Pinoy swimmers promise not to be awed

LONDON--The Philippines’ Jessie Lacuna and Jasmine Alkhaldi don’t see themselves getting reduced to star-struck fans when they swim against the likes of Americans Ryan Lochte and Nathalie Coughlin and Germany’s Britta Steffen in the 30th Olympic Games.

On instructions of former Olympian Pinky Brosas, the two young, first-time Olympians will ‘’swim their pace and make the most out of it’’ when they compete in the heats of their respective events that’s teeming with superstars .

The 18-year-old Lacuna swims in one of the heats in the 200-meter freestyle on Sunday, with competing against Lochte is a possibility and his chances of advancing to the semifinals look terribly bad.

Marestella Torres, ready for action

Marrestela Torres

LONDON—In her own words and in the eyes of a coach,veteran Marestella Torres will do a lot better this time.

‘’Handang handa na po ako,”said Torres, giggling as she bumped into two Team Philippines officials on her way to the training venue just a short ride away from the Olympic Village.

Indeed, she looks good, in top shape and ready to make up for her forgettable showing four years ago in Beijing where she finished only 34th out of 41 long jumpers with a paltry effort of 6.17 meters.

That the Marestella today doesn’t look like the Marestella four years ago didn’t come unnoticed to a Filipino coach from another sport.

‘’Marestella’s more focused now. She’s a great athlete. I’m sure she’s okay than when she was in Beijing. Look at her ,’’ said swimming mentor Pinky Brosas in a tribute to the girl who has been the face of local athletics for some time now.

Archers Javier, Cabral disappoint mentor

LONDON - This was not the round that matters, but the results showed the two Team Philippines archers will most likely go home singing the blues in the 30th Olympic Games.

In a performance that left their Korean coach shaking his head in dissapointment, Mark Javier and Rachelle Cabral fared poorly in the ranking round on Friday and found themselves batttling superior opponents in the head-to-head, round- of- 32 action scheduled on Monday at the Lord’s Cricket ground.

The 31-year-old Cabral, one of three two-time Olympian in the 11-member PH squad, finished 55th in a starting field of 64 and drew rated Brady Ellison of the United States as rival with 649 points in the 70-meter, 72-arrow competitions.

Also a big letdown was Cabral, an Olympic rookie who wound up 48th in the 64-woman cast with a 627 total. She will meet Russian Ksenia Perova, a big gun in the sport who landed ninth with 659 points.

It’s not the end of the world for the two Filipino archers,though. But if their showings in the round held to determine who plays who in the knockout round, their demise will just be a matter of time.

Barriga faces Italian in first round

LONDON—Although light-flyweight Mark Barriga was singing ‘’I’ll Do My Crying In The Rain’’ as he emerged from his room, he remains a picture of one who’s certainly not going to let Team Philippines cry when he climbs the ring next week in the 30th Olympic Games.

In his initial appearance in the biggest sports stage of all, the 19-year-old Barriga will fight Manuel Cappai, a young Italian champion who moves and fights like defending champion and top seed Zou Shiming of China.

But definitely he’s not as good as the Chinese ring wonder in the eyes of the coach Roel Velasco.

‘’Parang si Zou kung maglaro. Suntok, takbo, suntok, takbo . Counter-puncher. Pero hindi kasinggaling ni Zou. Kaya yung Italian,,’’ said coach Roel Velasco after watching Cappai’s most recent bout in the YouTube.