By Billy Lara (UPCM 2025)
This article series is a collaboration between UP Medics and the UP MSC Sports and Wellness Committee aimed to feature UPCM’s very own athletes.
Photo courtesy of wallpaperaccess.com.
As a swimmer, obviously I would look up to swimmers as well. I actually have two in mind that I’ve always looked up to. For a majority of my career it was Kosuke Kitajima, a Japanese breaststroker. Ang swimming kasi is similar to basketball in the sense that height MATTERS. It’s not everything but it gives you a huge advantage, compared to other sports. A majority of the world’s best swimmers are above 6 feet, and here we have Kitajima who, at 5’8, was breaking world records and winning Olympic golds despite his height disadvantage. At the time it was something the world had not seen before and as someone who has stood at an average height his entire life, it gave me hope that I could succeed in my sport.
Another more recent sports hero of mine is another breaststroker, an American named Cody Miller. He’s risen to prominence only recently but his story is no less amazing. He has pectus excavatum in which his chest is dented inward or looks scooped out, (I only got what this was when I entered med school!) which affects his respiratory function, obviously putting him at an innate disadvantage in a sport which requires excellent respiratory function. Despite this, he went on to win Olympic medals and break American records.
WIth regard to how I was introduced to this athlete and followed his career, the best part about Cody Miller is that he is also a popular Youtuber, vlogging about his training and swimming career. It’s great because this is the first time people have gotten an in-depth look in the world of swimming through the lens of a professional swimmer, something that swimming fans–much less mainstream media–have never been exposed to. When I was competing in the UAAP and would feel discouraged, I would just go to his videos to give myself an extra push because he’s really upbeat and motivating about his training and his positive attitude is way contagious. Even up until now that I’m retired from the sport (except during Palarong Med hehehe), I watch his videos because it gives me good vibes and also brings back good memories of the sport that I love.
It is important for people to have inspirational beings to look up to. I think the biggest impact that they had on me was they really just made me love the sport even more. Following their careers also sort of gave me a blueprint as to how I should tread my own path.
Having heroes/inspirations in life is essential because it gives us a goal – not necessarily to BE our role models – but to emulate their best characteristics and success in life, through which we can reach our maximum potential. Since a lot of sports heroes’ lives and careers are put under a magnifying glass, we get a unique glimpse of the life success we seek, with the added bonus of knowing the mistakes the heroes made so that we do not repeat those mistakes in our own journeys.