FIL-AMERICAN swimmer Erica Totten broke four national records in the Austin Grand Prix in Texas recently.

This was reported by Philippine Amateur Swimming Association president Mark Joseph, who learned of Totten?s feat when he attended the General Assembly of the Olympic Council of Asia in Kuwait, with Philippine Olympic Committee president Jose Cojuangco Jr. and secretary-general Steve Hontiveros.

Totten, who saw action for the country in the last two stagings of the Southeast Asian Games, recorded two new national marks in the 400-meter individual medley, 200-meter individual medley, 400-meter freestyle and the 800-meter freestyle.

A scholar at the University of Kansas and coached by Jeff Poppel, Totten first improved on her own national record of 5:05.43, which she set in the SEA Games four years ago with a clocking of 5:01.10.

She also shattered Olympian and PSC commissioner Akiko Thomson?s time of 2:24.19 in the 17th SEA Games when she logged 2:23.59 in the 200-m IM.

Totten then set a new mark in the 400-m freestyle of the Ohio Grand Prix she set (4:23.68) last year with a new 4:20.9 clocking.

A third Philippine mark which also belonged to Totten in the 800-m freestyle (9:10.26) also went down after she registered 8:59.19.

Her record-breaking feats made Totten a top candidate for the national squad in the 2009 SEA Games in Laos.

Meanwhile, the Philippine Sports Commission dissolved a three-member task it recently formed aimed at searching for young and talented swimmers, particularly the underprivileged and those from Muslim Mindanao. Peter Atencio