Molina, Coakley break RP marks

MANILA, Philippines - Miguel Molina and Daniel Coakley, currently the best and the brightest of Philippine swimming, made waves yesterday at the start of the 2010 Pan Pacific Championships in Irvine, California.

The 26-year-old Molina broke the 19-year-old Philippine record in the 100m breaststroke with his time of one minute 3.89 seconds, surpassing the 1:04.18 set by Eric Buhain during the 1991 Manila Southeast Asian Games.

Coakley, a Filipino-American, shone in the 50m butterfly where he did 25.32 seconds. It was enough to break the old RP record of 25.81 established by Ernest Dee in 2007.

Mark Joseph, president of the Philippine Aquatic Sports Association, said he expects more to come from Molina and Coakley in the Pan Pacific event.

However, it was not enough to send Molina and Coakley to the top 15 of their respective events, considering that the world’s best are competing in Irvine. 

But the strong showing of the two veterans of the 2008 Beijing Olympics is expected to serve the country in good stead when it competes in the 16th Asian Games in Guangzhou, China in November.

Molina was 17th out of 28 swimmers while Coakley finished 22nd out of 30 entries.

Joseph cited the tremendous support of individuals like Dr. Cecilio Pedro of Hapee Toothpaste who is sponsoring Molina’s and Coakley’s training at the Olympic training center of the Bolles School of Florida.