BY CHRISTINE MONCADA
Philippine Sports Commissioner Richie
Garcia yesterday said the four swimmers who have already
earned slots to the Beijing Olympics in August and two other
Filipino hopefuls are showing remarkable improvement and "will
not be token entries."
Miguel Molina, Daniel Coakley, Ryan Aranejo
and James Walsh are training in the United States, along with
Kendrick Uy and Erica Totten who have yet to qualify for the
Games.
"Maganda ang tinatakbo ng training nila,
and with the pace of improvement they are getting, I believe
they will not just be a token entry in the Olympics," Garcia
said during the regular PSC media briefing yesterday.
"Their coaches are very focused on specific
programs to improve their time and endurance as well. They
also noted our swimmers are disciplined," added Garcia, who
personally visited the athletes last week to monitor their
progress.
He said the athletes are spending an
average of seven hours a day at the pool and at the fitness
center as part of their training regimen.
Coakley, under the tutelage of Olympic medalist Sergio
Lopez along with Arabejo, Walsh and Uy, is 1.2 seconds off the
world record in the men’s 50-meter freestyle event, according
to Garcia. Alexander Popov of Russia owns the record of 21.64
seconds.
