Torn apart by lockdown: Aunzo struggles to keep in step with gold-medal–and real-life–partner

To perfect sweeping moves, Wilbert Aunzo and Pearl Marie Cañeda need wide spaces to practice, something the lockdown has deprived them of.

If last year’s Southeast Asian Games proved anything to real-life couple Wilbert Aunzo and Pearl Marie Cañeda, it is that they can weather a long partnership layoff and still come up successful. The new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, however, is proving quite the challenge.

When a restrictive quarantine that hopes to curb the health crisis locked people up in their homes, the dancesports champions, who are in a long-term relationship, were caught in separate towns in Cebu. Aunzo, 27, is with his family in Cebu City, while Cañeda is some 13 kilometers away in Talisay City.

“It’s hard to get motivated because you are far away from your partner and you can’t work out and practice together,” Aunzo told the Inquirer.

Early in 2019, Aunzo suffered an ACL injury while preparing for the SEA Games, leaving Cañeda to work out on her own. But at least, “we were together,” Aunzo said. He soon recovered from the injury, caught up with Cañeda in training before they eventually swept all three golds up for grabs in Latin category.

“It’s a lot easier when she is there because we encourage one another,” he added.

Aunzo confided that he even gained weight despite working out at home. “We lack the ability to train due to lack of space and also because we are apart.”

The couple usually practices in wide spaces outdoors, the better to perfect those sweeping moves and turns that clicked with the SEA Games judges as the country won 10 of 14 total gold medals.

Right now, he and the 23-year-old Cañeda communicate through video calls.

“Pearl maintained her weight,” he said.

The partners were products of Cebu City’s grassroots program in dancesports that began more than 10 years ago.

And they have made it a point to push it forward by teaching street kids the basics of dancesports. “We have made it our advocacy, we try to impart to them what we learned especially after competing abroad,” he said.

Aunzo admitted that the long layoff is also eating into his savings from the cash incentive they received from the government.

“But I’m very confident we can survive this. I survived an injury. This is just a long wait [until pandemic is over],” Aunzo said.