We all know that behind every great athlete there is a great family, great support, a great role model... Today, in Beyond the Waves, we have Asier Garitaonandia, a persevering family man and a sports lover.
After having dedicated himself professionally to sales and business development for more than 20 years in the private sector, in January 2023 he decided to start his own business together with his son Bitor, with the aim of properly cementing and developing Bitor's career as a professional surfer.
Are you interested in his point of view? I invite you to continue reading.
Q1. How and when did you discover that Bitor's passion was surfing? We understand that you played football/soccer at a very good level.
"I discovered it when Bitor made the decision to give up football and dedicate himself solely to surfing. That was 10 years ago, in 2014, when Bitor was 12 years old. I played football for Amaikak-Bat in Deba as a goalkeeper and what I would highlight most about me is the desire I put into it, my attitude. More than me, the one who really had a good football level was Bitor. He had aptitude and attitude, that's why his firm decision to leave football shocked me."
Q2. What role do you play in Bitor's sporting career? Would you like to highlight any of Bitor's achievements or milestones and how you helped him at that time?
"The most important role has been to support him and help him at all times regardless of what sport or activity he wanted to practice, which means always being there for everything with the aim of enjoying and improving. Now I do the same but with full professional dedication to Bitor.
I would certainly highlight his achievement of being WSL Junior European Champion on October 15, 2022 in the Azores. For professional reasons, I was not able to accompany him to any of the 4 competitions of that European circuit in which he was finally proclaimed Champion, but I am left with his enormous dedication together with all the support we were able to give him from home during 8 years of continuous competitions."
Q3. What is your next challenge? What motivates you most about this new challenge?
"My next challenge is for Bitor to achieve the emotional balance necessary to dedicate more quality time to surfing improvement. At the end of 2023, the end of an important collaboration destabilized him and, since then, we are learning to maintain the necessary balance between sport and the commitments we have with our collaborators.
What motivates me the most is that I know that Bitor will be happier than he already is by achieving that stability. This will inevitably elevate him to a technical level of surfing and competitiveness that will bring him closer to his current main sporting goal: moving up to the CS (Challenger Series), the world circuit of the WSL (World Surf League)."
Q4. Pressure to achieve results plays a fundamental role in any sporting career. Do you also feel this pressure? How do you manage it?
"I feel the pressure of being completely involved in Bitor's day-to-day life. His goals and mine are the same, we are a team. The difference is that he is the one who takes the lead, he is the protagonist and the pressure is felt differently in and out of the water.
Pressure is good if you know how to use it to your advantage. The best way to not feel so much pressure is to prepare yourself as best as possible in all the aspects that you can control and to be at peace with yourself knowing that you have done everything that depended on you. That way, sooner or later the results will come.
I like to remind myself that slow is the fastest way. The results must be seen in the long term."
Q5. Parents of athletes play a fundamental role, especially at the beginning of their children's sporting careers. What advice would you give to parents of professional athletes?
"I would say that, as parents, our duty is to guide and support our children's decisions; but not the other way around. Children do not have to do what their parents want. Whether they are basic athletes or professional athletes, as in life itself, the key is to try to enjoy what one does and not do something to please the parents against their own wishes."
Q6. What do you think of KGUARD Premium Waterproof Designs products and brand?
"I think that KGUARD provides the surfing and water sports sector with necessary, different, interesting products that provide great added value and are very practical. They are also perfectly designed, high-quality, durable and elegant products."
Q7. What is your favorite KGUARD product? Why?
"The SoftCube adabtable beach bag is the epicentre of our daily surfing activity, because we store the wet items underneath separately from the dry ones that go on top and in a compact, elegant and waterproof way.
The Waxbox soft box for transporting and recycling wax has also come to cover a need we had: to store wax in a sturdy and clean place."
The importance of accompaniment, support, mental health and mental strength. Key aspects from the point of view of our interviewee today. Eskerrik asko, Asier.