Bryan Pérez

Bryan Pérez, born on September 10, 1999, is a Salvadoran professional surfer, the first athlete from El Salvador to qualify for Olympic surfing. He grew up in the coastal community of Punta Roca, in La Libertad, where as a child he helped guard cars and carry surfboards for visitors and made his first practice boards from broken pieces they gave him. He won the bronze medal at the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru, El Salvador's first continental games medal in surfing, became champion of the ALAS Pro Tour at Playa Las Flores in 2023, and won the Corona Pro Surf Circuit in Puerto Rico that November. He took part in the 2024 Summer Olympics, with surfing held at Teahupo'o, Tahiti, after a universality invitation, and he promotes community and youth surf projects in vulnerable areas of his country.