I realized that it doesn’t only take your best to become the best in the world — you also have to give your heart

“Without sacrifice, there can be no victory.”

That is a famous quote that best describes what it really takes to win in sports and life in general.

This past All Saints’ Day, I was reminded about a big sacrifice I made upon visiting the final resting place of my grandfather, Lolo Melanio Reyes.

He was a member of the national men’s volleyball team that participated in the 1934 Far Eastern Games, the tournament that is considered as the precursor of the Asian Games.

While solemnly praying and remembering my Lolo Miling, I noticed that date of his passing — 4 July 1991.

Quickly, I remembered where I was at that time. So I shifted my prayer to apology for not being able to fly back home to pay my last respects to him.

As you can see, I just graduated from La Salle University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that year and I was supposed to work for a wine company, which was set to assign me to Hawaii.

But then, I received a call from the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC), informing me that I qualified for the Barcelona Olympics the following year. To choose between work and another shot at Olympic glory was the first of a series of sacrifices I had to make.

With that, I made a request to the POC, saying that I would let go of this opportunity if they can pull the strings and make me train with some of the finest athletes of the United States (US) swimming team.

So I turned down the offer to work in Hawaii.

The training venue was at the campus of University of Southern California, which was also the venue of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.

I was asked to report on June 1991, giving me a month to pack up my belongings from La Salle while sending some to Manila.

During my graduation, my parents and sisters flew in to surprise me. Then, we went to Disneyworld in Florida.

There, some locals duped us and stole my father’s bag containing their passports, money and travel documents right at the lobby of the hotel when we were about to check in. This was a big blow to us as we were all hoping to have the best time after not seeing each other for over a year.

To make it worse, I also contracted chicken pox and it only manifested when we got back to Philadelphia. My entire body was riddled with these red spots that became sores and eventually dried up. But it left my whole body looking like a war zone — and to think that I had to fly to Los Angeles in two weeks and put on a swimsuit in front of the best US swimmers.

I just kept telling myself that: “eventually, it will all clear up.”

But the American athletes were all troopers. They still trained with me and accepted the fact that it’s no longer contagious.

After two weeks of training in LA, I received the news about the Mt. Pinatubo eruption in mid-June 1991 and millions of Filipinos were severely affected.

I was thinking of helping, but how could I do it if am in the US? So I told myself that maybe I can donate some of my incentives if I win in the SEA Games later that year.

I was sad, but I had to make the sacrifice for my countrymen with the hope that I may be able to bring them joy when I offer to them my medal after everything they have been through.

And then I received a call about the passing of my grandfather, whom I idolized and loved so much, so I asked my parents if I could come home and pay my last respects.

The discussion over the phone was long and filled with tears, but eventually the decision was made to stay put in LA and say my prayers for Lolo Miling from where I was staying.

All my thoughts for days were for my Lolo. I would call my parents’ house daily to ask who was there and who visited just to get through the day with all the sadness.

All I could think of was that I have to make my Lolo proud, but I also felt so sorry for not being there for him.

It was a very painful sacrifice to make.

The sadness I felt for my Lolo Miling and those affected by the eruption became a driving force for me to do my best in training.

The physical pain was unbearable when you train with the best athletes in the world.

But the sacrifice I had to make masked all the pain. I thought that I was already training hard, but it’s not enough to become the best athlete in the world.

I realized that it doesn’t only take your best to become the best in the world — you also have to give your heart.

As I promised my Lolo and the Filipino people, I came home six months later for the 1991 SEA Games in December and — with all my heart — I won six gold medals for them.