Simms perfect for London Olympics

BEIJING – She was expected to be on the national training pool of the United States for the 2012 London Olympics, but seventeen-year-old Fil-American Christel Simms decided to compete for the flag of her mother in the Beijing Olympics.

Simms, the Hawaii State champion, caught the eyes of international coaches who saw her Olympic potentials when she matched the Olympic qualifying time of 57.17 seconds in the US national junior championships this year.

Her mother, Jocelyn Dani Marcial from Kawit, Cavite, decided that the girl must swim for her country and promptly told the Philippine swimming association of her desire to put her daughter on the RP team for Beijing.

If Simms stayed on the other side of the fence, she would be among those to be included on a four-year training program designed to find potential Olympic medal winners, hopefully in the mold of four-time Olympic gold medallist Natalie Coughlin, also a Fil-American, who retained  the 100-m backstroke crown yesterday.

Simms becomes only the fifth Filipina to compete in the Olympic swimming competitions after Nancy Deano in the 1976 Montreal Olympics, Christine Jacob in the 1984 L.A. Olympics and 1996 in Atlanta, Marie Liza Danila in 2000 in Sydney and Jacklyn Pangilinan in 2004 in Greece.

Simms is aiming to improve  her personal mark by a full second in today’s heats even if it would not qualify her for the 16-woman semifinals. Her time is outside the top 150 in the world as of July.

She also hopes to improve her mark of 26.31 seconds by a second in the 50-meter freestyle on Friday.

“I swim 18-24 hours a week and do sprinting, weightlifting, running and more dry land exercise,” said Simms. “I have a lot to give and I’m giving it my best shot in Beijing.”