Cebuano triathlete Andrew Kim Remolino. | PSC Photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines—For Cebuano triathlete Andrew Kim Remolino of the Talisay Luigi Triathlon Group (TLTG)- Go For Gold, his silver medal finish in the 31st Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games) in Hanoi, Vietnam is ‘very special.’
The 22-year-old triathlete from Talisay City Cebu, duplicated his 2019 SEA Games debut in Manila with another silver medal by finishing second in men’s triathlon with a time of 1 hour, 59 minutes and 16 seconds.
Teammate Fernando Casares bagged the gold medal.
The SEA Games triathlon event featured a 1.5-kilometer swim, 40km bike, and 10km run.
So why does Remolino cherish his silver finish?
“It’s very special I guess because this only shows that even with all these challenges, we were still able to produce a very satisfying achievement,” said Remolino, who also placed second to Pinoy bet Nikko Huelgas in 2019.
“It was pretty overwhelming because even though I got the same medal the way that I got it the first time in 2019, it was really a different experience. It’s like a new experience and a very satisfying one for me,” he added.
Remolino was the only one from the 2019 batch who competed this year.
His father, Roland Remolino, in an earlier interview with CDN Digital, recounts the challenges and ordeals they hurdled leading into SEA Games.
The older Remolino said that the Covid-19 pandemic, Typhoon Odette, and the postponement of the SEA Games affected their preparation.
Before the SEA Games, Remolino and his triathletes had to be resourceful in formulating training programs to adjust with the health and safety protocols brought by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Then the SEA Games was postponed from December 2021 to May this year, which also affected their training.
Things became more difficult for Remolino and his triathletes when Typhoon Odette ravaged the Visayas and Mindanao regions before the year ended.
“It was really fun and hard because there were a lot of unexpected happenings and unexpectedly strong athletes, especially the one from Vietnam who was a really strong swimmer where he left us during the swim. He was two minutes ahead of us, but luckily me and Fer (Casares) were able to help each other and caught up with him,” Kim said.
With regards to his performance, Remolino stated that he needs to conserve energy and he is planning to do more race simulation to further improve his time in his future races.
Remolino added that he was supposed to start training right for the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, after the SEA Games but the former was postponed due to the Covid-19 surge there.
He revealed that despite the Asian Games’ postponement, he will join other local and international races in the coming months.
/bmjo
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Triathlete Remolino looks back at challenges on his way to Vietnam SEAG