PGIN begins search for ‘next Teofilo Yldefonso’

(PGIN photo)

Laoag City—With an eye out for discovering and developing the next Teofilo Yldefonso, the Provincial Government of Ilocos Norte (PGIN) plans to enter into a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the De La Salle Santiago Zobel School in Muntinlupa City to open a new swimming school at the Ferdinand E. Marcos Memorial Stadium here.

The MOA is primarily the PGIN’s bid to improve athletic development in the province.

Mr. Yldefonso was the first Filipino and Southeast Asian to win an Olympic medal. He was born in Piddig, Ilocos Norte, in 1903, and went on to win two bronze medals at the 1928 and 1932 Olympic Games.

He introduced the modern breaststroke and garnered a total of 144 medals from 1921-1937. He died in 1942, during World War II.

The MOA will facilitate a partnership between the PGIN, represented by Ilocos Norte Governor Ma. Imelda Josefa “Imee” R. Marcos, and the DLSZ administration.

DLSZ offers summer sports and arts programs, with swimming being only one among 14 areas of expertise.

According to Ilocos Norte Vice Governor Eugenio Angelo M. Barba, athletes from the De La Salle Swimming School will personally train Ilocano athletes, which is ideal as Lasallian swimmers have already been representing the country internationally, even winning six medals in the 7^th ASEAN school games held in Brunei, Darussalam, last November 2015.

Mr. Barba is hoping for the opening of the swimming school at the soonest possible time, adding, “This is a good development for the Ilocos Norte athletes.”

Through government-backed development of the athletes, Mr. Barba looks forward to a rise of the “next Teofilo Yldefonso, the “Ilocano Shark. (Zhermaine B. Bacud)