(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 7th 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)
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