As national fencer Samantha Catantan leaves for the United States at the end of the month, her four other teammates are set to begin their training for international meets this January.
Catantan’s teammates will be getting ready to join an Olympic qualifier this April in Seoul.
“We have four athletes who are getting ready for the Olympics. As for Samantha, she is still a go with her scholarship in the US,” said PFA secretary general Rene Gacuma.
Catantan’s trip was made possible after the 18-year-old fencer decided to push through with her plans to accept an athletics’ scholarship at Penn State University in Pennsylvania.
Catantan, one of two national fencers who settled for bronze medals in the 30th Southeast Asian Games, is set to depart on Dec. 28 after getting her paper works completed.
Gacuma said lockdowns in the US to control the spread of the coronavirus pandemic delayed Catantan’s trip.
Catantan, who studied at the University of the East, is seeking to be part of Penn State’s varsity team known as the Nittany Lions.
The Nittany Lions placed runner-up in Division I of the US National Collegiate Athletic Association competitions last year.
This year’s batch of foil players from Penn State will be led by Lodovica Bicego.
Penn States’ preparations for the 2020 NCAA Championship was affected when the COVID-19 pandemic erupted around the world.
Among those Filipino fencers who are preparing for qualifiers are Nathaniel Perez and Noelito Jose in men’s epee.
There’s also CJ Concepcion in the men’s sabre.
In the women’s side are epee specialist Hanniel Abella and Jeleen Nicanor in sabre.