Akiko Thomson
 |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Gillian Akiko Nakamura Thomson |
| Full name | Gillian Akiko Nakamura Thomson-Guevara |
| National team | Philippines |
| Born | October 8, 1974 Washington, D.C., United States |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Swimming |
Gillian Akiko Thomson (born October 8, 1974) is a Filipina television host, journalist and retired swimmer. She is the most accomplished Filipina swimmer in the Southeast Asian Games having won eight gold medals in the biennial multi-sport meet between 1987 and 1993. She is the youngest of three children born to a Japanese mother from Hiroshima, Hiroko Nakamura and American father, James Marsh Thomson. Her older siblings are Julia and Joshua. When she was young, she and her family moved to Manila where her father, who had previous experience with the United States Office of Naval Intelligence, became the Executive Director of the American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines in the latter years of the Marcos dictatorship.[citation needed]
Thomson began swimming at the age of six. She started to represent the Philippines in several swimming competitions locally and abroad after becoming a naturalized Filipino citizen through an Act of Congress by the age of 12. Among the tournaments she competed in are the 1987 and 1991 Southeast Asian Games, where she won seven gold medals, and the 1988, 1992 and 1996 Summer Olympic Games.[1]
Thomson graduated with a degree in Anthropology at the University of California, Berkeley and then took her masters in Business Administration at the Ateneo de Manila University.[2] After her retirement from competitive swimming, she became a television host and journalist with Probe Productions at ABS-CBN. She is married to Chips Guevara and had a baby in 2011.
At present, Thomson is the current president of Philippine Olympians Association, replacing former president Art Macapagal.[3]
Filmography
Television
- Game Plan
- Cheche Lazaro Presents
- Probe
Commercials
- Tender Care
- Milo
- Rejoice
References
- ^ "Gillian Thomson". www.sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on April 17, 2020. Retrieved January 30, 2010.
- ^ "A perfect 10". www.healthtoday.net. Archived from the original on June 12, 2010. Retrieved August 18, 2010.
- ^ "GILAS MEMBERS FETED BY FORMER OLYMPIANS". Malaya. Archived from the original on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 15 December 2015.
- 1974 births
- Living people
- ABS-CBN News and Current Affairs people
- American women of Japanese descent
- American emigrants to the Philippines
- Ateneo de Manila University alumni
- Filipino people of American descent
- Filipino people of Japanese descent
- Filipino female swimmers
- Naturalized citizens of the Philippines
- Olympic swimmers of the Philippines
- People from Manila
- People from Washington, D.C.
- Swimmers at the 1988 Summer Olympics
- Swimmers at the 1992 Summer Olympics
- Swimmers at the 1996 Summer Olympics
- University of California, Berkeley alumni
- Southeast Asian Games medalists in swimming
- Southeast Asian Games gold medalists for the Philippines
- Southeast Asian Games silver medalists for the Philippines
- Swimmers at the 1994 Asian Games
- Competitors at the 1987 Southeast Asian Games
- Competitors at the 1991 Southeast Asian Games
- Asian Games competitors for the Philippines