year international relations major at the University of California in Berkeley, did not come here unprepared.
"I’ve been training harder this year and I’m happy with the results," said the 5-foot-11 Molina, who topped the 200m and 400m individual medley and 200m breaststroke events.
Molina clocked 2:03.80 in the 200m IM and 2:16.88 in the 200m breaststroke to break his own records of 2:04.68 (200m IM) and 2:18.71 (200m breast) set last July in the World Championships in Montreal, Canada.
He won the 400m IM in 4:26.21, to erase Carlo Piccio’s old record of 4:30.31 set during the 2001 Kuala Lumpur SEA Games.
"It’s pretty cool to win all three golds and set new records, too," said Molina, who debuted in the 2001 Kuala Lumpur SEA Games, winning the bronze in the 4 x 200m freestyle relay.
Molina, one of four Filipino swimmers who saw action in the 2004 Athens Olympics, was scheduled to compete in the 200m freestyle yesterday.
He has a good chance of winning another gold but Molina is not making any promises.
"I’m not sure if I can win. There’s a lot of fast swimmers in this event (200m free), it will be hard. But I will try my best," said Molina, whose personal best of 1:52.89 set two years ago is the standing RP record.
If Molina wins a fourth gold, he will be the most bemedalled Filipino athlete in the SEAG.
"I haven’t really thought about it (winning four medals), but it would be great if I accomplish that," said the long-haired Molina, who will return to the US on Tuesday to catch up with his studies.
Philippine Amateur Swimming Association (PASA) national training director Carlos "Pinky" Brosas is satisfied with the performance of his wards.
Miguel Mendoza, a student at the University of Georgia, successfully defended the men’s 1500m freestyle title while 16-year-old Fil-American Erica Totten pocketed two silvers from the women’s 200m free and 400m medley relay with Lizza Danila, Luica Dacanay and Jacklyn Pangilinan.
Pangilinan, whose Filipino father was married to a Syrian national, also won the silver in the women’s 200m breast and bronze in the 100m breast.
The Philippines bagged three bronze medals from the women’s 400m freestyle (Danila, Bianca Uy, Heidi Gem Ong and Totten), women’s 4 x 200m freestyle relay (Marichi Gandionco, Chrizel Lagunday, Nicole Santiago and Totten) and Raphael Matthew Chua (100m breast).
Eighteen-year-old James Walsh, whose mother Chona hails from Lipa City, Batangas, placed fourth in the men’s 100m butterfly.
"Our more experienced swimmers did well and they are the ones who carried the torch for us. But the young ones also delivered," said Brosas, a former national swimmer who competed in the 1972 Munich Olympics.
Brosas noted that newcomer Ryan Arabejo, the 15-year-old swimmer from Manila who got the bronze medal in the 1500m freestyle, has great potential.
"We want to have a very competitive lineup in the 2007 Bangkok SEA Games and we’ll start preparing for that as early as next year," said Brosas, who is credited for developing past swimming sensations Eric Buhain and Akiko Thomson.
