Young Coakley makes debut in 50-m free

BEIJING – Fil-American Daniel Coakley got the surprise of his life when somebody told him he was going to Beijing.

“When I was told I was going to Beijing, I asked, ‘Is that the Olympics?’ I really didn’t expect to qualify,” said Coakley, 19.

Coakley got the news only this year when his time of 22.80 seconds qualified him for the 50-meter freestyle event in the Beijing Olympics.

He makes his Olympic debut today in the second heat of the event where his time will relegate him to the last lane – No. 8 – at 6:30 p.m.

It never dawned upon Coakley that his time was good enough for Beijing, considering that the fastest time before today’s heats is 21.28 seconds by Australian Eamon  Sullivan. This year the top fastest swimmers clocked 21.90 seconds or better.

Although he doesn’t expect to land in the finals, he hopes to take the Olympics as a springboard for future Olympics.

“My goal is to win a gold medal and hopefully I’ll get one before I retire,” he said.

“I have been training in Bolles School (in Jacksonville, Florida) for quite some time but before that I was a one-man team. My training in Bolles improved my technique and strokes and surfing also helped a lot,” said Coakley.

Coakley and Ryan Arabejo, who is competing in the 1,500-meter freestyle Friday, are trained by Bolles School head coach Sergei Lopez and assistant coach Jason Calanog, who see big potentials for their two protégés.

“My role as his coach is to help him understand that he can be in the big league. He’s going to be a fast swimmer, and my job is help him swim at the next level,” said Calanog. “At 21 or 22, they (Coakley and Arabejo), will get their best shots.”

Lopez said he is hopeful Coakley and Ryan will make it in the next four years.

“Daniel has a chance. Ryan can be very good in four years to be at a different level. But we have to be realistic – look at the US, Canada and Germany (whose swimmers have become faster and faster), said Lopez.

The other swimmers to beat today are Amaury Leveaux of France (21.38), Garret Weber-Gale of the US (21.47), Alain Bernard of France (21.50), Ben Wildman-Tobriner of the US (21.65) and Cesar Cielo Filho of Brazil (21.75). – Gerry Carpio