More facilities to boost Balayan Aquatics Center

MANILA, Philippines — Expect more regional and national tournaments to be hosted in Batangas with the completion of the Balayan Aquatics Center Phase 2 construction this year.

Batangas 1st District Rep. Eric Buhain said all is set to make Balayan the center of the swimming hub in the Southern Tagalog region. Following the completion of an eight-lane Olympic-size pool last year, a lap and training pool will be constructed as additional facilities.

“Kailangan natin palakasin ang swimming program natin sa grassroots level at hindi natin matutugunan ito kung walang mga high-standard facilities na magagamit ang ating mga batang swimmers, particularly sa ating mga regional areas,” said Buhain, also the Secretary-General of the Philippine Aquatics Inc. (PAI).

Buhain’s wife and former congresswoman Eileen Ermita-Buhain joined the swimming legend, several local officials, and representatives from the Department of Public Works and Highway in the groundbreaking ceremony over the weekend.

The event coincided with the Congressman Eric Buhain Cup, which lured more than 500 kids from invited schools, swimming clubs, and local government units (LGUs) in Manila and the Southern Tagalog region.

The Quezon Killerwhale Swim Team topped the team competition in the event backed by Speedo garnering a total of 634.50 points followed by the University of Perpetual Help University with 535 points. Rounding up the top 5 are Wild Splashers Swim Team (423.50), Aqua Sonic Swimming Team (381.50) and Southpick Blueshark (379).

Meanwhile, PAI Executive Director Anthony Reyes announced that registration for the coach’s seminar on March 24-25 is closed, with 120 PAI-member coaches confirmed to participate in the two-day event with Canadian Olympic coach Derric Schoof as speaker.

The Canadian mentor was the coach of Kayla Sanchez during her time as part of the Canadian swimming team that won an Olympic medal in the relay event. The 24-old Sanchez, now the country’s leading swimmer, was hailed as “Swimmer of the Year” recently by the Canada Aquatics.