00:00 Good day to all of you. Welcome to a new episode of Manila Times Newsroom.
00:05 I am Nicole Ann Bugawisan.
00:07 And I am Niel Masoy.
00:09 Today, we will be with the first female rower from the Philippines to enter the Olympics.
00:15 No one else but Giovanni Deligaco.
00:17 Let's go and greet her in this episode.
00:20 [music]
00:32 Giovanni, first of all, congratulations on entering the Paris Olympics as the first female Filipino rower to enter the Olympics.
00:41 We already know a lot about you.
00:45 But for those who don't know, who is Giovanni Deligaco?
00:50 Where did she start? Where was she born? Where did she grow up?
00:53 And how did she go to the sport of rowing?
00:56 I am Giovanni Deligaco. I came from Irga City, Camarines Sur, in the Bicol Region.
01:03 I came from the sport of volleyball before I started rowing.
01:08 I started rowing when I was 17 years old.
01:13 Now, I have been rowing for 8 years.
01:16 You said your first sport was volleyball.
01:18 How did you go to rowing?
01:20 What did you like about rowing and this is the sport you chose until now?
01:25 Actually, one of the assistant coaches here in rowing is from Bicol.
01:31 She was looking for a female rower in Bicol.
01:35 She was looking for me at that time when I was in Bicol.
01:41 She talked to my parents before I went to Manila.
01:48 It was my first time to go to Manila.
01:52 My mom didn't allow me to go to Manila because I was only 17 years old and I was a girl.
02:01 My dad accompanied me here to try rowing.
02:07 What I like about rowing is that it is a challenging sport compared to volleyball.
02:17 Volleyball is a team event and there are many people here.
02:22 I was the only one in the boat so I was a loner.
02:28 Can you give us a picture of how your day goes about?
02:32 For example, what time do you wake up? What are your routines?
02:39 Do you do stretching?
02:41 Actually, we do three training sessions a day.
02:45 We do 5am to 6.30am.
02:48 We do land training, stretching, running, bench pull, weight lifting, and jumping.
02:55 After the first training, we do water training at 8am.
03:04 Sometimes, we do 11am if our training is too long.
03:09 After that, we do lunch at 12pm and we do training at 4pm.
03:20 What I see in the mainstream is how basketball, volleyball, and other mainstream sports are trained.
03:27 How do you train your rowers?
03:30 Give me an example.
03:33 Our foreign coach from Uzbekistan gives us training every day.
03:41 The programs he gives us are different depending on whether there is competition or not.
03:46 Let's go back to South Korea and your qualification in the Olympics.
03:50 You finished fourth in the final.
03:53 You mentioned in an interview that for the first time in a while, you lost to the usual team that usually loses to you.
04:02 What changed in that tournament? What was the reason why you were able to rise to the top?
04:12 I was able to boost my confidence because I lost to Vietnam.
04:18 I trained for 7 years and I never lost.
04:24 I was able to win against three teams, Japan, Hong Kong, and Vietnam.
04:31 I was able to beat them before I made it to the finals.
04:35 My second race was really tough because I was able to beat three teams before I made it to the finals.
04:42 We were able to face off against four teams.
04:49 I was really worried at that time.
04:52 I couldn't sleep until the next morning.
04:56 I saw our head coach crying before the competition.
05:06 I told my coach that I was really worried because I never lost against those three teams.
05:13 I was really worried.
05:18 You were the first female rover in the Philippines to make it to the Olympics.
05:23 How much of a responsibility was it for you to be the first female rover in the Philippines?
05:32 When I qualified and I was the first female to make it to the Olympics,
05:39 I was really surprised because there were so many women who tried to qualify for the Olympics.
05:46 I was the one who was really chosen.
05:49 I was really blessed to qualify for the Olympics in Korea.
05:56 What were your first thoughts when you qualified for the Olympics in Korea?
06:03 You were able to beat the tougher opponents.
06:07 What was your initial reaction?
06:10 When I made it to the finish line, I was really crying.
06:14 I was about to ride the speed boat, the orange one.
06:20 It was an emergency boat.
06:25 I couldn't move at that time.
06:28 My teammates and coaches were really happy.
06:32 They were really shouting at the finish line, "Congrats!"
06:36 I was really happy at that time. I can't explain it.
06:39 What does it mean to you to be able to make it to the Olympics?
06:44 For example, some people might think that you are just lucky to be able to make it to the Olympics.
06:50 But for you, how do you take the fact that you are already an Olympian?
06:56 For me, it's a big thing to be able to make it to the Olympics
07:00 because it's rare for an athlete to be able to enter such a high competition.
07:07 All athletes are really hoping to make it to the Olympics.
07:14 You mentioned about your past experiences and at the same time, you clinched the Olympic spot.
07:21 Since you've been a pro wrestler for 8 years,
07:24 what do you think is the advantage or mentality you have for the upcoming Olympics
07:32 that you know you have the advantage compared to them?
07:35 For me, the experience of how long you've been in the pro wrestling world is the advantage.
07:44 You can use that experience in the Olympics because for me, that's the most important thing.
07:54 The experience will help you.
07:56 For the upcoming Olympics, is your goal to finish in the podium, or to win the championship?
08:05 For all athletes, they are really hoping to win the medal in the Olympics.
08:11 For now, I really want to finish in the podium.
08:18 But for the ranking, I think I can do it.
08:20 Joanne, as an athlete, you have a lot of challenges, physical and even mental.
08:26 My question is, what keeps you going?
08:29 You know, you wake up in the morning and your body is aching.
08:32 What is it that motivates you to overcome those physical or mental pains?
08:41 What is it that motivates you or inspires you?
08:45 For me, what motivates me is not to work hard, but for myself and my family.
08:56 Maybe waking up early. It's really hard to wake up early.
09:02 But discipline is what you need to be an athlete.
09:09 That's the hardest thing, discipline.
09:12 What is your message to the young athletes?
09:19 Especially, you went through a phase where you're finding yourself.
09:23 You played volleyball first, and now you're flourishing in the sport of rowing.
09:28 What is your journey to find yourself?
09:32 Is it going to be easy or it takes time?
09:39 I can say to the young athletes,
09:44 when you're young, your mentality is not yet tough.
09:54 So, what I can say is, whatever sport they really want,
10:02 they should continue to train hard.
10:09 Always, discipline and hard work is what you need.
10:14 What is your message to the young athletes?
10:16 I am Joanna Delgaco, the first Filipino rower to enter the Olympics.
10:21 Please continue to support me in my fight in the Paris Olympics.
10:25 [Music]
10:40 [Music]
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