Tuesday, August 05, 2008 Perez eyes diving finals By Marianne Saberon-Abalayan
SHEILA Mae Perez of Davao City will stick to the diving style that earned her a second Olympics stint and hopes to make it to the finals when she competes in the Beijing Games.
Perez said Chinese Coach Zhang Dehu had trained her and fellow Davao diver Rexel Ryan Fabriga on executing difficult dives during training but they decided to drop these styles at the last minute.
"Coach Zhang decided we keep the original dives we executed during the Olympic qualifying in Beijing last January. He made the decision few weeks before we leave for the Games because it's really difficult to change even just one dive and perfect it," said Perez, who will leave Tuesday together with the main bulk of the Filipino athletes for the Beijing Games which fires off August 8 to 25.
Perez said she is set to do five dives -- forward, back, reverse, inward, and twist -- and sees no problem doing her usual routines in Beijing.
"It's even more advantageous on our part to execute our original dives. Of the five styles, my favorites are forward and twist. Others find these two dives difficult but I still love doing them. I even get higher scores when I do the forward and twist," added Perez in the vernacular.
Perez, a 2005 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games gold medalist, will compete in the women's three-meter springboard on August 15 for her second Olympic stint after Sydney 2000 while Fabriga will make his Olympic debut on August 22 in the men's 10-meter platform.
The 22-year-old Davao lass said they never stopped training for the world's premier sports spectacle.
"We train even during our rest day, Sunday. We have never stopped training. When we reach Beijing, we will resume training. We will continue training even after the Olympics," Perez said.
When asked about her chances, she was quick with her reply: "I'm going there to enjoy my dive. I'll just focus on my dives and not think about anything else. I have no worries. I'm okay. My health is good although I feel occasional backaches due to our rigid training. But the backaches are normal for any diver. I don't feel pressure. What I'm thinking right now is just focus, focus, focus."
She said unlike in swimming and athletics, diving is more complex.
"Diving is not like swimming and athletics where you just have to beat a time, a record. For diving, we execute. So we can't be sure how it goes, whether good or bad. We can't also be sure how the judges score our dives. What may be good for us, may be bad for them or vice-versa," Perez said.
Zhang, Perez said, wanted them to make it to the finals by landing among the top 12.
"You've gone so far already. Going through the qualifying was already a feat. Making it in the top 12 is even greater," Perez quoted Zhang as telling her.
But, Perez admitted winning the gold medal is every Filipino athlete's dream considering that the country hasn't won the coveted gold in the history of the Olympics yet.
"As for me, I'll do my best in my dives. That's all I can assure you," she said.
The first batch of RP delegates, to be led by Chef de Mission Monico Puentevella, will board a 7:30 a.m. flight to Beijing Tuesday. The next batch will leave on Wednesday and Friday, with President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
The opening ceremonies of the Olympic games is on Friday.
