Many will know him as 'the ColaCao kid' because in 2010 he came out of anonymity starring in the advertisement for said brand under the slogan 'just because he's small doesn't mean he can't do great things'. Seven years later, those words echoed in the national media again because that blond-haired boy, who showed off some of his skills on a skateboard on El Hormiguero, was proclaimed European champion in the under 16 surfing category last December in the waters of Anza, a beach in Agadir (Morocco).
The Canary Islands promise is beginning to be confirmed, but what has been achieved so far is just a small step towards the dream of one day competing on the professional circuit and why not fight for the top spot in the WSL like surfers of the level of Gabriel Medina, Kelly Slater, Mick Fanning or John John Fiorence, whom sports odds place as favorites in the bets to finish at the top of the overall standings at the end of the season.
Shapes his talent in Punta del Diablo
Currently, Yael participates in the junior league and it will not be until he turns 18, he is now 17, and if the results continue to accompany him when he can make the leap. His life does not follow the usual routine of a kid his age who at 08:00 in the morning should be sitting at a desk in a 1st year of high school class. He studies the course that corresponds to him, but he does it remotely at different times than most because his training begins first thing in the morning in Punta del Diablo (Tenerife), where he now resides, looking for a greater variety of waves than those offered by El Quemao and La Santa on the island of Lanzarote where he came to live at age 4. When he is not exercising in the water, he does it physically and if the weather permits he gets on the skateboard as a hobby.
And in that continuous growth that is predicted for him, perhaps one day he will represent Spain in the Olympic Games. Surfing will be in Tokyo 2020 and the idea is that it will continue in the Olympic charter in future editions with the help of the artificial wave, which will already have a first national spot in Mongat (Barcelona). Yael is part, together with the Basque Iker Amatriain, of a new batch of surfers who can break through in a discipline without great references in the circuit to look up to, beyond Aritz Aramburu. In the words of Carlos García, president of the Spanish Surfing Federation, there is enough talent to break the mold and dream that surfing can give a joy sooner rather than later at the Olympic level, as to emulate a similar achievement to that of Carolina Marín with badminton.
