Joseph: PH swimming ‘obviously not good’

The state of Philippine swimming is “obviously not good.”

The guarded assessment came from Mark Joseph, the embattled president of the Philippine Swimming Inc. who is being blamed for the country’s embarrassing gold-medal shutout in the recent 28th Southeast Asian Games.

Joseph, whose credibility and authority are being questioned by certain swimming stakeholders, said he will assess the swimmers’ SEA Games performance and present his findings to the Philippine Olympic Committee executive council.

The Games victory drought was the third straight for the country since 2011.

Breaking his silence over the issue, Joseph said the results—where Filipino swimmers managed only two silver and 11 bronze medals—should be analyzed based on “many variables.”

“First [you have to consider] the number of athletes, then the number of events, and how many of them are Olympic events,” said Joseph, who is also in charge of other aquatic disciplines such as water polo, synchronized swimming and diving.

Joseph said he is ready to present his case before any congressional inquiry into the poor form of the country’s aquatics athletes.

He admitted that the country fielded in Singapore a young, mostly homegrown team which, “given proper training and more international exposure,” can someday compete in the Asian Games and the Olympics.