PASA nixes SEAG stint for three Olympic tankers

BACOLOD CITY — Swimming president Mark Joseph expressed doubt if Olympic swimming sensation Nathalie Coughlin would don the Philippine colors in the 2005 Southeast Asian Games the country is hosting in November.

Joseph said the international swimming federation (FINA) made a recent residency ruling that could prevent even Athens Olympics Fil-American swimmers Jaclyn Pangilinan and JB Walsh from competing in the coming games.

FINA now requires two-year physical residency for a swimmer before he or she can compete in the games.

This ruling automatically slams the door on Coughlin, a 21-year-old Olympic multi-medal winner who reportedly has a Filipino lineage.

"There’s no reason to hope (she can compete for the country)," said Joseph, adding that, in the first place, it has not been established whether Coughlin is willing to swim for the Philippines.

Coughlin, whose mother Zennie is said to have Filipino roots, was the first woman to break the minute-mark in the 100-meter backstroke and won a total of five medals (two golds) in the Athens Games.

Reports circulated recently that the country may tap Coughlin for the 2005 SEAG.

With the current roster of national swimmers, Joseph believes the Philippines is good for at least seven golds in the games. Filipino swimmers snared three golds in Vietnam in 2003 and hope to do better this year.

The last time the Philippines hosted the games in 1991, Pinoy tankers scooped 10 golds, six courtesy of former Philippine Sports Commission chief and now Games and Amusements Board chair Eric Buhain. — Nelson Beltran