Miguel Molina (swimmer)

Miguel Molina
Personal information
Surname:	Miguel Molina
Nation:	Philippines
Swimming style (s) :	Chest, layers, freestyle
Society:	California Golden Bears
Birthday:	July 22, 1984
Place of birth:	Quezon City
Size:	1.80 m
Weight:	79 kg
Medal table

Miguel Molina (born July 22, 1984 in Quezon City ) is a Filipino swimmer and Olympian. He and his family emigrated to Tokyo, Japan, at the age of three . In 2001 he qualified for the Japanese championships and was discovered by a Japanese who had previously worked as a Philippine national swimming coach. On his recommendation, he took his current citizenship and has since started for his country of birth.

Molina is considered one of the best Filipino swimmers of all time and has enjoyed great success at the Southeast Asian Games since 2001 . To date (August 2009) he has won 19 medals there - nine of them gold. He also reached several finals at the Asian Games , around 2006 in Doha , but was unable to secure a top spot. As a result of his consistently good performance, he was appointed to the team for the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens and 2008 in Beijing . In the former, he competed in four competitions for which he had been able to qualify (200 meters freestyle, 200 meters chest, 200 and 400 meters medley) and was the first Filipino since Eric Buhain to do so in 16 years.

Miguel Molina holds the Philippine records over 100 meters freestyle, 50 and 200 meters butterfly and over 200 and 400 meters medley.

Awards

The Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) presented Molina with the following honors:

• 2006: Philippine Swimmer of the Year
• 2008: Filipino Sportsman of the Year (with boxer Nonito Donaire )

In 2007 he was named the best athlete at the Southeast Asian Games in Nakhon Ratchasima (Khorat), Thailand .

Web links

• Miguel Molina in the database of Sports-Reference (English; archived from the original )