Fisherman’s son from Danao makes waves in nat’l triathlon

Beboy Dolen poses with his bike during training. | contributed photo

CEBU CITY, Philippines — A fisherman’s son from Danao City, north Cebu could be the country’s next triathlon phenom after unlocking his huge potential during the National Age Group Triathlon (NAGT) in Subic, Zambales last February 13.

Beboy Dolen, 15, of the Talisay Luigi Triathlon Group-Go For Gold flaunted his immense potential when he dominated the sprint men’s 16-19 years old category.

What’s more remarkable is that Dolen only trained for 10 days prior to the race said his coach, Roland Remolino.

Remolino told CDN Digital to keep an eye on this young lad who he believes has what it takes to make it to the national team in the near future.

Remolino, the father of 2019 Southeast Asian Games (SEAG) silver medalist Andrew Kim said that he discovered Dolen during his coaching stint in Danao City.

He said it was a last-minute decision for him to sign-up Dolen for the NAGT last month. A decision, that he was very glad to make.

“I was surprised that he won the race, but I already expected him to compete toe-to-toe against other triathletes in his age group. I called him to come here to Talisay City because I signed him up for NAGT. So, after he arrived, we trained immediately and it was ten days before the race,” said Remolino who is known to discover young triathletes who are ‘diamonds in the rough’.

One of the best triathletes Remolino has trained so far is 18-year old Cebuana, Raven Faith Alcoseba who shocked the women’s standard elite category of the NAGT after also emerging as champion in the category on her first try.

“He has a huge potential because he’s a strong swimmer and he’s also good in running and biking. Also, he is greatly motivated considering that he comes from an impoverished family. His father is a fisherman in Danao City. There are times that his father helps other fishing boats in exchange for a portion of their catch,” said Remolino.

With Dolen’s victory in NAGT’s age group category, Remolino strongly believes that his young ward will make it to the national team in the near future.

For Dolen, he didn’t expect to win in the NAGT given the late notice he received from Remolino.

“I didn’t expect to win in that race because I only trained for ten days. I am very happy with what I’ve achieved. There were 16 of us that competed in the race and I never expected to win that day. There are times that I just laugh and think of what I did because it was unbelievable,” said Dolen who is a swimmer since the age of nine.

“It was coach’s (Remolino) decision to sign me up to NAGT because he has seen a potential in me. My father also saw my potential but I didn’t make it a big deal at first.”

Beboy Dolen on top of the podium during the awarding ceremony of the NAGT last Feb. 13. | contributed photo

Dolen finished the race in one hour 12 minutes and 34 seconds among 20 triathletes in the category. He finished the swim leg in 11:47, the bike leg in 39:08, and the run leg in 20:07.

He bested Lawrence Uy who claimed second place in 1:12.56 and third placer Jose Maria Tayag (1:13.02).

Before NAGT, Dolen’s last triathlon race was back when he was 10 years old, during the Alaska Ironkids in Lapu-Lapu City.

“I’m very thankful to the whole team, especially to those who supported me, my family, Taj Sampan, my neighbors, my team, TLTG-Go For Gold, coach Joana, and coach Andoy. Thank you so much for everything and the support. I’ll do my best to work harder and become better in the next races,” said Dolen.

Dolen is currently staying in the house of one of Remolino’s triathletes in Talisay City to enable him to continue training. They are planning to join more races sanctioned by the Triathlon Association of the Philippines (TRAP) to qualify for the national team.    /rcg

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