CEBUANO triathlete Andrew Kim Remolino will get to stay in his hometown for the duration of his training for the 30th Southeast Asian (Sea) Games, which is set on Nov. 30 to Dec. 11, 2019.
The 19-year-old Talisay City standout will wear the country’s color in the SEA Games after the Triathlon Association of the Philippines (Trap), the national governing body for triathlon, named him as one of the national athletes in the men’s individual triathlon.
John Chicano, who won a silver medal in the 2017 SEA Games, got the other slot for the men’s individual race.
Remolino is excited for his first call of duty to represent the country in the biennial meet. He got the nod to represent the country after showing impressive results in the series of SEA Games qualifying races.
He emerged as the top Filipino triathlete in the Subic Bay International Triathlon 2019 last April and the 2019 Gyeongju ASTC Asian Triathlon Championships in South Korea two months ago.
The triathlon event has been dominated by the Philippines in the past years with Nikko Huelgas winning back-to-back gold medals in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. But Huelgas won’t get the chance to hunt for that third straight gold medal after failing to make the cut.
Huelgas, though, is shortlisted in the three-player mixed relay team. Trap president Tom Carrasco said the decision on the final entry of mixed relay is done one day before the event.
“He’s now about 80 percent ready based on our target time and performance,” said national team coach Roland Remolino of his son, Andrew Kim, a day after Trap announced the official Sea Games entries.
Andrew Kim won’t be going anywhere to train. He prefers to be in his hometown to finish the duration of his training program.
“Our preparation is really hard for this event. But we’re still staying in Cebu because we believe in our program and the training we do here,” said the older Remolino in Cebuano.
He said the national teams for triathlon and duathlon will be flying to Johor Bahru, Malaysia to train, but they opt to just stay in Cebu.
“I just want him to train here because he’s comfortable here,” he said.
Meanwhile, defending champion Kim Mangrobang and Kim Kilgroe will represent the country in the women’s individual race. The 2015 gold medalist Claire Adorna is shortlisted in the mixed relay.
On the other hand, Boholano and former Cebu-based Doy Comendador got one of the two slots in the men’s individual duathlon. He will race with Jarwyn Banatao. (RSC)