A new face in the collegiate pool, Miguel Barlisan is poised to carry the torch of the FAST Ateneo Swimming Team (FAST) after proving to be one of this year’s finest recruits. The young talent was a vital cog in the team’s University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 80 championship campaign, finishing with two golds, one silver, and one bronze medal that scored him the Rookie of the Year (ROTY) award.
Kickstarting his career at four years old, Barlisan’s early days in the swimming pool were at first an exercise to combat a recurring illness.
“It was something actually before to cure my asthma, but as time went on, I learned to love the sport,” he recounts.
Prior to his UAAP debut, the La Salle Greenhills product enjoyed his fair share of success on both the local and international stage. He was named Most Valuable Player in Season 92 of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Junior’s Division while garnering international exposure as a mainstay in the country’s youth team. From 2013 to 2017, Barlisan was a member of the South East Asian Age Group Philippine Team, garnering two silver and four bronze medals.
With a change of heart, the La Salle Greenhills product chose to pursue his degree at Ateneo over other colleges to follow the footsteps of his father and brothers who are all alumni of the school. Having donned a rival school’s colors in the Junior’s Division before, Barlisan credits his present triumphs to the swimming programs his previous and current school offered.
“It feels different, but the good kind. Especially coming from La Salle, it feels really good having represented the top two schools in the country. It’s like having the best of both worlds,” he mentions.
Plagued with a torn meniscus due to an injury during a training camp in high school, Barlisan noted that therapy sessions in the Moro Lorenzo Sports Medicine Unit seem to have played a key role in his physical and emotional development in preparation for his debut. Tasked to find the mental toughness and focus needed to get back on track after an injury, Barlisan swam with both grit and heart, proving his tenacity as an athlete that could serve FAST campaigns for years to come.
“My season was simply amazing,” Barlisan says. “Having come from the NCAA, I was scared that I wouldn’t deliver as much as I could in the UAAP, but I thank God all my hard work paid off and it led me to bagging the ROTY award.”
Looking forward, competing in the SEA games and possibly in the Olympics are just some of the accomplishments the young athlete wishes to achieve someday. But in the meantime, the rookie looks to keep making waves at the collegiate level, in the hopes of another championship next season.
