Ateneo Blue Eagles players, Divine Adili, 21, and Rene Baterbonia, 19, drowned during a team-building swimming exercise in Dipaculao, Aurora, on Monday, the Ateneo de Manila University confirmed.
Efi Kalogirou, the estranged wife of basketball coach Tab Baldwin. Photo / Supplied
Local police said “initial findings indicate that the victims were swimming when they were reportedly carried by a strong current into deeper waters”.
The exercise was part of a military-style bootcamp designed to “break the men”, according to former Blue Eagles players.
Baldwin himself released a video statement 24 hours earlier through the university’s social media account, giving his account of what happened.
He said staff sent players into what they thought was shallow water, but as soon as “we realised … they were in dangerous water”, coaches and players did everything to try to get everyone back safely.
When it became clear “we hadn’t accomplished that”, Baldwin said he descended “into the darkest place imaginable”.
Kalogirou says her statement is in response to Baldwin’s message.
“I want to make sure that he doesn’t represent me or my kids,” Kalogirou said.
Kalogirou’s daughter Giota, supported her mother’s statement with her own via social media.
“My Mom BEGGED them to assign him into a different team with adults away from university, away from minors and they not only ignored her but made her life living hell for months. Keep asking questions,” Giota Kalogirou wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
In the Philippines, a minor is under the age of 18.
Tab Baldwin during his time as Philippines coach shaking hands with Tall Blacks players after an Olympics qualifying game in 2016. Photo / Getty Images
One of the victims’ families had earlier spoken out about the nature of the training exercise.
“If they had told us about this kind of training, I would never have allowed my son to go,” Baterbonia’s mother Rovelyn said.
“My child is not a soldier. Basketball training should be in the court, not in the sea.”
The university has categorically denied social media claims that players trained with ankle weights in the sea, and local authorities have ruled out foul play, describing the deaths as “purely accidental”.
The Herald has contacted Ateneo University for comment on Kalogirou’s new claims.
A lawyer acting for the Baterbonia family, who is seeking an order preventing Baldwin from leaving the country, has said: “We are not saying that he has any liability here”.
The Department of Justice is investigating the deaths, while a separate inquiry into the university’s athletic programme and its safety standards is underway.
Baldwin, who coached the Tall Blacks to a historic fourth place at the 2002 world championships was also inducted into the NZ Basketball Hall of Fame in 2023.