By gaining the needed toughness and smarts in previous Beijing Olympics and world championship, the Philippine Amateur Swimming Association (PASA) believes its top bets have the chance to end their 12-year medal drought in the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games.

“We’re hoping to win a medal this year. Our swimmers have improved on their standards and we expect that the level of competition in China is just the same as in Doha in 2006,” PASA president Mark Joseph said.

Joseph cited the case of Fil-American Daniel Coakley, whose record-breaking 22.62 second in the men’s 50-meter freestyle at the 2009 Laos Southeast Asian Games is just 0.21 second slower than the gold-medal feat of Syrian Rafd Zyad Al-Masri at the 2006 Doha Asiad.

Coakley and two-time Olympian Miguel Molina are now training intensively in Bolles School in Jacksonville, Florida where they hope to improve their respective times until the Asian Games blasts off on November 12 to 27.

Long-distance specialist and Olympian Ryan Arabejo is training at the University of Missiouri, while Charlie Walker is toughening at a different swimming club in the US.

The last time a Filipino won a medal in the Asiad was in 1998 Bangkok Games when the prodigious won two bronze medals -- 100m and 200m backstroke.

Jessie Lacuna and Jasmine Al-Khaldi also hope to use their training for the Youth Olympic Games in Singapore in August to qualify for the quadrennial event.

Backstopped by Molina, the RP swimming team won four golds, five silvers and one bronze at the Laos SEAG.

“We’re positive of our chances this time compared in Doha because our swimmers have matured for the past years,” Joseph said.

“Most of our swimmers right now have Olympic and world championship experiences compared when they competed in 2006, and I think those tournament experiences greatly helped in boosting their performances.”