The IOC first establishes some broad criteria and principles we have to follow and then we work in partnership with the IOC and Tokyo 2020 – also in consultation with the WSL – to create a qualification system that best serves the sport and the surfers. Thanks to our excellent working relationship with the WSL, we will not only create a system that offers the world’s best surfers a chance to compete in Tokyo 2020, but also ensures geographical universality of participation from different continents and countries, which is a fundamental principle in the Olympic Movement.
How do you think it will work with surfing's anti establishment image? There has been a lot of noise about snowboarding becoming 'gymnastics on snow' since its inclusion. Do you think that perhaps keeping it in the ocean will keep surfing: surfing? 
I have spoken personally with many of the top surfers in the world from varying cultural backgrounds and they all are super excited about the idea of representing their countries in the Olympics. Gabriel Medina, Johanne Defay, Ace Buchan, Filipe Toledo and Tatiana Weston-Webb, to name a few, have all expressed their support of Olympic surfing. I feel great about the support that we have received from the top athletes and international surf community as a whole.
There have been rumors of waves being destroyed to make way for the 2020 Olympic sailing venue. Have you heard anything about that? And would you lobby the IOC to perhaps rethink its plans - if it were proven to be true? 
First of all it’s hard to talk about rumors. We have not heard anything like this, but of course we are a sport closely connected to the environment and the ocean, so we will be sure to work closely with the IOC and Tokyo 2020 to ensure proper environmental protocols are respected.
Congratulations again and is there anything else you would like to add?
This process has been an amazing opportunity for us to advocate and promote our sport, culture and lifestyle, in a world (Olympics) that may not have had a full understanding of the unique value and appeal that we could bring. Thanks to the new, forward thinking leadership of the IOC who have been promoting change and openness to innovation in the last few years, we have had this incredible opportunity to explain and illustrate our sport on the world’s great sporting stage. This is an extraordinary time of renewal and change in the Olympic Movement and we are fortunate to be in a position where there is now a better understanding of the value of surfing. We are convinced the surfing community has also understood that this is a great opportunity.

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ivan