LOS BAÑOS, LAGUNA — Title favorite La Salle stretched its lead to 13 points after Day 2 of the UAAP Season 82 Swimming Championships at the Trace Aquatic Sports Complex.
Most Valuable Player race leader Sacho Ilustre of DLSU continued to dominate the field, adding two more gold medals to his name. He started the afternoon by ruling the 400m Freestyle in 4:12.72, ahead of UST’s Christian Anor (4:14.81) and Ateneo’s Ianiko Limfilipino (4:15.69).
Later on, he made quick work of the 100m Butterfly by finishing in 55.51 seconds. In the morning preliminaries, he erased the year-old UAAP record of Jessie Lacuna (55.77) by registering a time of 55.44 seconds — the season’s first UAAP record in the Men’s Division. UST’s Reynald Cullentas took the silver in 57.74 seconds, while UP’s Andrae Pogiongko took the bronze in 58.29 seconds.
Jexter Chua of DLSU provided ample support to Ilustre by topping the 50m Breaststroke in 30.04 seconds. Ateneo’s rookie Rian Tirol finished next at 30.41 seconds. Meanwhile, DLSU’s Alfonso Bautista rounded out the podium with his time of 31.28 seconds.
But Ateneo tried their best to keep it close to keep their six-peat hopes alive. Akiva Cariño led the way for the Blue Tankers by defending his 200m Backstroke crown clocking in at 2:11.37, narrowly beating long-time rival Baste Arcilla of UP, who finished in 2:11.96. DLSU’s Christian Sy finished third in 2:13.60.
Following the inspiring win of Cariño, Ateneo’s quartet of Drei Buhain, Jethro Chua, Justin Sy, and Miguel Barlisan dominated the 400m Freestyle Relay in 3:39.06. UST (3:42.10) and UP (3:42.50) contended for the two other podium positions.
The battle for the crown is still far from over as DLSU (163 points) and Ateneo (150 points) are neck and neck. Meanwhile, UST (114 points) and UP (114 points) still have an outside chance of catching up to the leaders.
UAAP Swimming action continues at the Trace Aquatic Sports Complex on October 19, 2019. 200m Freestyle, 100m Breaststroke, 50m Butterfly, 100m Backstroke, 400m Individual Medley and 200m Freestyle Relay are lined up for Day 3.
