In 1991 it was his father Luis who wrote his name among the winners of the outstanding Argentine surf circuit. It had been 14 years since he became captivated by this sport, after a family trip to Hawaii. From that moment on he adopted it as his passion and that love was passed on to each of his three children: Maia (14 years old), Ema (17) and Franco (21). Precisely the greatest of the Radziunas He started competing at 11 and went from promise to reality in the last three years. He did not let the lack of titles as a junior affect him and this weekend, in Mar del Plata, he ended up being crowned Argentine Open championthe same title as his father, but 32 years later.
“It’s something really special for me. Being able to write my name on that list of champions, which includes my old man and the most important surfers of the different generations”highlighted the blonde who is today the star rider of Quiksilver Argentina.
On the last date, of the legendary La Paloma tournament, he added the few points he needed to be crowned (with 3610) and Nico Hermida was the winner. Vera Jaricz, meanwhile, took the victory of the women’s stage, breaking Ornella Pellizzari’s streak and taking the women’s title, adding 3470 points, 10 more than Pellizzari -she was third- and 20 more than Lucía Cosoleto, in the closest tournament in memory.
This edition, the 20th in history, took months to wait. It was scheduled for May but the endurance for 45 days was not enough to produce the best conditions to compete in the country’s famous big wave tournament. The swell never entered the southern cliffs of Mar del Plata and then it was postponed.
They waited another 45 days but the lack of the best condition that makes it the top Argentine championship made it move to another beach, due to the organizer’s commitment to make the date and end the national circuit that corresponds to the Argentine Association.
It was then the Honu Beach resort, with the support of Ford, that received the best surfers to crown a very special year that also had very interesting results from Argentine surfers in the international arena. And it was a party, once again, with waves from smallest to largest that ended up crowning the winners.
“I had already proven to myself that I could beat the best and now I was able to achieve it with the tournament. It was something pending… Being Argentine champion has always been a goal, but in other years I had not been able to be in various stages of the circuit, due to being in international tournaments. On this occasion I was given the dates. Being able to win three of the first four gave me a lot of peace of mind and luckily I was able to close it out. It feels incredible to be champion”Franco admitted, part of the new national surfing army that, for example, includes Juan Cruz Ruggiero -he was runner-up at La Paloma after having won the last two editions-, Nazareno Pereyra -national runner-up with 3050 points- and Thiago Passeri , who returned from being U14 Latin champion in El Salvador and reached the semifinals in Honu, after eliminating the experienced Lele Usuna, the most successful of this tournament in history.
Papa Luis said that Franco had a strong connection with water from a very young age and that at the age of five he could stand alone on the board. “My old man never pressured me, he just introduced me to the sport and I quickly became captivated. I remember one day, I was 9 years old, and when I caught a big wave on the Yatch beach, I had a very special feeling. It was like being at Disney. There I felt the desperation to relive that feeling. It also became a regular plan with him. Instead of playing at home, we went surfing. Something that has spread to the whole family”revealed the new national king.
Franco could not be champion in training but reaching the final of the Quiksilver La Paloma 2020, the bravest stop on the tour, and immediately winning his first stage, allowed him to click. “I had lost several finals and it was like removing a thorn from me”, he commented. From that day on, his growth was impressive, in the water and in his physique, especially in 2022. “I acquired maturity in the sea, in decision-making, and it helped me a lot to have traveled a lot, to have competed with good results, and to have surfed other types of waves. In addition, I kept my job, day to day. All this makes me feel calmer, less nervous, and that I can beat anyone.”he explained.
Martín Passeri is the most successful in national history, with six titles, and an authoritative voice because he is also Franco’s coach. “Today he is the best Argentine surfer, the one who has grown the most and the one who works in an orderly manner. There are several things that make it special. First, his approach. He doesn’t get demotivated when things don’t work out for him. When he did not have the expected results, such as not being junior champion, he continued giving. He doesn’t skip any physical training or make excuses when things don’t work out. He is an example because he is healthy, coherent and disciplined. Mentally he is very strong, he has a family environment that empowers him and he is also a boy who likes to take risks in the water. He comes in his DNA. “All these intangible characteristics enhance his talent”he analyzed.
In 2023, Radziunas had the goal of being a champion and, at the same time, making a leap to the international level, something that he also feels he achieved. “I competed on the Olympic path, leaving aside what at the beginning of the year I thought was going to be my main focus, the QS tournaments of the World Surfing League. I was able to have several good championships and ended up qualifying for the Pan American Games in Santiago. “I didn’t get the place for Paris 2024, but experience always adds up and we have to grow based on that.”said the champion, who is already beginning to look askance at 2024. “The objectives are to have a good preseason, travel to Hawaii at the end of January to prepare for those waves for a month and then focus on the regional competitions to seek qualification for the Challenger Series”hill.