Close to 500 athletes have signed up for the fifth staging of the Pasiklaban Swim Meet, which organizers said is fast shaping up to be the biggest local swimming event of the year.

Scheduled July 26 to 27 at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex, organizers said they are awaiting the official entries of many more participants until Thursday, July 24.

Sponsored by Globe Telecom, First Gentleman Foundation, Standard Chartered Bank and Manila North Rail Transport, the meet is also being supported by Nokia, McDonald�s Charities, Milo, Gonuts Donuts, Hapee Toothpaste, Nivea, Nissin Monde, Havaianas, Magnolia Fruit Drink and Magnolia Purewater.

by Steve Tarpinian, Triathlete magazine

Your weakness is your strength! Cliche? Yes, but like many cliches, this maxim contains an element of truth, since every imperfection presents an opportunity for improvement. And when it comes to swimming, ironing out wrinkles in your stroke can yield huge dividends in terms of improved efficiency and lowered splits.

CONGRATULATIONS to the tough swimmers of Mabalacat Swimming Team! Their exceptional performance yesterday made the team the Overall Champion of the E. Abella Swimming Competition 2008 held at Villa Angela, Angeles City. I am proud to say that each of the players won medals…not bad for beginners.

I would also like to thank all the parents who were there during the competition for their collective support and encouragement, which surely made a huge difference to our athletes. Kudos to us all!

And finally, to our Head Coach Mr. Larry Dueñas who also been there the entire training and competition. Your hard word and dedicated to our kids are very much appreciated. Even though our kids were very playful during practice, you can still keep your patience and understanding to them. Cheers to you Coach!

Again, CONGRATULATIONS and GOOD LUCK to the next game!

1. Swimming is an outstanding activity for young people.
2. Swimming promotes fitness and teaches a child to strive for physical achievement. Many super-stars in other sports started out as swimmers and gained strength and coordination that helped them to excel.
3. Swimming is an exciting individual and team sport.

Seven aquanauts from Dau Central School completed the preliminary part of the competition successfully and earn the right to go on to the next stage when each of them qualified for the time record in the Mabalacat South Distric Athletic Meet (MASDAM) swimming competition held September 28 at the Mabiga Swimming Pool in Mabalacat.