After runner-up in Maresias, Juliana Guimarães aims for the SuperSurf lead!

CURRENT DEPUTY LEADER OF THE RANKING, SURFER ALREADY WON AT ITAÚNA BEACH IN 2001

Current runner-up in the ranking, surfer Juliana Guimarães, from the AntiQueda team, competes motivated in the 3rd stage of the Super Surf, which starts this Wednesday (13th) and continues until Sunday (17th) at Praia de Itaúna, at Saquarema. Knowing the waves of "Maracanã" of national surfing well, where she already won in 2001, the competitor wants victory to take 1st place in the fight for the title of the main division of Circuito Brasileiro de Surf Profissional.

"I'm really excited and if there's a good wave it will be even better", says the surfer, who trains in the waves of Itaúna, in Niterói, and is coming off a sequence of good results in the Super Surf. In the initial stage, in Imbituba/SC, she placed 3rd and in São Sebastião, in Praia de Maresias, she reached the final, placing 2nd. "Now we just need to win", jokes the 25-year-old athlete, who in addition to the AntiQueda is sponsored by the Lui Lui and Tent Beach and uses the Merre boards.

In the Super Surf ranking, Juliana, who has two Brazilian runner-up finishes in her CV, in 98 and 2001, is just 20 points away from the lead. It has 1,590 points against 1,610 for the Potiguar Alcione Silva, winner in Maresias. Juliana is part of the AntiQueda team, which also includes another highlight of national surfing, the experienced Almir Salazar, São Paulo's only four-time professional surfing champion, a feat achieved in the early 80s.

The surfer from Santos, who continues to be active at 46 years of age, is coming off a victory in Petrobras Longboard Classic, in Bahia, in the legends category, and this Saturday and Sunday he competes in the 2nd stage of Okdok Paulista de Surf, in Píer, in Mongaguá. Current two-time state master champion, he is trying to recover ground to continue in the fight for the third. In the initial stage, in Ubatuba, he lost in the quarter-finals, placing 9th.

"I'm going to fight to win. I haven't lost hope", says the athlete, reporting the difficulties of the dispute, having to face rivals up to 10 years younger. "The master is for surfers over 35 years old and I've been racing in it for almost a decade, since I came back from Portugal. As there is no other category above, I always get people who have just left professionalism and come with everything", highlights Almir, who in Mongaguá will also be competing in the longboard category.