University of Santo Tomas continued its domination of the UAAP Season 85 High School Swimming Championships, highlighted by some newly established marks, Friday at the Teofilo Yldefonso Swimming Complex in Malate, Manila.
Aishel Evangelista, 12, held the spotlight after he established a new age-group record in boys’ 11-13 with a time of 4:24.62, breaking the 13-and-under mark of Ryan Arabejo of 4:28.62 he set during the 2002 Batang Pinoy (December 3) held in Puerto Prinsesa, Palawan, to get the boys’ 400-meter freestyle bronze.
Still, it was Nicholas Radovan who made waves with the gold in the said event at 4:21.00, to kickstart the Junior Tigersharks’ day that ended with 288 points, 134 points adrift Ateneo’s distant second of 154.
The reigning boys’ champions, represented by Hugh Parto, Jose Austria, John Paul Abustan, and Renz Santos, punctuated the day with a new UAAP record in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay with 3:45.13, breaking the old mark set by their predecessors just last UAAP Season 82.
Martin Tirol and Ivo Enot scored the wins for Ateneo in the 50-meter breaststroke and the 200-meter backstroke with 30.54 and 2:16:39, respectively, to carry the fight for the Blue Eagles.
De La Salle Zobel and University of the Philippines Integrated School stay in third and fourth places with 33 and 31 points, respectively.
On the girls’ side, it was a lopsided affair as the Junior Lady Tigersharks breached the 300-point mark with 300 markers over UPIS’ 86.
Podium sweeps characterized the defending girls’ champions’ day as they got all the medals at stake in the 400-meter freestyle, 50-meter breaststroke, and 100-meter butterfly.
Joanna Apin took the 400m freestyle gold with 5:04.06, Anna Hansson bagged the 50m breaststroke with 35.72, and Singtala Cuevas reigned the 100m butterfly with 1:07.50.
UST, composed of Chloe Laurente, Laureen Daiz, Sealtiel Daiz, and Krisha Apin, then took down lone competitor UPIS in the final event of the day, the 4×100-meter freestyle relay with a time of 4:21.34, way clear of the latter’s 4:51.59.
Lora Amoguis carried Ateneo into third place with the 200-meter backstroke title with 2:31.16 for the squad’s total of 56 points, pushing DLSZ to fourth with 24 markers.
The Championships go to its busiest Day 3 on Saturday, starting at 8 a.m. for the preliminaries and at 2:30 p.m. for the finals.
