RP junior swimmers to get top notch training in Australia

Hoping to make a huge splash in the 1st Youth Olympic Games (YOG) in Singapore this year, five Philippine junior swimmers are currently training at Australia’s world-renowned New South Wales Institute of Sports (NSWIS). The Philippine Amateur Swimming Association (PASA) earned Australia’s support to train Jessie Lacuna, Jasmine Alkhaldi, Dorothy Hong, Banjo Borja and Jose Gonzales – who all qualified for the Aug. 14 to 26 Youth Olympics – for 10 weeks in Sydney.

The NSWIS is the same training center where former five-time Olympic champion Ian "The Torpedo" Thorpe honed his skills under head coach Jim Fowlie’s watchful eyes. Fowlie will also supervise the training of the five Filipino tankers. All five hurdled the respective qualifying times to earn YOG slots and also saw action in the 25th Laos SEA Games where they were exposed to the level of play in regional competitions. "They did not win any medals but they showed their heart by competing against the best tankers in Southeast Asia. That experience will help them a lot," said PASA president Mark Joseph. The almost three-month long NSWIS training stint will boost the junior swimmers’ confidence where they hope to have a strong showing in the first ever Olympics for youth athletes. "At NSWIS, the home pool of swimming champion Ian Thorpe, they will be coached by a top Australian coach (Jim Fowlie) supported by an elite team of sports scientist," said Joseph. National coach Carlos Brosas joined the Pinoy tankers in Australia as he will be attending clinics to further boost his knowledge with the latest techniques which he will use in running PASA’s Center for Excellence in Los Banos, Laguna. Brosas and the Pinoy junior tankers left for Australia last Thursday, Dec. 31. The training stint was made possible thru the support of the Australian Embassy, the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) and Sydney’s Filipino community. Joseph added that PASA sees more joint programs with Australia that will benefit the country in the future. "There are many interesting developments in international swimming these days and we are looking at developing stronger relations with Australia for our swimmers." "It’s (Australia) closer to the Philippines and has offered PASA the assistance of its top experts to upgrade not just our local coaching standards but also the structure of the association’s development programs," added Joseph. – GMANews.TV