High hopes for China-trained Filipino divers
By Marc Anthony Reyes
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 04:15:00 07/24/2008
MANILA, Philippines—Aquatics may have the biggest number of Olympic qualifiers, but the athletes expected to rise to the challenge are the ones who are literally taking the plunge—the divers.
Shiela Mae Perez and Ryan Rexel Fabriga, both in the top 20 in the world, are coming home on July 29 to join the training camp along with the RP Olympic swimmers at the Trace College Aquatics Center in Los Baños, Laguna.
“It’s going to be tough, but these guys are expected to give it their all,” said Philippine Amateur Swimming Association head Mark Joseph Wednesday.
Perez, 22, is in her second Olympic stint after competing in Sydney in 2000.
The 2005 Southeast Asian Games’ most outstanding athlete with four gold medals, Perez finished 17th in this year’s Olympic qualifying held in Beijing in the 3-meter springboard event.
Fabriga will be making his Olympic debut in the 10m platform event.
The duo will be accompanied by Chinese coach Zhang Deju, who has guided them since the 2005 SEAG where the divers amassed five gold medals.
Joseph said Perez and Fabriga have been training in Xian, China, since last year but had to go back home in February because of the devastating earthquake that struck the province. They went back there last June.
One thing going against the Filipino divers, added Joseph, is that they were not able to train in Europe which would have exposed them to European judges.
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