AGE: 18 years old
SPORT: Men’s 1,500m freestyle
OLYMPIC EXPERIENCE: 1st-time Olympian
MEDALS: Three-gold winner, 2007 Southeast Asian Games Most outstanding athlete, 2005 Philippine National Games
ONE of the challenges that a teenage athlete faces is balancing his time between training and studying.
ONE of the challenges that a teenage athlete faces is balancing his time between training and studying.
Ryan Arabejo, a scholar athlete in a university in Florida, knows he needs to adjust to that situation, especially if one is dependent of the other.
“I’d be the first to admit that it’s difficult. But I know it’s something you have to do to succeed,” said Arabejo, one of the five members of the RP swim team that is a mixture of veterans and first-time Olympians.
Despite debuting in the Games, Arabejo isn’t new to top-level competition
As a 15-year-old in 2005, Arabejo dominated the Palarong Pambansa, winning six gold medals and emerging as the national youth games most outstanding athlete.
Later in the same year, he entered the national consciousness by taking the bronze in the 1,500-m freestyle in the 2005 Southeast Asian Games.
In 2006, Arabejo continued his rise to elite status after being called on to join the Asian Games. He competed in the 100m backstroke and the 400m freestyle and he was part of the 4x200 freestyle-relay team that entered the finals.
He returned to the SEA Games in December 2007, emerging as the champion the 200m backstroke, 400m medley relay and 1,500m freestyle and taking the bronze in the 400m freestyle.
Arabejo got a ticket to Beijing after clocking 15 minutes and 39.86 seconds in the 1,500m-free event in the 2007 International Swimming Federation world championships in Melbourne, a time that was way within the Olympic qualifying standard and way faster than the previous record set by Olympic teammate Miguel Molina (15:47.36).
In the Janet Evans Invitational held in July 2007, Arabejo re-established a second Philippine record after timing three minutes and 58.51 seconds in the 400m freestyle.
In Beijing, Arabejo will be rubbing elbows with the greats in the game like Australian Grant Hackett and American Larsen Jensen.
Not a bad way for events to unfold for a youngster who only wanted to cure an illness the first time he dipped his toes into pool.
“No one really knew that I would take the sport seriously,” Arabejo said. “My mother just wanted me to swim to prevent my severe asthma as the doctors advised. And seeing that I enjoyed the sport, she decided to let me and my sister play competitively,” he added.
Sergio Lopez, a former Olympic swimming champion, validated Arabejo’s high skill level.
“He could have a breakout year this year,” Arabejo’s coach said in the swim group’s media presentation prior to their Beijing flight.
“This year has the fastest swimmers in the history of the Olympics,” Mark Joseph, the Philippine Amateur Swimming Association president, said.
“All I am hoping for is for them to go out there and have fun. We’re not really after the medals. We’re after the valuable experience which they would gain.”
Arabejo couldn’t agree more.
“What we are targeting is for all of us to have a solid time in Beijing. I am pretty optimistic that I would have a good swim.”
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