Huge turnout augurs well for swim future

MANILA, Philippines - With over a thousand age group swimmers representing different regions of the country participating at the recently concluded Philippine Aquatic Sports Association‘s (PASA) three-day National Short Course Swimming Championships at the world-class Trace Aquatic Center in Los Baños, Laguna, PASA president Mark Joseph can only look to a brighter future for local swimming.

And the swimmers were not just ordinary swimmers as they had to go through the different G-League regional swimming competitions to qualify for the event that saw Laos SEA Games-bound Jhessie King Lacuna smashing a 20-year-old national record in the 200-meter freestyle as he clocked 1:50.47 to Eric Buhain’s previous best of 1:56.81.

“What we are happy about too is the fact that more than 200 participants met the AAA time standards in their different events, this FINA -derived formula allows us to identify talents regardless of sex, age, and distance, and strokes, and every year, we have more and more of our swimmers meeting these times proving that both our coaches and swimmers are improving. But what is really important is the fact that the local swimming community has thrown its support behind PASA and its board of trustees made up of people with excellent credentials like former Olympian Ral Rosario, “ said PASA president Mark Joseph.

The event, which highlights PASA’s 2010 year-round program, saw 75 swim clubs not just from Metro Manila but also from Cebu, Bacolod, Cagayan de Oro, Dumaguete, Davao, Dadiangas, Bohol, Palawan, Baguio, Pampanga, La Union, Ilocos Norte, Calamba, Lipa, and Bulacan among others with the Makati Skipjacks Swim Club emerging top club with a total of 807 points earned by its swimmers, followed by the PCA Stingrays (795 points) the Lake City Swim Club (745), Ayala Harpooners Club (740.5), VVCC Aqua Lasers (546), Cebu Blue Marlins (506.5), San Pablo Mantas (459), PPC Hammerhead Sharks (443), XS Aqua Stallions (439), and the St. Stephen Killerwhales (430.5) rounding out the top 10 clubs.

“We learned a lot from this event in terms of managing and officiating and for the future, we foresee an expansion of the G-League program, with faster times to be set and met, “ added Joseph.

On his part, PCA Stingrays Swim Club president Gerry Castrillo commended PASA for its recent event, “ that was a milestone event in PASA history and as a swimming parent, I am very happy with how swimming is being ran by the present group of officials who have all excellent swimming credentials, “ said Castrillo.