Ateneo de Manila University annexed a seventh consecutive title in UAAP men’s swimming after finishing strong on the final day of the Season 85 Championships, Sunday at Teofilo Yldefonso Swimming Complex in Malate, Manila.
This championship is Ateneo’s second title of the season — and its eighth title overall — after collecting 411 points, 37 markers ahead of De La Salle University’s 374.
Three first-time swimmers led by eventual Most Valuable Player Philip Joaquin Santos bagged the men’s crown for Ateneo.
Santos closed his rookie season with silvers in the men’s 1500-meter freestyle with 16:57.72, just behind teammate and eventual Rookie of the Year Joshua Del Rio’s 16.49.61, and in the 200-meter butterfly with 2:10.03 — second to University of Santo Tomas’ Mervien Mirandilla’s 2:09.98.
Santos, the Season 82 Boys’ MVP, amassed 93 points ahead of fellow Ateneans Rafael Barreto (86 points) and Del Rio (64 points).
Barreto made a run in the ROY-MVP race and further boosted the Blue Eagles’ run. The rookie grabbed golds in the 50-m backstroke with 27.49 and in the 50-m freestyle with 24.06.
“I was very happy and proud. Kasi coming from the pandemic, a lot of uncertainties talaga not just for us, I’m sure for others din,” Ateneo swimming program director Archie Lim.
“But ‘yun nga, I think it’s the spirit of positiveness, and then they really performed and really give their all. ‘Yun lang hiningi ko — the championship is just a bonus for us,” Lim continued.
La Salle final day run was highlighted by EJ Jayme’s gold-medal finish in the 200-meter breaststroke with 2:26.87.
University of the Philippines closed the men’s competitions with a new UAAP record in the 4×100-m medley relay as swimmers Gian De Guzman, Pepi Mapa, Anton Dela Rosa, and Keane Ting erased the old mark set by the UST quartet of Kevin Dagum, Jay Cabulit, Reynald Cullentas Jr., and Renz Gawidan in Season 82.
