Swimming's Walsh Wins Four Medals at Southeast Asian Games
Monday, December 17, 2007 | Men's Swimming & Diving
University of Florida senior J.B. Walsh (Virginia Beach, Va.) swam his way to two gold and two silver medals at the 2007 Southeast Asian Games, held December 6-15. Walsh also secured a place on the 2008 Beijing Olympic Team for his native Philippines.
Over the course of the week, Walsh set four Philippine national records, two individually and two as a member of a relay team. He began the week winning gold in the 200-meter butterfly, setting a new SEA record with a career best time of 2:00.45 to secure his spot on the Olympic team.
Walsh's second gold of the meet came in the 400-meter medley relay in which he swam the third leg of the race in the butterfly stroke. He followed up that performance with silver in the 100-meter fly with a personal best time of 55.47. Walsh rounded out his medal collection with another silver medal in the 400-meter free relay, swimming the third leg for his team.
This year marks the second time that Walsh has set a new SEA record in the 200-meter fly. In 2005 he broke the 18-year old record with a time of 2:02.23. He returned in 2006 to swim a 2:01.98 before shaving over a second off of his time this year.
Walsh is no stranger to the podium at the Southeast Asian Games. In 2005 he won a bronze as a member of the 400-meter free relay team that, at the time, set the Philippines record of 3:52.35. Individually he also collected a silver medal in the 200-meter fly.
Florida will return to action on January 4th and 5th when the men host Purdue University. The women will host Arkansas on January 5th with both teams playing host to Indian River Community College that afternoon. All meets are swum at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center Natatorium and are free of charge to all fans.
