Better chance for RP tankers with new Olympic format

The Philippine swimming team competing in the Beijing Olympics this August will have a fair chance of winning with the current format at the world’s most prestigious sporting event.

Head coach and former Olympian Carlos “Pinky” Brosas said the relatively new format of holding the preliminary matches in the evening leveled the playing field for the RP team.   

“It gives us a fair chance kasi normally ‘yan lalangoy ka ng prelims mo sa umaga and when hindi kondisyon ang katawan mo,” said Brosas.

He explained that most swimmers are faster in water during the late afternoon through the evening when their bodies have already switched to “competition mode.”

Brosas said that this would give the Filipinos a better chance against the “gifted” morning swimmers by breaking through the preliminary events.

“Actually everybody seems much better in the evening. So we have just as good chance as everybody else,” he said.

The new format, however, also has disadvantages since the final events will be held in the mornings.
 
“Ngayon binaligtad, all the events in the finals are in the morning, which is very hard [for the swimmers],” said Brosas.

Brosas said the “prelims-morning, finals-evening” format may have been implemented to give the US and European viewers the chance to watch the final events during primetime.

“I think they started this in Athens. It’s the viewers in the States. Paglaro sa finals, umaga sa China, primetime sa US… sa Europe,” he said.

The RP’s swimming team is composed of a “powerhouse” cast led by Miguel Molina, who was named Best Male Athlete of the 2007 Southeast Asian Games in Thailand.

Other members of the RP swimming team are JB Walsh, Ryan Arabejo, Daniel Coakley and Christel Simms.

Molina and Arabejo captured slots in the Olympics after impressive performances at the 13th FINA World Swimming Championships in Melbourne, Australia.

Simms passed the qualifying Olympic standard for the 100-meter freestyle while Walsh made it through the USA Senior National Swimming Championships in Indiana.

Coakley, a great grandson of 1932 Olympic bronze medalist Teofilo Yldefonso, broke the national record in the 24th Southeast Asian Games, thus earning himself a slot for Beijing.