The wave embassy in Buenos Aires, the new step of the father of Olympic surfing

Of course, for him it is much more than a surfshop or his brand new Buenos Aires venture. It is his new house, another one, created with the spirit he loves, the one he built with his family and his wave friends, the pioneers of surfing in the country. One more excuse to transmit the love for his sport, the sea and the beach culture that he embraced 50 years ago and today, at 65, keeps him young, being re-elected 20 days ago for no less than the ninth time as president of the International Surfing Association (ISA).

“It is beautiful to come to Buenos Aires to bring the salty water, the salty air of Mar del Plata, as well as the love for the waves… Being able to share it makes us happy. Someone may think that such an urban place does not have a surfing culture, but we know that there are many surfers who live here and who love the sea like us, the marplanauts. And our goal is to come to promote this culture, to increase the community, with this place that aims to be a bridge to dreams, to happiness, to something you like. A place where you can also read a book, drink coffee or a natural juice. We come to share the beauty of Mar del Plata, to promote that dream that people have of going there for a weekend. Because, in addition, it is called Mar del Plata, not Arroyo del Plata. Not Valley of the Silver. Nor Sierra del Plata. It is our surf capital and this place made with love will be the embassy of a beach culture that, I have no doubts, is more and more in the DNA of so many Argentines”Aguerre explained.

The opening night was magical and had everything: emotion, talks, laughter, the best music (live and with DJ Cofla), delicious food and enough drinks for the toasts to multiply. Falu, a top artist, was there finishing the impressive exterior mural that reflects how a wave comes down the 9 de Julio highway and destroys vehicles and traffic lights while an office worker happily surfs it.

There were also businessmen and several famous artists who were fans of surfing, such as Nico Riera, Turco Naim -actors and seasoned surfers-, Little Fox Von Quintiero -with a shirt with Aguerre’s stamp, the San Martín of surfing, see photo- and Fernando Ruiz Diaz. The leader of Catupecu Machu and Vantra hit the mark once again, improvising a recital with heartfelt songs, of meaning, and some that bear his stamp, of power and passion. Even with the contribution of Aguerre, who took the stage to play the djeridú -wind instrument- in one of the RD songs.

In addition, in a very emotional moment, the musician Fer donated the board of his younger brother, Gabriel, who died in January 2021 after a very hard 15-year convalescence after a serious car accident in 2006. “Gaby loved surfing and would be happy May your table be in this place, with the spirit it has. He still has the paraffin, the salt and the sand from those trips he made to Brazil and Mar del Plata”, he recounted without being able to contain an emotion translated into tears.

Nothing is a casuality. Everything that happened in Aguerre’s life has to do with being “a practical idealist”, as this surfer, businessman and sports leader defines himself, who achieved what no other Argentine leader had even tried: getting his sport into the Games Olympics. At the end of the 1970s, with his brother, Fernando devised some sandals because the traditional flip-flops did not work for them, because they had flat feet and, when he went into the water, they would be ruined. So, they created a waterproof rubber model and in the first summer they sold 200 pairs.

In 1984, when both had already moved to California, the business began to explode until it sold 4 million pairs per year and exported to 100 countries. In 2005 the brothers decided to sell the company, for a million-dollar figure, to an American conglomerate and in 2012, when Fernando began to return to the country more often, he decided to refound Ala Moana. That’s when he realized what it meant.

“We always thought the name was due to a beach in Honolulu, Hawaii, until they told me what it meant: path that leads you to the sea. Incredible that we gave it a name thinking that it meant one thing and, in reality, it was precisely because of what you love the most, the path to the waves”, commented who decided, in his own way, to have his parents present during this very special moment. “To my mother with her wave rings and my father through a colored stone that I found on the beach in Waikiki when we went to throw his ashes,” she revealed.

This Ala Moana will be the seventh in the country, six between MdP and Chapadmalal, the remaining now in Palermo. A reflection of how the growth of surfing, even more so since it was Olympic and people turn more and more to sports that are practiced in natural environments, has boosted its industry.

Something that Fernando avoids delving into. “It really is something that does not interest me. I know it produces that, but I don’t think ‘ah, what we’re going to do is great, the industry is growing’. I do not think in numbers, in pesos or in the number of garments that we sell, because I do not run the company, I am just the guardian of Ala Moana’s DNA, ”he comments, later reflecting his spirit. “Business ventures are like ventures in life. We can all be entrepreneurs, you just have to practice it.

A lot of people don’t do it because they are afraid of failure. But I tell them that you have to go forward, in everything, being quick to make decisions and quick to realize that something went wrong, to be able to change it or go backwards, ”he added.

aguerre he left happy, knowing clearly that his goal in life goes beyond what is seen, that he does everything to transmit his love for his beloved sport.

“Over time I understood that everything I do is to create communities, gatherings, moments, talks, meetings, encounters… And a well-understood brand is that, an emotional shelter, a bridge to people’s dreams. When he was a DJ and played music, he did it. When I had Reef, the same thing, and now I try to repeat it with Ala Moana, as I have been doing with the ISA, an NGO in which I have been working pro bono for 28 years and which is nothing less than a community of 112 countries. A community of those of us who love waves and want to share this with the rest of the world. Because going to the sea connects us with the most internal, essential, of our lives. That’s why everyone loves to go to the sea. And because surfing is the closest thing to magic because you enter the sea with problems and come out without any, happy, renewed…”.

The ambassador of the sea said it, the creator of an embassy of the waves in Buenos Aires.