PSL to honor swim greats in awards rites

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Swimming League (PSL) will honor some of the country’s great swimmers including Gertrudes Lozada and Col. Arsenio De Borja for their notable contributions to the sport of swimming.

PSL president Susan Papa said Lozada will be inducted to the Hall of Fame while De Borja will be remembered in a posthumous award when the PSL holds its awarding ceremony in Boracay this summer.

“She (Lozada) was the former Philippine record holder of 100m and 200m butterfly. She was called by Ferdinand Marcos, the Philippine President that time, to teach Imee, Irene and Bongbong Marcos to learn how to swim where Bongbong became a competitive swimmer,” Papa recalled.

Lozada won two silver medals – 400m freestyle and 4x100m freestyle relay with Victoria Cullen, Corazon Lozada and Haydee Coloso-Espino – in the 1958 Asian Games in Tokyo, Japan then pocketed one silver (4x100m freestyle relay with Coloso-Espino, Corazon and Connie Paredes) and one bronze (100m butterfly) in the 1962 Asiad in Jakarta, Indonesia.

De Borja was president of the Philippine Amateur Swimming Association in the late 60s to the 70s and former president of the Philippine Amateur Athletic Federation.