Picking up where it left off last year, back-to-back, double high school champion University of Santo Tomas finished the first day of activities in the UAAP Season 86 Swimming Championships ahead of the pack on Thursday at the Teofilo Yldefonso Swimming Pool in Malate, Manila.
The boys’ team of the Tiger Sharks collected four golds, one silver, and three bronze medals for a total of 142 points, almost double that of second-place Ateneo de Manila University (75 points).
Meanwhile, their girls’ team had a modest tally of two golds, two silvers, and one bronze medal for 99 points, establishing a 20-point margin to Ateneo (79 points).
So dominant was UST in the boys’ division that they only yielded one gold medal to Ateneo as they crowded the podium in practically all events.
Aishel Evangelista, 13, picked up the first gold medal of UST in the Boys’ 800m Freestyle, edging out Ateneo’s Franz Ong (9:16.20) and teammate Ivan Radovan (9:24.23) who was last year’s event-winner.
The other individual gold medal of UST came from Marcus De Kam in the Boys’ 200m Individual Medley where he registered a time of 2:14.37 to come ahead of Ateneo’s Ivo Enot (2:19.22) and teammate Yohan Cabana (2:19.79).
UST also ruled the day’s relay events as the Boys’ 4x50m Medley Relay team of Ryian Belen, Shawn Castro, Jullian De Kam, and Jabrielle Delizo finished in 1:51.57, miles ahead of Ateneo (2:00.75) and University of the Philippines Integrated School (2:02.26), while the Boys’ 4x200m Freestyle Relay team of Evangelista, Jullian De Kam, Angelo Sadol and Jose Emmanuel Austria secured a comfortable win in 8:32.34, ahead of Ateneo (9:16.79) — which was the only other competitor in the event.
Ivo Enot of Ateneo provided reason to celebrate for his team as he ruled the Boys’ 100m Freestyle in 53.88 seconds, coming out in front of Marcus De Kam (54.02) and Renz Santos (54.61), both from UST.
It was a slightly different story for the girls’ division as the lean squads of Ateneo and UPIS managed to bring home the gold medals in three of the five events at stake, despite yielding the rest of the podium to UST who boasted a complete roster.
The breadth of UST’s girls’ team was reflected in their sheer domination of the relay events.
In the Girls’ 4x50m Medley Relay, UST’s Ishaelle Villa, Clara Delos Santos, Sinagtala Cuevas, and Gerice Oyaman teamed up for a record-breaking swim in 2:04.29, erasing their old mark of 2:07.82 established in 2019. UPIS took the silver in 2:16.75 as De La Salle Zobel went third in 2:18.42.
Meanwhile, in the Girls’ 4x200m Freestyle Relay, UST’s team of Laureen Daiz, Hanna Sales, Daryn Santa Maria, and Sealtiel Daiz II was more than a minute faster than Ateneo (11:07.32) and UPIS (13:09.62) after clocking a time of 9:41.02.
However, the individual events proved to be opportunities for the other teams to claim some success. UPIS ace Aubrey Tom took the gold in the Girls’ 100m Freestyle by touching in at 1:02.04, ahead of Ateneo’s Lora Amoguis (1:02.24) and teammate Angela Torrico (1:02.85).
Ateneo’s Amoguis sisters claimed the gold in the other individual events of the day. Liaa Amoguis took care of business in the Girls’ 800m Freestyle, finishing in 10:05.35, ahead of UST’s Santa Maria (10:07.92) and Daiz II (10:15.33).
Lora Amoguis, the elder of the two sisters, managed to register a time of 2:28.99 en route to the gold in the Girls’ 200m Individual Medley. Patricia Santor (2:31.53) of UST and Tom (2:33.58) of UPIS rounded out the podium.
Action resumes at 8:30 am with the preliminary session for the 400m Freestyle, 50m Breaststroke, 100m Butterfly, and 200m Backstroke. The final sessions begin at 3:00pm.
