Ryan Fabriga Profile

AGE: 22 years old

SPORT: Diving, 10m platform

OLYMPIC EXPERIENCE: First-time Olympian

MEDALS: Two-gold winner, SEA Games 2003 One-gold winner, SEA Games 2005 and ‘07

THE only reason why Ryan Rexel Fabriga decided to leave his family in the province was he figured getting a career in the Big City would help to alleviate their condition.

Nearly 10 years since coming to Manila from Zamboanga province where he was born, Fabriga has achieved more than his initial objective by becoming one of the most prolific divers in RP sports history.

“I was just a kid swimming with my friends along the shores when a coach came to our place,” Fabriga recalled. “He called on some of us and he asked us to watch a tape about diving and we gave it a try.”

One of the countrywide “discoveries”, Fabriga went on to polish his skills at the Trace Aquatics Center, the Philippine Amateur Swimming Association’s (PASA) top-of-the-line infrastructure in Laguna province.

As part of arguably the most prolific batch of divers in RP sports history, Fabriga joined such names like Sheila Mae Perez and the Domenios siblings who has gone on to win top competitions abroad.

Fabriga’s time to shine came in 2003 when he won two gold medals (in the 10-meter platform single and synchronized) in the Vietnam Southeast Asian Games.

In 2005, Fabriga was part of the duo that won the 10m synchronized platform event, a victory that was one of handful in diving that essentially thrust the sport into the national limelight in the Manila SEA Games.

In the 2007 SEA Games, Fabriga returned to the 10m synchronized platform and defended successfully the championship in Thailand.

In the Asian Games in 2002 in Korea, Fabriga ranked fourth in the 10m individual platform and fifth in the 10m synchronized platform. Four years later in the Doha Asiad, Fabriga finished sixth in the individual and fourth in the synchronized events.

In the World Cup backed by the International Aquatics Federation held last February in China, Fabriga finished fourth in the 10m platform to snatch an Olympic berth. After qualifying, Fabriga has trained extensively in the PASA facilities in Laguna and abroad in Guangzhou, China.

Fabriga’s been in and around Asia since he began his career in diving. He won’t be too far away when he competes in Beijing but the kind of competition Fabriga will face is eons away from what he’s been used to.

“I was really so surprised to get the Olympic berth,” he said. “It was already the last day of the competition but I still managed to win an Olympic slot.”

“I had a very disappointing performance in the first day, only to finish fourth overall in the final day. It was a special day for me,” Fabriga, the eldest in a brood of five, added.

Asked to describe his prized ward, Mark Joseph said Fabriga’s personality is a contrast to the other Filipino Olympic diver Sheila Mae Perez.

“Ryan tends to be quiet, almost with a kind of rebellious attitude,” the PASA president said. “That’s why diving with all its intricacies, gives Ryan a sense structure. When he’s given a chance to perform, he doesn’t quit.”

“My goal is for Ryan and Sheila to enter the finals at the Olympics,” China-born RP coach Zhang Deju said in a Reuters report. “That is my hope. It is a very daring plan as the Philippines is a small country and it was not very long ago that it started in diving sports.”

Fabriga is all good for Zhang’s plans.“I just want to be in the top 12,” he said. “If that happens, then it will be safe for me to think about the Olympic medal.”