Fil-Am swimmer books Beijing Olympics slot

JB Walsh

JB Walsh became the third Filipino swimmer to qualify for next year's Beijing Olympics after his impressive showing in the US Senior International Swimming Championships.

A butterfly specialist, Walsh, who saw action in the 2004 Athens Olympics, clocked two minutes and 0.42 second in the 200-meter to surpass the Olympic qualifying time of 2:01.79.

For finishing in the top 10 along with Olympians Juan Jose Veloz Davila of Mexico and Jeremy Knowles of The Bahamas, the 20 year old, shattered the RP record of 2:01.94 which he set in the 2006 Doha Asian Games.

But more than that, he also bettered the SEA Games mark of 2:01.84 which Anthony Ang of Malaysia registered in winning the gold in the 2001 Kuala Lumpur edition.

The University of Florida pre-med scholar thus joined bemedalled Southeast Asian Games tanker Miguel Molina and Ryan Arabejo in the national squad.

Molina qualified for the 200-m individual medley and 1500-m freestyle during the 15th FINA World Championships in Melbourne, Australia.

"PASA is proud of JB (Walsh), and we are pleasantly surprised that he did so well this early in the season," said Philippine Amateur Swimming Association (PASA) President Mark Joseph in a statement.

The Philippines is out to improve on its four-gold medal performance in the 2005 Manila Games.