The province of Leyte held the 1^st Airwaves Surf Jam competition, with the theme, “Bring Back the Dream Waves,” at the Sabang Daquitan, Surf Camp Dulag in the same province on February 23-25, 2018.

Organized by the Sabang Daquitan Surf Camp, in cooperation with Leyte LGU, 35 surfers joined the open men’s short board while 28 registered for the open men’s long board and 5 registered for the WAHINE long board.

Moreover, 63 participants also participated in the Skim Jam and Stand Up Paddle, a different competition event. The three-day event also featured beach side activities such as acoustic, bon fire and the Ms. Wahingig Global 2018 contest.

The event was also supported by the provincial government of Leyte. Municipal Mayor Joy Que also addressed the organizers and surfers during the opening program of the three-day event.

Winners received cash prizes for champion, 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd place for each category: Open Men’s Short Board winners were: Ging-Ging, Efrain, Japs and Rickynalds respectively. Open Men’s Long Board winners: Jerwin Brown, Pol – Pol, Abdol and Dandoy were awarded and for WAHINE Long Board, the winners were: Jimiaca Salceda, Jessa Jaca, Heyam, Lilou and Jessa Mae Pesado.

The participants came from different places: Borongan E. Samar, Tanuan Leyte, Dulag Leyte, Opon Cebu City, Tolosa Leyte, Tacloban City, France, Northern Samar, Guimaras, Bohol, Lapu-Lapu Cebu City, Biliran, Ormoc City, Baybay, Catarman E. Samar, Maasin and Silago Southern Leyte.

The principle of the judging criteria is, “A Surfer must perform radically – controlled maneuvers in the most critical section of a wave with power, speed and flow. Innovative and progressive surfing as well as the combination and variety of repertoire (of major maneuvers) will be taken into consideration when awarding points for a surfer’s performance.

The competition’s success was attributed to teamwork, cooperation, hard work and the well – planned activities. The number of participants exceeded expectation.