You love surf, of course you do… So every day you turn the radio on and listen to the same swell report, championship dates and WSL information over and over again. It begins to become dull. This is where Sebastian Chacon steps in to bring us a fresh and different radio show from the most important surf spot in our country.
Does he play music in his show? Yes he does, and it is decent. Does he talk about surf? Of course, but he tries to show a different side to the life. After listening to him for a while I decided to catch up with him and find out what makes him tick…
Enjoy…
Do you remember the first time you got involved in surfing?
Surfing was always part of my life since I was a child. My dad bought a board in 1985 and he tried to surf with his pals but they failed every time, so the board ended up hanging in the garage.
I also have a lot of cousins and they surf really well so I started hanging out with them. There was never a shortage of wetsuits or boards kicking around.
I bought my first board and suit when I was at high school. It was a 6.5´ Renato shapes. That board was amazing and almost unbreakable. I sold it on, but many many years later I spotted it at the beach still in very good shape. So that was the beginning…
Considering you are a sports journalist what do you try to offer with Surfpress and with your radio show to the surf community?
Surfpress was created to cover the lack of certain information related to surf. Sadly surfing is not taken as a sport and, except during summer, no one knows what is going on. There could be a contest happening or a pro surfer may be travelling through town.
To cut a long story short, I met Martin Passeri and Maxi Siri (they were competing on the Latin American circuit) and that was how we started Surfpress. Basically, it’s a 100% Latin American surf Agency. We have contributors from all over the region: Luisma Iturria, Magnum Martinez among others). I think the ways to communicate have changed drastically and the big challenge is to create and update quality content. Plus what is really important, especially with social media on every phone, is that you can’t lie! You´ll see how certain articles impact on the people in realtime.
Radio is the media I love the most, because as the years pass by the communication is still direct and without any intermediaries. I worked night shifts for several years and the radio is your only company. I love the radio shows where the listeners actually listen and get involved with every facet.
How do you see the growth of surfing in our country? Pros and cons?
The growth was predictable, I think.
The pros: The industries related to the sport are working as they never did. This growth generates new jobs and that is amazing. In Mar del Plata people come from all over the country to surf and those surfers buy food, wetsuits and gear which all results in more money for the locals.
Cons: The lack of etiquette and respect on the water. The worst part of localism is enhanced. I think localism should exist but the violent outbursts should not. All the misbehaviour on the water is a mirror of our society and how are we living, because surfing should be something inspirational. Surf gives you an identity and takes you to another level, everyone wants to be part of that and so they should be. We should learn from localism by teaching and if it’s possible, passing the culture and respect from parents to children.
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