Inihayag ng dating head coach ng Philippine Basketball Team at Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles na si Chot Reyes na hindi na bago sa sports ang beach o water training, ngunit nilinaw niyang hindi kasama rito ang aktuwal na paglangoy. Nanawagan din siya na itigil ang mga espekulasyon kaugnay ng pagkamatay ng mga Ateneo student-athlete na sina Rene Clert Baterbonia at Divine Adili.

Sa kaniyang guesting sa Fast Talk with Boy Abunda nitong Miyerkoles, inihayag ni Reyes ang kaniyang pakikiramay sa mga pamilya nina Baterbonia at Adili, na nasawi habang isinasagawa ang isang team-building activity sa Dipaculao, Aurora noong Hunyo 8.

“I want to extend my deepest sympathies to the families, the mother, the parents of Rene and Divine. But coming back to your question, the moment I heard it, I was filled with deep sadness because I know Divine personally,” sabi ni Reyes.

Ayon kay Reyes, madalas silang nagkakasalubong noon ni Adili sa training, at napansin niyang maalaga ito sa kaniyang katawan at kalusugan.

“Divine is a very conscientious bodybuilder. He really takes care of his body. And my team, I join my players in our weights program, lifting and all that. And palaging andoon si Divine. And he always has a very cheerful greeting for me,” ani Reyes.

Aniya, kakaiba ang pakiramdam sa pagpasok niya sa gym at hindi na niya naririnig ang pagbati ni Adili.

“That's the first thing that I felt was really a deep sadness.”

Kaugnay ng team-building activity noong Hunyo 8, sinabi ni Reyes na bahagi ng regular conditioning exercises ng Ateneo Men’s Basketball Team ang beach training.

“Alam mo, sa sports, not only in basketball, beach training is very effective resistance training. ‘Yung tumatakbo sa buhangin, as against running on regular surfaces. That really promotes stronger footwork, greater cardiovascular endurance. So, maraming gumagawa niyan. We do that. Several times na kami nagpabalik-balik. Different beaches.”

Dagdag pa niya, matagal nang bahagi ng training pedagogy ang water training bilang bahagi ng physical conditioning at recovery.

“There are, in the entire training pedagogy, if you want to call it, there are times where you have to go to really hard training and then there's a cycle where you have to rest a little bit in preparation for the actual tournament. So there are different means. Water training is not new,” dagdag ni Reyes.

Pag-alala pa ng basketball coach, ginagawa na rin nila noon ang pool workouts noong nagsisimula pa lamang siya bilang head coach sa Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).

“The water training is part of physical fitness and therapy. If you're coming off an injury, kaysa sa tumakbo ka on a hard surface, it jars your joints. Maraming tumatakbo sa water.”

Pero nilinaw niya na pagtakbo lamang sa tubig ang kanilang ginagawa at hindi kasama rito ang paglangoy.

“Sa akin, we've done a lot of activities in beach areas. Sa akin, my teams, we just limit them to running sa buhangin. Not really going into the water,” ani Reyes.

“And they were not swimming or, you know, panglangoy kasi sa dami, hindi naman sila swimmer. But it was just that they were, the objective was to put them in knee-deep water to provide more resistance to the activities, whatever, the calisthenics or the activity that they were doing,” dagdag niya.

Ayon kay Reyes, layunin ng mga ganitong aktibidad na mapalalim ang camaraderie at synergy ng koponan.

“So it's always a combination of doing those activities. We call that, you create shared memories. That's how teams are built,” aniya.

Sa pahayag ng Ateneo de Manila University, sinabi nitong sumailalim ang mga manlalaro sa conditioning exercise sa baybayin na hanggang tuhod lamang ang lalim ng tubig nang biglang dumating ang malalaking alon at mapanganib na rip current.

“Based on what we have gathered from those present, on Monday, 8 June 2026, the team was engaged in a conditioning exercise in knee-deep water near the shoreline when they were suddenly engulfed by massive waves and a powerful rip current,” ayon sa unibersidad.

Nilinaw rin ng Ateneo na walang ginamit na anumang pabigat sa naturang aktibidad.

“While most of the players managed to fight their way back to safety, Rene and Divine were pulled away. We state categorically, to protect the dignity of our fallen players, that no weights of any kind were used during this exercise,” dagdag nito.

Para kay Reyes, mahalagang agad na may humarap at nagsalita tungkol sa insidente.

“It's hard for me to speak on pagkukulang because I don't know. Of course they have their own methodologies. But I think what they should have done was to immediately show a face right away. I'm sure you know this crisis management,” ani Reyes.

“In these situations, what the public or what the aggrieved party needs is a face, a human face right away. Whether that's whoever, the president or the coach, it doesn't matter. But show a human face right away. I think that should have been done right away.”

Nanawagan din si Reyes para sa healing at pagwawakas ng mga haka-haka kaugnay ng insidente.

“Ang panawagan ko is for healing more than anything else. Ang panawagan ko is to stop all the baseless speculations. Some people are just speculating, perhaps out of ignorance, not knowing really what the whole picture is. But to be very honest, I think some people are viciously spreading falsehoods.”

“I mean, two families were aggrieved. We've lost two members of our community. So let's find ways to heal, not only for the families,” dagdag pa niya.

Inilibing na si Baterbonia sa kaniyang bayan sa Talacogon nitong Miyerkoles.

Samantala, naiuwi na rin sa Nigeria ang mga labi ni Adili, kung saan siya ililibing.—MCG GMA News