Haydee Coloso-Espino was a swimmer who is considered as the nation's greatest female swimmer of all time. She competed at the Rome 1960 Summer Olympics. Haydee started swimming in her adolescence in Iloilo after years of playing in the sea just for fun. She developed a serious training regimen which included two hours of swimming before dawn and two more hours at sunset, then moved to Manila to finish her studies in physical education.
Breaking two national records in the pool, she was hailed as the Women’s Swimmer of the Year by the Philippine Sportswriters Association for three straight years, from 1954 to 1956. At the age of 23, she competed in her first and only Olympic Games. She clocked 1:07.8 and placed 6th in heat 4, failing to advance to the semifinals. Once dubbed as “Asia's Swim Queen," Coloso-Espino won a total of ten medals from the 1954 Asian Games, 1958 Asian Games and 1962 Asian Games. Of those medals, three were gold, five were silver, and two were bronze. Her gold medals came from the 100-meter freestyle and butterfly events.
She was inducted into the Philippine Sports Commission Hall of Fame in 2016.
Breaking two national records in the pool, she was hailed as the Women’s Swimmer of the Year by the Philippine Sportswriters Association for three straight years, from 1954 to 1956. At the age of 23, she competed in her first and only Olympic Games. She clocked 1:07.8 and placed 6th in heat 4, failing to advance to the semifinals. Once dubbed as “Asia's Swim Queen," Coloso-Espino won a total of ten medals from the 1954 Asian Games, 1958 Asian Games and 1962 Asian Games. Of those medals, three were gold, five were silver, and two were bronze. Her gold medals came from the 100-meter freestyle and butterfly events.
She was inducted into the Philippine Sports Commission Hall of Fame in 2016.
GAMES
1960 Summer Olympics, Rome