Monday, August 11, 2008 RP swimmer eyes new personal best
JB Walsh will see action starting today in the swimming competition of the 29th Olympic Games at the state-of-the art Water Cube in Beijing, China.
The 21-year-old Walsh is one of the five-man RP swimming team, who will compete in one of the six heats of the men’s 200m butterfly.
But his personal best of 2 minutes and 00.42 seconds stands no chance against heavyweights that include Michael Phelps of the US, whose best is 1:54.
“A very tough field. I think he (Walsh) will go below two minutes,’’ said swimming president Mark Joseph. “If he breaks the two-minute barrier, he’ll be bringing the Southeast Asian Games to a higher level.’’
“Jesus Christ. Wow,’’Joseph blurted once he saw the second page of a 2-page schedule where Michael Phelps’ time of 1:54 is printed, the fastest time among the personal bests of the 47 starters in the field.
44 swimmers
A total of 44 swimmers are vying for the 16 slots in the semifinals.
Walsh, who is on his second Olympics, will swim in lane 5 along with Javier Nunez of Spain, Donny Utomo of Indonesia, Vladan Markovic of Servia, Yu Jeongnam of Korea, Jose Gonzales of Argentina and Alexis Rivas Marquez of Venezuela in the second heat at 7:30 p.m.
Although all eight in the second heat have recorded similar personal bests of more than two minutes, but most them will just be watching from the sidelines as soon as their turn is over.
The best swimmers in the event are locked in the fourth, fifth and sixth heats with Phelps, who is the current world record holder and is heavily-favored with his best of 1:52.09.
Veteran’s turn
Walsh, a graduate of University of Florida, achieved his personal best during the 2007 US Senior international tournament in Indianapolis under coaches Anthony Nesty, Tim Hill and Gregg Troy.
After today’s action, it will be veteran Miguel Molina who will try his luck in the 200-meter breastroke, an event he won the gold in the 2007 Southeast Asian Games in Rachasima, Thailand.
Molina, 2007 SEA Games’ best athlete with four golds, will compete in the second of four heats together with Wang Wei-wen of Taipei, Jakob Johann Sveinsson of Slovenia, Carlos Almeida of Portugal, Sin Sujong ofg Korea, Martti Aljand of Estonia, Valentin Preda of Romania and Luarent Carnol of Luxemberg.
Other members of the RP swimming team are Daniel Coackley (50-m freestyle, 9th heat, August 14), Ryan Arabejo (1500 meters, 1st heat, August 15) and Christel Simms (50-m freestyle, 6th heat, August 15). (FCC)
