ADD another “A” to the 11th Asian Age Group Aquatics Championships that the Philippines recently hosted at the New Clark City Aquatics Center in Capas, Tarlac.
Exceptional was how Capt. Husain Al-Musallam, president of the world governing body in aquatics, described the country’s hosting of the 33-nation, two-weeklong splash that the World Aquatics (WA) even authorized as an Olympic Qualifying event.
“Before I came here, I was not thinking about the facility I will see, but what I saw was beautiful,” Al-Musallam said during his visit and inspection of the hosting area and near the end of competitions last week in Tarlac. “It’s not Asia but you can also host world events.”
The AAGC organizers, led by Philippine Aquatics, Inc. (PAI) in partnership with the Local Organizing Committee (LOC), were present when the World Aquatics top exec expressed his accolades.
“The volunteers, the organizing committee, the Philippine Aquatics (Inc.), the city, the airport — all one team. It’s very rare to find everybody together, everybody working to create a very good environment for the athletes to compete.”
For this year’s event, the Philippine Aquatics, Inc. vigorously worked with partners — and with big support from Malacañang via Memorandum Circular 43 ordering help from various sectors of the country — to accommodate some 1,400 athletes, coaches, and trainers from Asia.
