LOS BAÑOS, LAGUNA — Chloe Daos and Ateneo capped another dominant campaign by securing the school’s third straight UAAP Women’s Swimming Championship, Sunday at the Trace Aquatics Center.
Ateneo added 115 more points to finish on top in the four-day, four-team meet with an impressive 458-point haul. It also wins the school’s sixth overall crown in the competition.
But besides another flawless campaign by Daos, Ateneo swimming program director Archie Lim credited the school’s rookies for delivering.
“We were lucky na madami pumasok din na freshmen. At the same time ‘yung mga MVP and leader swimmers namin are still there, so it’s just a matter of maintaining the culture and hoping the new swimmers catch the spirit,” Lim said.
Daos clocked in a UAAP record time of 2:19.03 in the 200m Butterfly to reset the five-year-old 2:19.71 mark of Hannah Dato. She also completes her third straight flawless, seven-gold-medal haul season.
The Lady Eagles displayed their depth and dominance of the league with a sweep of the said event after Suzanne Himor (2:27.26); Raegan Gavino (2:28.57); and Kristine Santos (2:32.24) occupied the second to fourth positions.
On the other hand, University of the Philippines’ prized recruit Erin Castrillo ended her maiden season with a golden double. She claimed both the 50m Backstroke (30.98 seconds) and 50m Freestyle (27.23 seconds) titles.
UP’s Cindy Fernandez (31.51 seconds) and La Salle’s Nikki Pamintuan (31.70 seconds) rounded out the podium in the 50m Backstroke. Ateneo’s Andrea Ngui (27.65 seconds) and UP’s Angela Villamil (27.89 seconds) did the same for the 50m Freestyle.
The sprint queen then captured the Rookie of the Year award with 96 points.
The Lady Eagles had a rookie ace of their own in Nirel Ibarra, who produced a golden performance in the 200m Breaststroke by finishing in 2:50.63 ahead of teammate Jazmin Chua (2:51.72) and Lady Maroons’ Pricila Aquino (2:52.16).
In the tournament’s final event, Courtney Gray, Chua, Himor, and Marjorie Manguiat teamed up for Ateneo to capture the 400m Medley Relay gold in 4:41.08. UP was a distant second in 4:46.33, while UST took the bronze in 4:50.38.
“‘Yun na, naging challenge for the MVP swimmers namin, to inspire the new ones by showing them to never stop improvement and setting higher goals in spite sa achievements nila or ng team,” added Lim.
UP tallied 395 points for second, while La Salle completed the podium with 203. UST had 96 points.
