Junrey Dayumat stopped driving a 'bagoneta' - an improvised mode of transportation through, on a railroad track - for a living at 18 and tried his luck with the Philippine Dragon Boat Team in December 2003.

Dayumat had quit school in his junior year in high school and felt he had nothing to lose. But fate would turn out to be kind for the Silay City-born athlete, whose brute strength and talent earned him a slot to the national team.

Dayumat of Sitio Mambag-id, Brgy, Balaring was instantly called to duty in the 22nd Southeast Asian Games in Vietnam, where he helped the Philippine Team to a gold and silver finish in two events. The achievement only gave Dayumat enough reason to continue donning the RP colors.

Two years later, the six-foot Dayumat, 20, emerged as one of the most bemedalled Filipino athlete in the 23rd SEAG held in the Philippines. He powered the RP Team to the gold in the 10-a-side, 20-a-side 500-m and 1000-m races. The national team actually swept the six golds at stake in the event.

"I had to make ends meet for our family by driving a bagoneta because my parents had no permanent jobs," said Dayumat, one of the four athletes awarded by Silay City for their accomplishments in sports during the Rizal Day Celebration Dec. 30.

Also recognized were wheelchair-bound chesser Sander Severino, who won five golds in the ASEAN Para Games; Sonny Boy Jaro, the reigning Philippine boxing champion; Maureen Penetrante, national volleyball player, and Vincent Aliligay, another member of the Philippine Dragon Boat team.

Dayumat said his years of pedaling 'bagoneta' helped a lot in his leg power and stamina --- two of the most important elements in Dragon Boat racing. He said relatives, who are members of the RP Team invited him to also try out with the team along with Aliligay. And the rest, they say, is history.

In preparation for the SEA Games, Dayumat said that they underwent training for six months at Roxas Boulevard, before familiarizing with the actual SEAG venue --- the La Mesa Dam Reservoir in Quezon --- a month before the biennial event.

He recalled that the first competition they participated in was in Macau and China where the RP team got the silver medal.

Dayumat was also part of the RP Team that won golds in an invitational race in Hongkong and in the Asian Championships, participated by five countries in Ceelung, China as well as the World Championships in Berlin, Germany, where the Philippines won a bronze. *CPT

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