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Wanted: Kargadors and Exotic Swimmers

Our Southeast Asian neighbors Thailand and Indonesia have bagged Olympic medals in weightlifting. The Philippines, on the other hand, has fielded bets in archery, athletics, boxing, shooting, swimming and taekwondo and the results have not been very encouraging.

Any athlete from any country can still win big in his or her chosen sport, but I wonder why the Philippines hasn't focused on other relatively cheaper non-contact sports. Weightlifting is an example. Not a lot of equipment requirements there. We can bank on our machismo by getting all those hefty kargadors to sign up for the sport.

Now I have nothing against the standard speed-based swimming competitions, I believe we're still ways away from winning a truckload of medals in those events. Why not synchronized swimming?! All you need is a pool and some water-friendly acrobatic citizens. Heck, the government can sign up those exotic swimmers from that hotel (Sulu Hotel, I believe) that has a show you can watch through a fibreglass window. Remember the movie Sisid?

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