Kim Remolino ups ante as Olympic qualifier draws near

CEBU: Southeast Asian (SEA) Games silver medalist Andrew Kim Remolino has ramped up his training as the triathlon national team prepares for the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Japan.

The Cebu-based athlete told The Manila Times that the national squad has penciled two out-of-the-country trips — one is the Olympic Qualifying race in Japan and the other, the triathlon camp in Portugal.

With strict travel restrictions in place, the first year civil engineering student is crossing his fingers for the trip to push through.

“The qualifying in Japan is in April. After that, the plan is to join a training camp in Portugal. The camp is in part of the preparation for SEA Games also,” he said in Cebuano.

The rest of the triathlon national team who are listed to compete in the Olympic qualifying are SEA Games gold medalist John Chicano, Filipino Spanish Fernando Jose Casares, Kim Kilgroe and Kim Mangrobang.

The Top 55 male and female triathlon in the world after the qualifying races sanctioned by the World Triathlon will get a slot to the Tokyo Olympics, which is rescheduled to July 23 until August 8.

While waiting for the go-signal, Remolino pushes himself to get better every day even without the usual training facilities, which remain closed as part of the government’s restriction amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Without the sports facility the training is a bit hard especially in the swim and run. For my swim, I do it in open water,” said Remolino.

Meanwhile, the 2021 SEA Games is set from November 21 to December 2 in Hanoi, Vietnam.