SWIMMING, the sport that did the country proud in last year’s 24th Southeast Asian Games (SEAG), and which has qualified the most number of Filipino athletes to the Beijing Olympic Games in August, is in troubled waters.

Specifically, its president, Mark Joseph, will try to stay afloat amid accusations hurled against him by a group of disgruntled stakeholders of Philippine swimming, swimmers and their parents included.

In a faxed statement to news organizations, Jane Ong, the spokesperson of the group, is asking the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) to hold elections for regional directors of the Philippine Amateur Swimming Association (Pasa) so much so that an election of a new president will take place.

The group claimed Joseph is only a holdover officer of the Pasa, having been assigned as temporary president by the POC in February 2005 under the condition that an election of officers will be held to put the organization in order.

Ong added that Joseph has yet to convene the Pasa board of directors since 2005. She furthered that Joseph adopts a dictatorial manner of leading the association.

“The impasse has left Philippine swimming with no legitimate officers to date,” the group said in a letter to the POC. “The membership has been left at the mercy of a holdover officer in charge who has since violated the rules by doing away with meetings of the board of directors and unilaterally implementing his own rules.”

The group also submitted a manifesto to the POC saying that since Joseph took over Pasa, the country’s performance in the Southeast Asian age group competitions dipped, and stakeholders of Philippine swimming have been disenfranchised.

Although the Philippines was successful during the 2005 and 2007 Southeast Asian Games, the group said that Pasa fielded Filipino-Americans and not homegrowns.

Ong’s group said the SEAG are not the true gauge of the state of Philippine swimming, but the SEA age group championships.

Joseph, who is in Greece attending to a swimming function, said in a text message Tuesday: “Since I’m out of the country and don’t know anything about it, I’ll just deal with it when I come home next month.”

The POC, through spokesperson Joey Romasanta, said the Pasa has complied with the requirements of the POC.

“Presently, POC legal is of the opinion that all agreements reached during the mediation meetings have been complied with. Moreover, all NSAs [national sports association] are governed by their respective constitution and bylaws to resolve any grievance within the NSAs,” said Romasanta.

Joseph was installed as president following a POC arbitration. He then replaced Monchito Ilagan.

Incidentally, Ong’s daughter is a gold medalist in the recent Palarong Pambansa but is one of several swimmers who the group claimed are barred from joining Pasa competitions.

The Pasa contributed eight gold medals—two new meet records—to emerge as the most successful NSA in the 2007 SEAG in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand. Miguel Molina was also named Best Male Athlete of the Thai Games.

Also, the Pasa has qualified Molina, Ryan Arabejo, Daniel Coakley, James Walsh and Christel Simms for the Beijing Games, the most by any NSA.

Swimming, No. 1 in the last SEAG, is one of several NSAs which were bugged by controversies this year. Cycling, the No. 2 performer also in the last SEAG, suffered its own controversy, and so did billiards and snookers and table tennis. A fresh round of trouble in basketball is also brewing.

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SWIMMING, the sport that did the country proud in last year’s 24th Southeast Asian Games (SEAG), and which has qualified the most number of Filipino athletes to the Beijing Olympic Games in August, is in troubled waters.

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