The young local surfer Kevin Montiel returned from the Quicksilver King of Groms Latin America surf competition in El Salvador on July 8. Although he was eliminated from King of Groms he says the experience was fun.

The 18-year-old Nosara surfer said the biggest challenge he aced in El Salvador was illness. “When I first arrived I was a little sick,” he told VON. “I was tired and I had a fever but things started to get better”, and that the competition was “fierce”, but that he expected to be that way.  In order to make it to the Latin America regional round Kevin first had to place in the top two in a national qualifier which was held in March in Playa Hermosa. He placed second which earned him the right to represent Costa Rica in El Salvador

Despite being eliminated he said he was pleased and is going to keep at it, but at 18 this was his last year of eligibility for the King of Groms. “In the future I just want to keep surfing,” he said. “I want to do better, and take part in bigger and bigger competitions.”

In this year alone, he has already seen a fair amount of success; in April he won the Triple Crown final round at Playa Guiones, hosted by Nosara Tico surf school, where he works sometimes. Also in April he competed in Panama with the Costa Rican national team in the World Junior Surfing Championship organized by the International Surfing Association competition in which, although he didn’t place there, it was a world class competition.

Now he is back in Nosara, enjoying his friends, finishing up High School and surfing whenever possible.