Fil-Am tanker boosts RP hopes in Athens

A Filipino-American swimmer qualifying for the Athens Olympics then baring his plans to compete for the Philippines is certainly a welcome development as far as the country’s participation in the quadrennial event this August is concerned.

"This is good to know that we have more talents to make the RP team not only for Athens but also for the 2005 SEA Games which our country is hosting," said Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) president Celso Dayrit yesterday.

Dayrit, out to ensure the Filipino athletes’ smooth participation in Athens, welcomed news that James Bernard Walsh, a 17-year-old student based in Virginia and whose mother is a Filipina, has qualified for the Athens Games in August.

A veteran of the World Championships in Barcelona, Walsh met the Olympic B standard of two minutes 04.56 seconds in the men’s 200-meter butterfly with a time 2:04.13 set in the Charlotte Ultra-Swim Championships June 10 -14.

Dayrit said the POC is just waiting for the endorsement from the Philippine Amateur Swimming Association (PASA) before Walsh gets accredited by FINA, the world-governing body in the sport, and becomes an official member of the RP delegation.

"I don’t think there will be any problem. And once everything is settled, then we will talk about his preparations," said the POC chief, adding that Walsh need not come to the Philippines to continue his training for the Olympics set Aug. 13-29.

"It would be better for him to stay in the US where the environment is better and more conducive. From the US, he can go straight to Athens. The POC will take care of everything like what we’ll do for the rest of the RP team members," Dayrit said.

Dayrit said Walsh also stands to receive financial assistance from the POC for his training. Filipino athletes who have qualified for the Athens Olympics much earlier each received $2,500.

Two other Filipino swimmers, Miguel Molina and Miguel Mendoza, have qualified for the Olympics to join eleven others who will all try to give the countryits 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.

Six more Filipino swimmers are set to compete in Asia’s final Olympic qualifying tournament in Malaysia this week. They are Liza Danila, Marichi Gandionco, Gerard Gabriel Bordado, Luica Dacanay, Martin Kalaw and Rafael Chua.