Saturday, April 05, 2008 Busy sked for Davao's Perez By Marianne Saberon-Abalayan
CHAMPION diver Sheila Mae Perez is going to get busy when she returns to Manila after a brief visit in her hometown Davao City recently.
Aside from her rigid training for her Beijing Olympics stint, Perez is set for pictorial and shooting schedules for Accel and Caltex, endorsers of Team Philippines for the coming Olympics. She was due to leave for Manila Friday.
The 22-year-old Perez of Tibungco Relocation Site came home to receive cash incentive from the City Government of Davao along with other 24th Southeast Asian Games medal winners Wednesday at Marco Polo's Eagle's Bar.
She was awarded with a total of P25,000 for her gold and silver medal wins in the SEAG held in Thailand last year.
"I'll have shooting for Accel in Manila being one of their endorsers. I'm also set to shoot for Caltex on April 11 since maybe they're one of the corporate sponsors of Team Philippines in the Olympics)," Perez told reporters in an interview at the Pizza Hut in Gaisano Mall.
Perez, whose first Olympic stint was in Sydney back in 2000, said she also had a three-hour pictorial for Microsoft recently before coming to Davao.
"It was a three-hour pictorial. I had to wear a swimsuit. I had to wear make up and it was itchy. It had allergic reactions on my face and lips. Microsoft is also supporting the RP team to Beijing. I've heard they will give out P1 million for every Olympic medal," Perez said.
Her fellow Davao diver, Rexel Ryan Fabriga, was also part of the Microsoft pictorial.
"I really had fun with the pictorial (smiles) although it was tiring. If they'll make a billboard out of that pictorial, I'm very excited to see it," Perez said.
The top Filipino bet in diving also joked she might even have a career in modeling.
"I might have a future in modeling. Ryan (Fabriga) was very uneasy during the pictorial. He was only donning a swimming trunk then," Perez said.
When asked if she was happy being an athlete, Perez was quick to answer: "Yes. I am happy but I can't deny there are pains that I've been experiencing in my body. It's okay though."
Perez and Fabriga will resume training with Chinese coach Zhang Dehu. Both divers will also compete in Canada and USA in May as part of their Beijing preparations.
