TAGUM CITY, Davao del Norte -- Matthieu Tao, three years ago, could not make even just one lap at a pool as he was too fat and heavy but since he went serious about losing weight through swimming, he accomplished more than a lean frame.
He just crowned himself triple gold medalist in the Batang Pinoy 2016 National Championships swimming competition at the Davao del Norte Sports Complex as of Tuesday, November 29.
Matthieu, 12, recalls how he was inspired by his two cousins in Manila who were into swimming. "Nag swim ako kasi ayaw ko nang maging taba (I swam because I don't want to remain fat). As I kept swimming, then I got thinner, nag-excel ako and kept winning na. I made it my career na."
The youngest among two children of Wilson, a businessman, and Cherry Ann, an assistant vice president of SM Supermarket, pocketed the boys 12 and under 4X50 freestyle relay gold medal with his Davao City teammates Khrystian Tan, Tyko Gasparil, and Ivon Nicoli Enot Tuesday morning.
This came on the heels of Tao's two golds and two silvers won Monday. The Stella Maris Academy of Davao (Smad) sixth grader clinched the boys 12U 200-meter freestyle gold Monday evening by clocking two minutes and 19.84 seconds. He outswam Alteddy Sumaoy (2:21.50) of Davao del Norte and Jake Evangelista (2:21.62) of Batangas City who got the silver and bronze, respectively. He bagged his first gold in 100m freestyle and took two silvers in 200m backstroke and 100m backstroke events.
He, however, said he did not expect to win gold although he added that his hard work, training, and discipline paved the way for him to pull off surprises here.
He trains at the Holiday Gym and Spa for 90 minutes daily after his classes but trains mornings and afternoons every Saturday.
Tao was set to swim in his last event, 50m freestyle, as of this writing.
He hopes to win another gold and break his own record.
"I hope to win another gold and finish in 27 seconds. My personal best was 28 seconds for 50m freestyle," he said.
Unhappy with performance
Despite winning his three golds and two silvers, Tao said he was not happy with his performance in his second Batang Pinoy stint.
"My performance is not really good. Tumaas time ko. 'Yun ang goal namin ni coach okay lang di mag medal basta break the time. I'm not really happy sa gold kasi ang time tumaas," he shared to SunStar Davao, saying that having to swim four events in one day took a toll on him and affected his performance.
This was also the sentiment of his coach, Haroon Cali who said, "How can he improve his record if the body is tired having to wake up early and stay late at night, swimming four events in one day is too much for any young swimmer."
Tao, who accounted for a relay gold in th 2015 Batang Pinoy, said the water was cold in the evening when he swam the 200m freestyle.
He said there were too many swimmers, around a thousand, and compressing the tournament to just two days was really difficult for those who had to swim many events in one day.
Supporting cast
Davao City's swimming team also won four silvers and one bronze as of Monday evening.
Fritz Jun Rodriguez finished in close second behind gold medalist Rian Marco Tirol of Tagbilaran City. The latter timed 31.86 seconds while Rodriguez clocked 31.73 in boys 13-17 50-meter breastroke.
John Martin Yarra also snatched a silver for the city in boys 13-17 200m butterfly while the boys 13-17 200m 4X50 medley relay team and girls 12-under 200m 4X50 medley relay team also pocketed silvers.
The boys 13-17 200m 4X50 medley relay team was bannered by Dave Jones Andebor, Josiah Paul Lozano, Alhaber Saimodin and Yarra while the girls 12u 200m 4X50 medley relay team was composed of Juliana Villanueva, Lora Micah, Alissa Lazarraga, and Joanna Gonzalez.