Pinky Brosas was more than a coach
A LOT ot of times, you get to know more of a person after he passes away, and this was true for me recently.
In the early 80’s, in the local swimming world , there was a triumvirate of former Olympians who banded together to establish SHAPE AQUATICS, with the three of them as the core group of coaches.
These were 1972 Olympians Ral Rosario and Pinky Brosas , and Mark Joseph, who qualified for the 1980 Moscow Olympics but was not able to go following the USA-led boycott of the event which the Philippines joined.
These three were like brothers, you hit one, the other two will come to help, particularly Mark, the latter died in London in 2019 while just recently, Pinky lost his battle against cancer.
I have known Ral for a long time, he us my kumpare, I have worked with Mark when he was Philippine Amateur Swimming Association (PASA) President, for Pinky, our paths have crossed a few times but not the level of my relationship wth Ral and Mark.
And so when I went to his wake at Loyola Guadalupe with PSC Commissioner Fritz Gaston, and good that we sat beside Ral and Cong. Eric Buhain, a protege of Pinky, I listened intently to the people who delivered eulogues for Pinky.
Just as a background, Pinky was an Asian silver medalist in the 4x100m. relay in 1970, he was national coach in three Summer Olympics, 1988 in Seoul, 2008 in Beijing, and 2012 in London and other international meets including the 2010 Olympic Youth Ganes in Singapore.
Aside fron his immediate family, swimmers Jesse Lacuna, Xiandi Chua, and Ral shared stories about Pinky, Akiko Thomson- Guevara and Eric, shared their own memories of Pinky the night before.
And it was clear that to people who knew him , wheter as athletes, friends, or family members, Pinky was more than just a coach to his athletes, more than just a father to his kids, more than just a brother to his siblings.
He fulfilled several roles, to his athletes, he was their mentor, confidant, friend, second father, an older brother, and I learned from Jesse, even a cook for his athletes, something his family confirmed that they will miss now that Pinky is gone.
Actually, the first person I asked about Pinky was Ral, my question was what was the greatest contribution of his good friend Pinky to Philippine sports.
There was no hesitation on Ral’s part, he simply started mentioning the names of Akiko, Eric, Jesse, and Xiandi as the swimmers who achieved what they did in the sport because of Pinky.
This was before some of them started sharing stories on Pinky, and I realized more what Ral meant, I could feel the personal loss and the pain of Eric and company as they spoke of Pinky.
They shared happy memories but more important, they spoke of how Pinky taught them values and discipline, always teaching them life lessons that have served them beyond their athletic years.
And this is what I mean about learning things about a person only after he has departed from this life and from people who can really give us glimpses of the kind of person or the life he lived in this world.
The fact that the place was full of people is another indication of how Pinky has touched many lives and has taught them lessons .
And I can only wish that when my own time comes, I will get even a fraction only of what these people shared about Pinky.
My condolences to the family.
They can take consolation in the fact that Pinky has touched a lot of lives beyond his family.
