Surf City to Host Largest-Ever ISA World Surfing Games

Originally posted on SURFER | By August Howell | Last updated Sep 4, 2025 3:16 PM ET

When the ISA World Surfing Games ran in El Salvador last summer, Gabriel Medina went on a rampage, won eight heats, claimed the event title, and earned Brazil a third surfer in the 2024 Paris Olympics at Teahupo’o (which he deservingly took).

The Brazilians return to the 2025 ISA World Games this week as reigning champs. The team includes Medina's sister, Sophia Medina, along with Lucas Silveira and Laura Raupp and Michael Rodrigues. It will be the first ISA World Games for the first three surfers, while the latter, Rodrigues, returns to ISA competition for the first time since his victory in the 2013 ISA China Cup.

They’ll be partaking in the largest ever ISA World Surfing Games, with 297 surfers representing 61 nations in attendance in Surf City, El Salvador, this week. It’s the 10th major ISA event and third WSG held in Surf City. The live webcast will be streamed from September 5-14 at isasurf.org.

In Olympic years, the ISA World Games are a kind of qualifying event. The confluence of countries and surfers gives it a mini-Olympics vibe. The first Olympic qualifiers for surfing were hosted by the ISA in 2019 in Miyazaki, Japan, and in 2021 in Surf City, El Salvador. The event this year doesn’t have any specific qualification scenarios for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. However, these World Games do impact the seeding for future contests that will directly impact athletes looking to qualify for the next Olympics. The seeding for the World Surfing Games is based on a national federation’s results from the previous year.

There are 22 Olympians in the field, however, including Paris 2024 gold medalist Kauli Vaast and Tokyo 2020 bronze medalist Amuro Tsuzuki. They’ll be pitted against two of the winningest surfers in this ISA World Games history: four-time winner Sally Fitzgibbons of Australia and two-time winner Leandro Usuna of Argentina. Three ISA World Junior Surfing Championship winners are also in the draw: Dane Henry, Noah Klapp and Ignacio Gundesen.

It's a lot of talent from a lot of countries in one place. Surf City is about to get very busy.

This article first appeared on SURFER and was syndicated with permission.

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