https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2w3Dnch7SY
SINGAPORE —In a sport where creating as little ripple as possible is premium, these Filipino boys crashed out with a splash.
Philippine Sports Commission chair Richie Garcia on Thursday said he will ask an explanation from the aquatics chief Mark Joseph regarding the performance of divers John Elmerson Fabriga and John David Pahoyo in 3-meter springboard event.
READ: Splash of optimism: Filipino athlete ‘proud’ despite ‘fail’ SEA Games dive
Now called the “Splash Brothers,” the video of Fabriga and Pahoyo where they performed a particular dive where they both landed flat on their backs has gone viral and garnered mixed reactions from netizens.
“I will give the opportunity for the Philippine Swimming Inc. president to explain because he fought for these divers to come here and compete,” said Garcia. “I saw these boys train at Rizal Memorial and they are good.”
Garcia said he would like to know if the dives were intentionally done because it contradicts the Filipino mantra of “fighting to the end.”
The Philippine divers finished in the bottom of the standings in the event.
But Garcia said it should not take away the fact that the Philippines is doing well in other sports like athletics and boxing.
“Let’s not remove our good performance because we focus on the negative like the inverted flags,” said Garcia referring to the flag fiasco in the uniforms of century dash champs Eric Cray and Kayla Anise Richardson. CFC