Miguel Molina

Swimmer Miguel Molina shattered his three Philippine records in the just concluded Janet Evans International Invitational at the University of Southern California but he needs to improve his times dramatically in the next two months to have a better chance of competing in the final round of the Beijing Olympics.
The 24-year-old Molina, who was voted the Most Valuable Player during the Thailand SEA Games last year, first broke his 200m individual medley record by clocking two minutes and 3.22 seconds.
In doing so, he eclipsed his previous best of 2:03.46 which he set in the Japan Open also last year.
His time, however, was two seconds slower than the effort made by eventual winner American Tamas Kerekjarto. He finished fourth in their group but there were other better performers from other groups.
The quadruple gold medalist also erased his national mark of 1:52.67 in the 200m freestyle when he clocked 1:52.56 in finishing 11th in their qualifying group. He registered his old mark in the 2007 World Championship in Melbourne, Australia.
Still, his feat was 4.15 seconds behind the winning effort of American Dominik Meichtry.
Molina’s clocking of 2:16.62 in the 200m breaststroke was almost two seconds behind the effort of American John Criste but it was enough to sink his old mark of 2:16.88 which he posted in winning one of his two golds during the 2005 Manila SEA Games.
The University of California-Berkeley graduate finished 12th in the 100m butterfly with a time of 52.29sec.
Still, Philippine Amateur Swimming Association (PASA) president Mark Joseph is optimistic Molina could better his time in the Beijing Games.
"He is peaking well in his training for the Olympics," Joseph said in an e-mail message. "The Janet Evans International Invitational is where the world’s best converge."
"Miguel’s times indicate he is improving and that could land him very high in the rankings," he added.