Beauty queen Natalie Tarin takes on a different challenge when she competes in the upcoming Ironman event.
(Contributed)
She has got all the qualities of a beauty queen but she has more to offer.
Evangeline Natalie Tarin, the 2003 Ms. Philippines-Earth Air, will test her strength and stamina when she competes in the Cobra Energy Drink Ironman 70.3 Philippines this Sunday starting at Shangri-La’s Mactan Resort and Spa.
The Filipina-French Tarin told Cebu Daily News that she was into sports during her younger years, joined pageants later on then went back to sports, which led her to try the Ironman.
Tarin will be competing in the mixed relay category, where she will be swimming for her team.
“I train three to four times a week sometimes in Makati, sometimes at the Ultra, where I have a coach who corrects my stroke once in a while,” she said.
Tarin was 18 years old when she was crowned Ms. Philippines-Earth Air. She was a former swimmer with the Cebu Blue Marlins then headed by Coach Rolando Alvarez and a medalist in national swimming competitions like the Palarong Pambansa and Philippine National Games way back in 1997 and 1998.
Tarin, now 30 years old, finished high school at Cebu International School, and finished her Bachelor’s degree in Exercise and Sports Science at the University of Notre Dame in Australia. She also gained her Master’s degree in Business Administration at Murdoch University in Perth, Australia.
Tarin said the most glaring difference between her being a beauty queen and an athlete is the diet.
“When I was in pageants and modeling, I just had to be more cautious of my carb and sugar intake. For sports, it’s advisable to have a good amount of carbohydrates and protein to make up for all the energy lost while training. Nutrition is actually more important when doing sports than pageants, as your performance really depends on your intake. If you don’t eat right, you will perform poorly,” she said.
When asked what are her expectations for the upcoming Ironman event, she said “not much since it’s my first Ironman. But I want to get a good time in swimming.”
The only thing constant in her beauty pageant days and sports is the hard work she puts into each. “As my professor in sports science once told me, ‘Practice does not make perfect. But perfect practice makes perfect.’
In everything that I do, either sports, pageants, or work, I apply that.”