Haydée Coloso-Espino (August 28, 1937 – August 12, 2021) was a Filipino swimmer who competed at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome as well as the Asian Games on three occasions.
Career
Once dubbed as “Asia's Swim Queen,"[2] 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.[3]
Following her outstanding performance at the 1954 Asiad, Coloso-Espino was a shoo-in to make the national team to the 1956 Summer Olympics. However, she became pregnant before the meet and had to take a time off from competitive swimming.[4]
Two years later, Coloso-Espino saw action in the 100m freestyle at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, but did not get past the heats.[1][8] She capped her swimming career by winning three more medals at the 1962 Asian Games in Jakarta.[5]
Retirement
After her stint at the 1962 Asiad, Coloso-Espino retired from competitive swimming and became an educator. She briefly resided overseas but returned to her ancestral house in Iloilo to raise her seven children. She taught at the Far Eastern University, her alma mater, Lyceum of the Philippines and Araullo High School. She retired from teaching in 1993.[6]
Death
On January 16, 2020, Coloso-Espino was admitted at the Medicus Medical Center in Iloilo, due to chronic respiratory infection.[6] She was able to recover from hospitalization but remained frail and asthmatic. Later confined in her residence in Mandurriao in Iloilo City, she died on August 12, 2021, sixteen days before her 84th birthday.
Legacy
With ten medals (3 gold, 5 silver and 2 bronze medals), Coloso-Espino holds the record for the most number of medals won by a Filipino athlete - male or female - in the Asian Games.[4][9]
She and fellow swimmer Jocelyn von Giese were the first Filipina athletes to win gold medals in the Asian Games. She is one of few Pinays to win at least three gold medals in the quadrennial multi-sport meet, along with sprinter Mona Sulaiman and bowler Bong Coo.[9]
In 2016, Coloso-Espino was inducted into the Philippine Sports Hall of Fame as part of the second batch of inductees.[10] She is the first Filipina swimmer to earn the accolade.
^"PH's greatest female swimmer dies at 83". ABS-CBN News. August 13, 2021. Retrieved August 19, 2021. Haydee Coloso-Espino, considered as the Philippines' greatest female swimmer, passed away on Thursday. She was 83. Coloso-Espino, once nicknamed "Asia's Swim Queen," racked a total of 10 medals from the 1954 Asian Games, 1958 Asian Games and 1962 Asian Games.
^ abc"Olympians Who Won a Medal at the Asian Games". www.olympedia.org. Olympedia. Retrieved August 17, 2021. Haydée Coloso|PHI|SWI|1960|3–5–2; 1954 Manila SWI gold: 100 m freestyle and 100 m butterfly, silver: 4×100 m freestyle relay; 1958 Tokyo SWI gold: 4×100 m medley relay, silver: 100 m freestyle, 200 m freestyle, and 4×100 m freestyle relay; 1962 Jakarta SWI silver: 4×100 m freestyle relay, bronze: 100 m freestyle and 4×100 m medley relay.
