Alabi carries the hope of a nation as the SUP surfing heats get underway on day five, but she is already looking ahead at how the Championship can transform the sport and El Salvadoran fortunes.

In an exclusive interview with insidethegames, Alabi said: "It is something incredible to compete at the ISA Championship.

"Usually you dream of having it, but now it is real. 

"It is a historical event for El Salvador."

As the nation's only professional surfer, Alabi says the ISA World Championship will have bigger socioeconomic consequences for El Salvador and the Central American region.

"It is amazing to open our arms to everyone to come and make them feel comfortable and welcome," said Alabi.

"At the same time, it is our time to show off the great things we have - our great people, our waves and the warm water.

"It will change not only the history of surfing here, but also the history of a lot of people who have been inspired by the athletes. 

"It can be a turning point for our country."

Alabi dabbled in basketball, football and volleyball in her junior years before setting her ambitions to become a surfer.

Since making the switch from rowing, she has not looked back and is now a driving force for SUP in El Salvador.

She explained: "I was using pocket money to fund my sports, but in my second year of school I thought 'I want to learn to surf'.

"I joined the national federation for rowing in 2012, but the bigger goal was to surf, so after 18 months of rowing I decided to start on SUP.

"Our surfing federation gave me the leash, paddle and board and said to me: 'All you have to do is come and compete for us.'

"It was a great deal for me and since that moment I was here at El Sunzal."

Alabi went to the Bolivarian Games and earned a bronze medal in her first year, and followed up with silver and gold as she developed into the sport.

Four World Championships later, Alabi counts a fifth-place finish in Nicaragua in 2014 as her greatest achievement, while she also placed seventh at the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima.

In 2017 she opened a surfing foundation, Sea of Dreams, to give back to the people that helped her realise her dreams on the world stage.

Her passion for surfing was evident as she explained the ongoing mission.

"In 2017 I was a country brand ambassador for El Salvador and representing all the sports, so I thought that was a great moment to do something else, not only as an athlete, but giving back to the community," Alabi said.

"The main idea is to change lives, personal lives and professional lives, through sports, teaching values, virtues and higher ideals for life. 

"Through the academic school year we go to a specific beach where they have good waves and there are a lot of people we meet who are not living in a great situation.

"They are surviving to live."

The foundation currently has 15 young people under their guidance, with a team of 40 staff, mainly volunteers, working to improve conditions for them.

Alabi became a professional SUP surfer after landing a sponsorship deal with Powerade.

Additional partnerships have been forged and 10 per cent of these go towards the foundation.

She added: "We are dreaming to go big and not just help El Salvador, but also the countries in development in our region.

"We are always working with the country brand to develop. 

"Under Morena Valdez, as Minister of Tourism, we are getting a lot of support and we give back with our time and best efforts.

"Our next step is to create a board to make everything official as a national governing organisation."

Alabi's competition begins with the heats today, where she will go up against French surfer Justine Dupont, fresh from a yet to be ratified world record for the biggest wave surfed by a woman, a 68ft wave in Nazaré in Portugal.

She concluded: "Justine and Iballa [Moreno] are so good.

"I am so grateful that, when difficult things are coming, I have a chance to rise to the occasion and develop.

"I just want to grow and it will make a fun heat."