Peru’s Villaran is trying to make his own breaks

Gabriel Villaran will require far more focus and polish to fulfill his dream of becoming a world champion.

But the surfer is persistent.

Recently he agreed to an interview at a Manhattan Beach hotel, where former world champion and fellow Peruvian Sofia Mulanovich was staying.

But Villaran, 60 miles away in San Clemente and unfamiliar with the complexity of Southland travel, had misplaced his driver’s license and could not rent a car.

Anyone else would have rescheduled. But this conscientious young man caught a train to Union Station in L.A., hailed a taxi and arrived in Manhattan Beach only 30 minutes late, flashing a peace sign out the cab’s window as it rolled into the driveway.

Before me were Peru’s best female and male surfers, one a mainstream celebrity and both an inspiration to thousands in a homeland starved for sports heroes.

“She’s bigger than the president,” Villaran says of Mulanovich, causing her to blush and counter that he is the flashy wave rider all of the “groms” back home try to emulate.

Mulanovich is currently ranked No. 3 in the world and over the next nine days will attempt to defend her Honda U.S. Open of Surfing title in Huntington Beach. And next Friday she will be inducted into the Surfers Hall of Fame.

Both surfers grew up when Lima was plagued with anti-

government bombings, kidnappings and assassinations.

Mulanovich lived on the coast but rode in a bulletproof bus to and from school in Lima. Villaran lived in Lima and sought refuge at the Mulanoviches’ home.

It was a hangout. Her parents surfed. Brothers Herbert and Matias were fierce competitors. So was Sofia, the middle child, who often was pitted against boys.

“She used to beat me every single time,” Villaran says, prompting her swift clarification: “I used to beat all the other guys, but not you.”

Clearly, Mulanovich, now 24, has enjoyed a smoother ride.

Her parents were supportive and she had an ocean for a backyard, a fluid style and a look that sells. Roxy signed her when she was 15 and she is now one of the surfwear giant’s highest-paid athletes.

Her rise was methodical. She failed to make the elite world tour during her first qualifying run in 2001, but easily made it in 2002 and two years later was the beaming world champion who ended the six-year reign of Australia’s Layne Beachley.

The reaction was immediate. More than 20,000 people greeted her plane when she landed in Lima, where her story was front-page news. Mulanovich received a presidential award and was voted the nation’s most popular person. Peruvian girls rushed by the hundreds to sign up for surfing classes and Roxy sales in some Latin American regions that year soared by as much as 50%.

Hans Firbas, her press agent in Peru, called Mulanovich a social phenomenon -- one that resulted in a documentary being made on her life.

“For what I have seen in the three years since Sofia won the title, surfing in Peru has become stronger and more popular among all sports and social classes,” says Jose Schiaffino, a Peru-based representative for Roxy’s parent company, Quiksilver.

Villaran’s path, meanwhile, has had more turns than his errant commute to the South Bay. His parents were also supportive but his father, an avid surfer, struggled with alcohol and leaped to his death from a bridge five years ago.

“I’m not angry with him or anything,” says Villaran, 23, who also will compete in the U.S. Open. “In fact, I’ve been dreaming of him lately. It’s weird because the dreams are so real, it’s like my dad didn’t really pass away.”

It was a rough time and Villaran, who did not take high school seriously, said he began to search his soul and consider his future. Surfing, he decided, provided both an outlet and a career path.

Two years ago Villaran was champion of the Assn. of Latin American Surfers tour, and made the finals of the Pipeline Monster Energy Pro, won by the iconic Rob Machado.

Last year Villaran became the second Peruvian to win the Pan-American Surfing Games title and was among the finalists in the Billabong XXL Global Big Wave Awards, in the Monster Paddle category for a gargantuan crusher that he tamed in Chile.

“There are no real chinks in his armor,” says Strider Wasilewski, team manager for Quiksilver, which signed Villaran in 2003. “He charges the biggest waves in the world. He surfs incredibly well in small waves. He’s got the full bag of tricks.”

That may be, but the slender Peruvian is struggling mightily while making his first serious run on the fiercely competitive qualifying circuit and enters the U.S. Open ranked 265th.

“I’ve been having trouble getting through heats,” he says, conceding with a nod and a knowing smile that it’ll require a lot more than a train-and-cab ride to reach the top.

pete.thomas@latimes.com