PHILIPPINE swimming is in mourning anew after the passing away of former Asian Games medalist Susan Papa on Sunday due to a lingering illness.
She was 64.
Papa began swimming internationally at the early age of 11, and whose career highlight came in the 1974 Asiad in Tehran, Iran when she won the bronze medal as part of the 4x100 medley relay team composed of Nancy Deano, Betina Abdula, and Grace Justimbaste.
She is also the sister of former national team player and PBA pioneer Adriano ‘Jun’ Papa.
After retiring from active competition, she became involved as a swimming coach and instructor, who later on would head the Philippine Swimming League (PSL), an organization established to discover young talent in the sport nationwide.
Papa was the second Filipino swimming official who passed away in the last two months after former Philippine Swimming Inc. (PSI) president Mark Joseph died last March 7 in abroad.
Papa has been a vocal critic of Joseph, who refused to recognize the PSL despite nurturing promising talent such as Micaela Mojdeh and Marc Bryan Dula.
The PSL chief also writes a weekly column at the Manila Times, where she disclosed being diagnosed with ascites (abnormal build-up of fluid in the abdomen), which later developed into Stage 4 cancer.
She had a kidney failure and suffered a stroke that led to her death.
Her remains lie in state at Funeraria Paz (Jacinto Room) at the Manila Memorial Park in Sucat, Paranaque.
Cremation will be held on Wednesday after the 1 p.m. mass.
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