Alfonso Bautista has won in 2006 & 2010 at the Mantas Invitational Swim Meet in Hong Kong

Text and photos

By Jude Thaddeus L. Bautista

Xavier student Alfonso Bautista is not your typical boy wonder in the pool. At only 12 years old with a height of 5 feet 8 inches tall, he’s won literally hundreds of medals in various swimming competitions. The gold medals have been so numerous he had most of them framed and gave them as gifts to his aunt and grand parents. Apart from sharing his triumphs, this was also because he ran out of space at home. Recently Alfonso won 5 gold medals (50m backstroke, 50m breaststroke, 100m butterfly, 50m freestyle, 50m butterfly) and 5 silver medals in the prestigious 34^th Annual Mantas Invitational Swim Meet held at the Shing Mun Valley in Hong Kong last April 24 & 25. This is only his most recent win he also won in the same meet at age 8 in 2006 earning 7 gold medals and 1 silver.

The ‘Most Outstanding Swimmer’ award was also given to him for garnering the most medals during the international meet. Swimming teams from clubs and schools from countries like China, Japan, Malaysia, Taiwan, Thailand and of course the Philippines, participated in the annual event. A total of 360 swimmers from 26 teams participated in over 100 events. Paul Chillingworth, president of the Mantas Swimming Club said in a statement, “Once again we have teams all over Asia competing. We would like to thank both new and returning teams for their support in making this one of the largest swim meets in Asia.” Alfonso was part of the renowned Phil. Columbian Association Stingray Team for the Mantas Invitational.

A week before smashing through the competition in HK, Alfonso already won in the prestigious Palarong Pabansa held at the new Tarlac Recreational Park Complex. He earned two individual golds in the 50 meter freestyle (27.4 seconds) and 100 meter butterfly (1 minute 4.27 seconds). More importantly he helped break a meet record in a relay event. Together with his NCRA team mates Christian Limsui, Rafael Sta. Maria, and Jeremy Lim broke the record for the 200m relay with a time of 1 min 52.02 seconds.

The medals from the Mantas Invitational where teams from around Asia competed

Swimming is a popular sport among parents who want their kids to become an athlete while not getting too many injuries like many contact or team sports. From a safety perspective, the child is also able to handle him or herself well in bodies of water in case of an emergency. And that’s how it began with Alfonso. Competitive swimming wasn’t really a priority. His father Dr. Donald Bautista said that “When he was a baby, his older cousin JY was already winning medals in swimming too and was also a Xavier student. So it was great to have that influence on him.”  Success in swimming may have been passed from his grandfather Jose C. Bautista who was a collegiate swimmer for Mapua Institute of Technology.

Swimming, however, is just one of many sports Alfonso is interested in. Just like many Filipino kids his age he’s very much in love with basketball and watches as many NBA and PBA games as he can. Football is also a growing love. Mixed Martial Arts has captured his attention too. His dad enrolled him in Taekwondo classes before and fell for it. Although already a successful young swimmer, his biggest idol in sports is “Fighter of the decade” Manny Pacquiao. He never fails to watch the boxing matches with his uncles and grandfather.