Achieving gold at the summit: Summit Natural Drinking Water's journey with Filipino athletes

MANILA, Philippines — We have waited 97 years for this recognition! 

Finally, the Philippines got its first Gold Medal through Hidilyn Diaz, 55-kg weightlifter who won through lifting a combined weight of 224kg in the Tokyo Summer Olympics 2020. In the men’s pole-vaulting competition, EJ Obiena was also able to reach the 11th rank overall. 

Summit Natural Drinking Water is more than honored to have been part of this dream. Since then, Summit has been training with them, until their recent match in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Throughout the years, Summit Natural Drinking Water has always been a believer of these athletes’ journey to aspire, perspire and inspire fellow Filipinos. 

Remarkable is one word that would best describe the victories that the Filipino athletes bagged for the country. They soared up high with our Filipino Flag and we are very proud! Filipinos have proven their mettle in sports on the number of medals they continue to harvest in the local and international games. 

More than a decade ago, Summit Natural Drinking water started to support various sports organizations in their quests to achieve their goal for sports and for the Philippines. From this moment on, Summit has begun harnessing athletes to go beyond the impossible and has witnessed one triumph over another. 

Most recent win is no other than an Olympic Gold, Silver and other recognitions by our Filipino delegates in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics! The decision to support these aspiring athletes is one of Summit’s greatest achievements. The hard work and perseverance of the Filipino Athletes are paying off and they are getting the honor they truly deserve. 

Hark back to the milestones of the sports hydration breakthrough that has supported Filipino athletes in their journey to greatness. 

In 2005, Summit Natural Drinking Water began its thrust in supporting Filipino athletes during the Southeast Asian Games. Summit continued to back athletes in the 2006 Asia Games held in Doha where Philippines took home medals in boxing, taekwondo and cue sports. Also, one historical event that Summit sponsored is the first expedition of the Philippines in Mt. Everest where two teams, one group of male and one group of female, successfully traversed the highest mountain on earth in May 17, 2007.

In 2008, Summit supported 15 Filipino delegates who competed in the Beijing Olympics. They participated in 17 events across eight sports. 

Summit continued its advocacy as the brand supported ALA Boxing grassroots programs in 2009. This program aimed to recognize and surface promising ring fighters within Visayas and Mindanao regions. In the same year, Summit became the hydration partner of Cobra Ironman 70.3, the biggest triathlon race event in the country. 

With all these efforts to support the athletes, Summit was declared as the Official Bottled Water of the Philippine National Olympic Athletes in 2010, through its “Reach for it” campaign which advocated to support national athletes who compete in the global arena. 

Furthermore, in 2011, the first joint venture of the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) and the Philippine Sports Committee (PSC) was launched to support the Philippine National Games. Summit was at the forefront of supporting the nationwide grassroots sports program of The Batang Pinoy where it focused on instilling the values of hard work and sportsmanship to the Filipino youth.

Moreover, to give recognition to the athletes in the fields of boxing, track and field, and taekwondo, Summit Water even featured Filipino sports icons on its packaging. 

In 2012, Summit launched another campaign called “Summit Suporta Para sa Atleta” to help the funding of the Filipino athletes’ training. In 2013, The Filipino Flash, Nonito Donaire, became the endorser of Summit Water—further strengthening its proposition in supporting the sports of boxing, as it continues to develop local talents to aspire to be world-class athletes. Summit Water, likewise, provided support to the book launch of Romi Garduce, the first Filipino to climb one of the Seven Summits. 

In 2014, Summit launched their “Thirst for More” campaign to encourage people to move to greater heights. This campaign was further solidified in 2015 as Summit Water continued to provide hydration needs to support the training of 472 Filipino athletes for the 2015 SEA games.  

2016, the year when Hidilyn Diaz, ended the country’s 20-year Olympic medal drought by winning silver at the women’s 53-kg category in weightlifting. Summit is honored to have witnessed that win at the Rio Olympics.

In 2017, Summit supported the training of the contingent in the 29th Southeast Asian Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia where Philippines sent a contingent of 493 athletes to participate in 404 events in 38 sports. Their goal is to improve our country’s rank in the SEA Games. 

In 2018, Hidilyn Diaz was officially declared as one of the ambassadors of Summit Natural Drinking water. The goal is not only for Hidilyn to promote the brand but also to back her up in terms of training and hydration as Summit believes in her persistence, motivation and capacity in achieving a Gold. True enough, in 2019, Diaz won her first SEA Games Gold medal after topping the 55-kg division. 

In the same year, another formidable athlete, EJ Obiena wins Gold at the 2019 Southeast Asian Games. Since 2014, EJ Obiena has been showing the world that Philippines can also do pole-vaulting. With his continuous hard work, EJ qualified for the Tokyo Olympics.

Together with Hidilyn, they become the country’s medal hopes on the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. In the same year, they also launched the #THIRSTFORTHEWIN campaign to amplify our eagerness and determination to win.

From 2020 to 2021

Summit launched its #THIRSTFORGOLD campaign and leveled the game up as the brand supports our national athletes through the Philippine Olympic Committee in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. 

The main ambassadors are Hidilyn Diaz who won the first-ever Olympic Gold Medal for the Philippines in the women’s 55-kg category (Weightlifting) and EJ Obiena who made it to the finals of the pole-vaulting competition. He ended his Olympic campaign with his best result of 5.70M, landing on the 11th rank in the finals. 

Summit has been their hydration partner and support all throughout their training. They have been fully committed to their promise to back up the Filipino athletes in achieving their aspirations.

These achievements are not just for themselves but for the entire Philippine nation. We sincerely thank and congratulate Hidilyn Diaz and EJ Obiena for their determination and best efforts. The spirit of Filipino Athletes truly inspires us to do better and better in our lives’ endeavors. 

To the other Olympic athletes who are yet to plunge in the biggest fights of their sporting lives, we support and thank you, from the bottom of our hearts, for representing the Philippines. 

Since 2005, Summit Natural Drinking Water has been supporting our athlete delegates in their sporting journeys as their official hydration partner, and Summit will continue to do so in all other upcoming sporting events in the many more years to come. They are making a life-long commitment to support the Filipino athletes in their quest to reach the GOLD AT THE SUMMIT.