ARE UST swimmers plunging into harmful waters?
The Tigersharks and Female Tigersharks are facing quite a challenge in their quest to improve their dismal fourth-place finishes last UAAP season, and it is in the University pool.
Swimming coach Cyrus Alcantara said his wards over the years have been complaining of discomfort when training in the pool located beside the Domus Mariae International Residence on P. Noval Street.
“Some of the common complaints I receive are pain in, discoloration, and thinning of the teeth, eye irritation and wounds on the neck, armpits, bikini lines and inner thighs,” he said.
Alcantara also said his team’s performance has been greatly affected by prolonged exposure to the water, making up for it through more terrain training.
“We make up for [the less hours in the pool] by lengthening our land training,” he said in a previous interview with the Varsitarian.
But Fr. Ermito de Sagon, O.P., director of the Institute of Physical Education and Athletics, said there are experts who regularly monitor and maintain the pool’s condition to make sure it is conducive and safe for atheletes’ and students’ use.
“We get technicians [who know how to maintain the swimming pool] and they give us the proper ratio of chemicals to put in,” he said.
De Sagon said the swimmers may be experiencing the “acidity” or “intensity” of the water most during Mondays, when the chemicals have just been applied.
“[The pool] is being used up until Saturday and the chemicals are put during the evening, hoping that by Monday, the chemicals have dissipated,” he said.
However, Thomasians taking swimming as their PE course have also complained about the same pool that they use during weekly classes.
“The pool is unclean. It has an unusual color [for a pool]."
"You can feel pain in your teeth while swimming,” said Janine Soliman, a sophomore Journalism student.
The swimming teams and students have no other recourse but to adapt to available resources, like what they have been doing for years. Ralph Joshua D.R. Hernandez
