Kim Mangrobang (from left at podium), Raven Faith Alcoseba, Andrew Kim Remolino, and Fernando Casares show the medals they won at the SEA Games triathlon. They’re joined by Triathlon Association of the Philippines (TRAP) officials and coaches and POC Chief Abraham Bambol Tolentino (second from left). | Photo from Tolentino’s Facebook Page
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Talisay City’s pride Andrew Kim Remolino and Raven Faith Alcoseba shone in the triathlon event of the 31st Southeast Asian Games by bagging the silver and bronze medals respectively on Saturday in Quang Ninh Province, Vietnam.
The 22-year-old Remolino duplicated his silver medal finish in the 2019 SEA Games held at the Subic Freeport Zone in Zambales by clocking in 1 hour, 59 minutes and 16 seconds.
Fernando Casares also of the Philippine Team topped the men’s division at 1:56.57 after the grueling 1.5-kilometer swim, 40km bike, and 10km run.
Indonesia’s Ronald Bintang Setiawan bagged the bronze medal in the men’s division at 2:01.45 while another Indonesian Aloysius Mardian grabbed the fourth spot closely at 2:02.59.
In the distaff side, 18-year-old Alcoseba showed a glimpse of what she’s capable of after earning the bronze medal by finishing the race at 2:18:30 behind three-peat champion Marion Kim Mangrobang.
Mangrobang finished the race at 2:13.31 while Indonesian Inge Prasetyo trailed her at second place at 2:16.38 to earn the silver medal.
Alcoseba, a former varsity swimmer of Dela Salle University who turned into a triathlete showed a lot of promise in her first SEA Games stint.
Probably the proudest person right now for Remolino and Alcoseba’s medal-clinching performances is no other than their head coach Roland Remolino.
Remolino, who is the father of Andrew Kim, told CDN Digital that he was extremely proud of his two prized wards, despite becoming wary of the Indonesian triathletes whom he believed were already catching up with the Filipino triathletes.
“Sa tinuod lang, nagstruggle sad silang Kim ug Raven against Indonesian triathletes nga nagkakusog na pud og maayo. Naa pud mga triathletes sa Singapore ug Thailand nga murag hinay-hinay na nga nakacatch-up nato. Pero grabe kaayo ko ka proud, happy nilang duha,” said Remolino who flew to Vietnam to be with his prized wards.
(In truth, Kim and Raven struggled against the Indonesian triathletes, who have grown stronger. There are triathletes from Singapore and Thailand, who are slowly catching up with us. But I am so proud and happy with them.)
Andrew Kim and Alcoseba are also members of the Talisay Luigi Triathlon Group (TLTG)-Go For Gold in Talisay City, Cebu.
According to Remolino, the Indonesian triathletes almost caught up with Alcoseba during the bike race, however, the latter managed to maintain her pace until reaching the finish line.
“Akong assessment nila, naa sa 90 percent ang kanindot sa performance ni Kim ug 88 percent para kang Raven. Di jud nato matag-an ang ilang performance kung makaya ba nila makab-ot ang 100 percent kay tungod na pud sa mga competitors nga kusgan na kaayo. Pero lipay gihapon kaayo ko kay nakab-ot namo among target nga amo jud gihagu-an og training og pila ka buwan,” said Remolino.
(My assessment on their performance, Kim is 90 percent with the great performance he showed and Rama is 88 percent. We cannot know if they can reach 100 percent because the competitors have really grown stronger. But I am happy that we achieved our target, which we really worked hard for in training for how many months.)
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