Competitive Filipino Divers Are (Really, Really) Terrible at Diving
It's often said you can't appreciate how difficult something is until you see it done poorly. Case in point right here.
Filipino divers John David Pahoyo and John Elmerson Fabriga competed in this year's Southeast Asian Games and endured the type of showing no athlete with a competitive bone in his body should have to endure.
They each scored zeroes in the three meter springboard dive en route to tying for last place.
So, how exactly did this happen? Don't divers spend years and years working on their craft and learning just the right angle to contort their bodies like a corkscrew until it becomes muscle memory? You'd think so, but, in this instance, the disastrous results may have more to do with the fact that the Philippine Aquatic Sports Association does not receive much support when it comes to training athletes.
PASA chief Mark Joseph said, "We always like it to be better, but maybe it should teach a lesson to everybody that if you don’t invest...don’t expect. It takes years and years to make a champion."
That's a fair point, but it still doesn't explain how this duo even qualified for the Games in the first place. It'd be like inviting a T-ball team to Major League Baseball's wild card round -- sure, the players know the rules, but the execution is far from perfect.
Our advice? If you want to learn how to dive, watch Rodney Dangerfield: