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They are among the future of Philippine swimming. Sixteen-year-old Jessie ‘Khing’ Lacuna, Banjo Borja (17), Jose Joaquin Gonzalez (16), and Jasmine Alkhaldi (16), are sweating it out this summer in the pools of the New South Wales Institute of Sport.With coach Carlos ‘Pinky’ Brosas, the four tankers are undergoing Australian-style training under the watchful guidance of noted coach Jim Fowlie, the same master who steered the careers of Australia’s swimming greats like Ian Thorpe. The promise looks bright for the young Pinoys. Competing as one of guest teams at the NSW-wide young swimmers competition, Khing battled against tough Aussie counterparts and emerged from the waters with three medals – a gold in the 200 freestyle (16 years), silver in 100 butterfly, and bronze in 100 freestyle.The four are in a special training program at the NSWIS under the auspices of the International Olympic Committee, the Philippine Amateur Swimmers Association (PASA) and the Philippine Olympic Committee.Coach Brosas said it is time that the Pinoy swimmers learn from the rich experiences that Australia, respected internationally for its impressive swimming program, has to share. This is the first time that Pinoy swimmers go through intensive training in Australia.The swimmers arrived here on New Year’s Day and, without yet the time to enjoy the sights of Sydney, started their training at the pool.Total strangers here in Australia, saved by the generosity of their Pinoy host in Blacktown, the teenagers will be away from their families for three months. They hope to be in top shape for the Youth Olympics Games in August.“They are doing very well and there’s a lot of promise as shown by Jessie,” Fowlie told newsPinoy.In a message to newsPinoy, Mark Joseph, PASA president, said they place high hopes on the swimmers. He said PASA was very delighted with Khing’s feat which showed the potentials of the young swimmers.Brosas said that Khing’s impressive finish at the state competitions was a boost to the team’s morale.

Australia's first dedicated Filipino cultural arts display , library, and meeting place will open-soon at the Philippine Centre on Wentworth Avenue in the city of Sydney.In an interview with radio reporter Michelle Baltazar last Friday, vice Consul Tony Reyes of the Philippine Consulate Tony Reyes of the Philippine Consulate General in Sydney told the Radio program that a Filipiniana Resource Centre will open to the public in 2010.The resource centre will comprise an extensive book collection on Philippine culture and arts, including the works of the Philippines' national hero Dr Jose Rizal."There will be a media room, where Filipino films may be shown on a regular basis," Reyes said. "The centre will also provide a meeting room for Filipino community organizations in Sydney to use."The resource centre hopes to attract students, many of whom study at universities and schools in and around the area. Although many book collections have been available in the NSW state and local government libraries, Filipino-Australian community leaders have been calling for a fully dedicated library on Filipiniana.In a serious effort to establish one in 1988, a group moved to form a Filipiniana Library and Centre in Sydney's inner-west. Lack of funding and accommodation proved next to impossible for the project to materialise. Again early this year, the Filipino Press Group of Sydney kicked off a campaign to establish a Rizal Library in a corner of a small room at the Corregidor Entertainment Centre in Rooty Hill in Sydney's west.The project has been hampered by inaccessibility of the library to the public, especially during weekdays when people would normally want to use it. Some members of the community welcome this new Filipiniana Resource Centre."But we have to see how accessible it will be to the public," one source said. "One must remember that many people who may need to use the library, especially working people, will want to come to the library after hours."

by Jaime K Pimentel,Sydney, NSW

Pinoy swimmers in Sydney waters

Resource centre for Pinoys

Featured publication: newsPinoy February 2010

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