FIL-Am Monique Ann Demaisip achieved a milestone for the Philippines late Monday night, scoring 185.55 points to capture the gold medal in the women’s one-meter individual diving event in the 10th Asian Age Group Swimming Championships in Bangalore, India.
A former mainstay of the Northwestern University varsity diving team, Demaisip, 22, became the first Filipino athlete to win a diving gold in the prestigious Asian event that drew top age groupers from all over the continent.
She won over Kazakhstan’s Borova Yelizaveta (180.30) and China’s Lai Yu Yen (167.40), who took the silver and bronze medal, respectively.
Her stint in the event was supported by the Philippine Sports Commission.
“Diving team manager Marie Dimanche called me up late yesterday and she was sobbing while informing Monica had won. This was a totally pleasant surprise for us. We then both cried together over the phone,” PSI president Lani Velasco said yesterday.
Demaisip was also scheduled to compete in the women’s 3-meter event late yesterday.
The other divers competing in the Asian meet are Joseph Reynado, Kiel Calupas and Rose Ann Ocmer,
Velasco said Demaisip went out of her way early last year to contact PSI and expressed her keen interest in joining the national diving squad.
“She was willing to put her career on hold and wanted to compete for us. She even joined the national diving squad training in China,” Velasco said of the diver who graduated with a chemical engineering degree from NWU.
