Daily Tribune
ANGEL Otom is favored to give glory to the country when she competes in the swimming competition of the 13th ASEAN Para Games in Thailand from 20 to 26 January.
Photograph courtesy of PSC
Prized swimmers Gary Bejino and Angel Otom will be at the helm when the 14-man national delegation for the 13th ASEAN Para Games in Thailand from 20 to 26 January.
National team head coach Tony Ong said his swimmers only took short breaks during the holidays as they look to improve from their 10-9-7 gold-silver-bronze medal tally in the previous ASEAN Para Games in Cambodia in 2023.
Joining Otom and Bejino are Kent Ivan Marcos, Princess Garcia, RJ Algarvez. Roland Sabifo, Arnel Aba. Bea Roble, Marco Tinamisan, Claire Calizo and Adrian Azul.
Ong said the 22-year-old Otom is in great form after gaining a lot of experiences in her previous competitions that saw her winning a total of seven gold medals in the ASEAN Para Games and a bronze medal in the Asian Youth Para Games in Bahrain in 2021.
“She’s positive and has self-control. I told her she needs to mature. Maturity comes from learning from previous mistakes,” Ong said, expressing high hopes on Otom, who is taking up Sports Science at University of the Philippines in Diliman.
“You need to go through that to become strong. Angel is a very talented child, and we need to guide her.”
Ong said they are aiming for at least five to six gold medals in the biennial meet.
“What I said is that Para Swimming can do five to six gold medals. Some events might be cut or merged with another class,” Ong added.
“Of course, since you are the host, you want to have an advantage. You put up some events that are not run by certain classes. For example, the 400 IM in certain classifications, which is always in World Para Swimming events.”
Ong knows that the battle will not be easy so he and other coaches will meet and discuss their course of action to make sure that the country will have its most memorable performance in the prestigious regional event for differently-able athletes.
“There will be a coaches’ or team leaders’ meeting. That’s when we’ll know which events will be joined, cut, or merged. After that meeting, we’ll know how many swimming events there will be,” Ong said. Ivan Suing
