Swimmer Sacho Ilustre. PSI PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—Competitive swimming in the Philippines was put to a stop for nearly two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic and that is why the Philippine Swimming National Selection became the perfect avenue for swimmers to get their laps in.
Sacho Ilustre, who won silver in the 2019 Southeast Asian Games for team relay, said the national tryouts served as a way to gauge his own progress as well as other swimmers’, especially major regional competition lined up next year.
“It was very important because the last competition was two years ago, so for me and for the other swimmers this was a very important competition to gauge myself,” said Ilustre. “It dawned on me that I still have to train.”
“If you think about it, it was not just me who was not able to train fully, completely. This competition was important to know where we are as a community for swimming, for training.”
Ilustre participated in four events during the National Selection and placed first in the 100-meter butterfly with a time of 57.13 seconds.
He came in second for both the 50m butterfly, clocking in at a time of 25.70 seconds, and 100m freestyle with a time of 53.59 seconds.
The UAAP Season 82 MVP then settled for a third place finish in the 200m freestyle at 2:02.85.
“I’ve done good, considering the training that I’ve done. According to my coaches I’ve produced good results,” said Ilustre. “For me, it was the best I could do with the training that I did.”
Ilustre also realized that he still has a lot to work on if he plans to get to the podium of the Hanoi SEA Games.
“While swimming, I realized that, okay, I need a few more months. I need to step it up. I need to go beyond so that I will be able to get to my peak, top condition by the time the qualifying for the SEA Games comes.”