Fil-Am tanker meets Olympic norm

With local sports officials hardly knowing it, a Fil-American swimmer named James Bernard Walsh qualified for the Athens Olympics during a recent tournament in Charlotte, North Carolina and, barring any hitches, may raise the number of Philippine representatives to this year’s quadrennial event to 14.

Walsh, a 17-year-old student who competed out of the Tide Water Club in Virginia, met the Olympic B standard of two minutes 04.56 seconds in the men’s 200-meter butterfly when he clocked 2:04.13 in the Charlotte Ultra-Swim Championships last June 10 to 14.

Born to a Filipino mother, Walsh has signified his desire to represent the Philippines in the Athens Olympics in August.

Her mother, Chona Walsh, has shared the development with the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) which in turn has contacted FINA, the world’s governing body in swimming.

Once he gets full accreditation from FINA, the Fil-American veteran of the 2002 Asean Age-Group Championships and the recent World Championships in Barcelona will become an official member of the Philippine delegation.

"This is welcome development. And if in fact, he has qualified, then the POC welcomes him as member of the RP team. The more the merrier," said POC spokesperson Gus Villanueva.

John Lozada, training director of the Philippine Amateur Swimming Association (PASA), has also gotten in touch with the Walshes through e-mail and is just waiting more confirmation.

Six more Filipino swimmers are eyeing berths to the Athens Olympics when they see action in Malaysia on June 23 to 26. It will be the final qualifying tournament for Asian swimmers. They are Maria Lisa Danila, Marichi Gandionco, Gerard Gabriel Bordado, Luica Dacanay, Martin Kalaw and Rafael Chua.

Two swimmers, Miguel Molina and Miguel Mendoza, have already qualified to the Athens Olympics to join eleven other Filipino athletes who will all try to give the country its first gold in the quadrennial event.

The other RP athletes bound for Athens are boxing’s Harry Tañamor, Violito Payla, Romeo Brin and Chris Camat; taekwondo’s Marie Antoinette Rivero, Tshomlee Go and Donald Geisler; track and field’s Eduardo Buenavista and Lerma Bulauitan; shooting’s Jethro Dionisio; and archery’s Jasmine Figueroa.