Pinoy junior tankers compete in Singapore meet

A crack roster of junior tankers from the Philippine Swimming League vies against the best in the region in the Singapore Invitational Swimming Championship, which gets under way tomorrow at the Singapore Island Country Club in Singapore.

The Philippine contingent is eyeing at least 30 gold medals in various divisions of the four-day event with PSL president Susan Papa pinning her hopes on veteran campaigners Sean Terence Zamora, Kyla Soguilon, Martin Jacob Pupos, Micaela Jasmine Mojdeh and Marc Bryan Dula.

“We are aiming to win at least 30 gold medals. These kids are all set to dominate their respective age groups. They trained hard for this and we are looking forward to another fruitful campaign this year,” said Papa.

Indian Ocean All Star Challenge veterans Stephen Guzman, Paul Christian King Cusing and Aalia Jaire Espejo along with Hong Kong Stingrays Championship gold medalist Charize Esmero, Jason Mirabueno, Ian Ferdinand Trinidad and Rio Lorenzo Malapitan are also potential medal producers.

“This is  the second stage of the PSL grassroots development program. After the local competitions, we send them to compete in various tournaments abroad to at least level up with the international standards,” said Papa.

Others taking part in the annual Singapore swimfest are China, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Great Britain and the Netherlands.

Last year, the PSL captured the overall title with a 69-gold, 55-silver and 37-bronze haul.

The PSL is a national sports swimming association for Universities and Colleges accredited by the Federation of School Sports Association of the Philippines (Fessap), internationally affiliated member of Federation of International Sports University (FISU).

“We train these young swimmers for future international competitions such as the World University Games in 2017 in Taiwan and the 2019 edition in Brazil,” said Papa.