RP tankers train sights on Beijing

Asian Games veteran Miguel Molina heads a crack roster of swimmers gunning for berths in the 2008 Beijing Olympics in the FINA (International Swimming Federation) Championships slated March 25-April 1 in Melbourne, Australia.

Aquatics chief Mark Joseph yesterday said some of the members of the squad will leave on March 20 hoping to improve on their respective times in the event which also serves as part of their buildup for the 2007 Bangkok Southeast Asian Games in December.

"I know our swimmers will try their best to qualify for the Olympics," said Joseph.

Molina, one of the four Filipino triple gold medal winners in the 2005 Manila SEAG, spearheads the team that also includes Fil-Ams Erika Totten and Jacky Pangilinan.

The other members of the squad are Ryan Arabejo, Gerard Bordado and Marichi Gandionco.

Gandionco and Bordado will depart on March 20 from Manila straight to Melbourne where they will be joined by Totten and Arabejo, who are currently training in Florida, United States.

Pangilinan, for her part, will follow suit from Boston where she is based while Molina, who lives in San Francisco, California, will come later from Japan where he is set to compete in the Japan Open.

Kendrick Uy and Fil-Ams JB Walsh and Daniel Coakley will not be joining the Nationals because they have their own training program leading to Bangkok and possibly Beijing.

The divers, on the other hand, are scheduled to compete in the FINA Grand Prix slated April 13-15 in Zhuhai, China where slots in the quadrennial meet are also at stake.

Sheila Mae Perez, another triple gold medalist in the 2005 Manila SEAG, will be the country’s top bet while Zandro and Cecille Domenios and Ryan Rexel Fabriga are also expected to figure prominently in their respective events.

The RP team is also set to see action in the fifth Association of Southeast Asian Nation Interclub Swimming Championships scheduled April 6-8 at the Trace Aquatics Center in Los Baños, Laguna.