Our swimmer of the week is one of the Philippine Killer Whale generals who we can get some inspiration from especially on how he successfully showed how to juggle school and athlete life.
Lance Lotino, a Philippine Killer Whale swimmer since he was 12, and now in his collegiate years, has first started because his dad wants him to be engaged in sports. As he truly enjoyed the sport so much, he never stopped then on.
When asked what inspired him to continue and pursue swimming, he said that the number one reason is the team because he enjoys being with his teammate so much that he treats the team as his family.
“Kung wala kayo (team mates) siguro hindi din ako mag tatagal. Kasi dahil din sa inyo kaya nag t-training ako.”
“And ito na din yung dream ko. Dito ko nasusukat ang sarili ko na makakuha ng best time at makapasok sa malalaking laro dito sa pilipinas.”
After every training, you will always see Lance practicing his strokes and correcting his movements that he thinks he can improve. He will always be the one to leave the pool last. That kind of dedication and will is something that you and I will admire from him since we know that this attitude that he has is not just something you will see in the pool but also in his own personal life.
“I am motivated to train everyday para maimprove ang sarili ko. Masaya kasi magtraining, masaya mahirapan. Pag kasi di ako nag t-training, syempre di ka pagod, nahihirapan ako matulog. Kaya yung napapagod ka sa training, masarap sa pakiramdam talaga.“
Outside of his athlete life, Lance is also a part of the student-council in his school. We already know how things can get busy being a student, but taking in more responsibilities of being part of the student-council can get crazy. When asked how he balances academics, student-council responsibilities and swimming, he said,
“Discipline yourself lang. You’ll be able to manage your time pag nadiscipline mo yung sarili mo. One problem at a time lang. Ganun yung ginagawa ko. Inuuna ko muna yung mga importante.“
During the interview, Lance told us what he feels about having swimming as his chosen sport.
“Nakakaboost din ng confidence kasi andun ako sa healthy lifestyle. Imbis na nasa social life ako, andito ako sa training, and madami kang namiss na kung ano-ano pero dito ako masaya dito ka nabubuhay. Kung masaya ka sa ginagawa mo, ayun, ipagpatuloy mo lang.“
His love for swimming made him accomplish a lot of things. One of which is; he was scouted by the University of Santo Tomas, one of the well-known schools here in the country.
He said that he’s really happy about it because before he graduates college, his goal is to play in the UAAP and SEA Games.
Lance also shared that one of the biggest competition he competed in was the Philippine National Open series in Clark. Here, he had the chance to compete against the swimmers who represented the Philippines in SEA Games. Since SEA Games is also his dream, he felt that competing alongside the SEA Games swimmers was a huge honor and opportunity to improve himself.
Lance has also been representing the Philippines in a lot of International competitions. Recently he competed in Europe along with his buddies, Jordan Lobos and Marcus De Kam.
But out of all the international competition he joined in, he said that his first international meet last 2016 in Singapore was the most memorable one.
It was only a year since he started swimming when he competed in Singapore. Despite the lack of experience then, he truly enjoyed it because almost everyone in the team joined too. While reminiscing the trip and the event, he described it as “sobrang saya”.
At the end of every interview, we ask everyone the same question, “What is swimming for you“. On this question, he paused and thought about it for a long time because he saw from the past interviews, that they all answered the same. But he also can’t think of any other way to answer but to say that “swimming is life”. This is probably because, on day to day, a swimmer spends so much of their time with it and the next thing they know, it’s already embedded in their system that it already becomes a big part of their life.
“Swimming is life talaga. Wala ka naman kasi ibang maisasagot e. Kasi yun talaga e, swimming is life.” He said while laughing.
During his years in swimming, his love for the sport has never changed comparing to the time he first started. His father’s persuasion during the start became love, the love became passion, and now his life.
At the very end of the interview he took the time to thank everyone who supported and supports him and also gave a message to all the aspiring swimmers.
“Thank you palagi sa suporta. (Family, Coach, and teammates). Best time man o hindi, may medal man o wala, (ayos lang). Sa swimming kasi madami ka talaga matututunan. Matalo, manalo, maayos man o bad swim man may matutuunan ka talaga.”
Lance’s journey is truly an inspiring one because it goes to show that with hard work, perseverance and dedication, you’ll be able to achieve anything. This is true not just in swimming but also in our day to day lives.
Thank you for sharing your story Lance! The Killerwhale family will be here to witness your journey and the success that your hard work will bring.
Philippine Killerwhale Swimming Association 