Ateneo de Manila University kicked off its drive for an ‘eight-peat’ in the UAAP Men’s Swimming Championships, taking home two golds, two silvers, and two bronze medals to tally 102 points on Thursday at the Teofilo Yldefonso Swimming Pool in Malate, Manila.
The Blue Eagles’ golds were clinched in the Men’s 100m Freestyle and Men’s 200m Individual Medley, courtesy of last season’s top two finishers in the Most Valuable Player award race, Rafael Barreto and Joaquin Santos.
Barreto dominated the Men’s 100m Freestyle, seizing the gold with a time of 52.78 seconds. His teammate, Daos, followed closely in 53.24 seconds. UP rookie Matthew Alumbres secured the bronze in 53.34 seconds.
Santos successfully defended his crown in the Men’s 200m Individual Medley, finishing at 2:10.41, outpacing Ted Laminta and Philip Sahagun, both from DLSU, who clocked 2:12.11 and 2:13.90, respectively.
In the sole medal event of the morning session, Alexander Chu of De La Salle University surprised the competition, achieving an upset win in the Men’s 800m Freestyle.
Chu masterfully kept the Ateneo trio of reigning MVP Phillip Joaquin Santos, last year’s Rookie of the Year Joshua Del Rio, and Marco Daos at bay, preventing a podium sweep in the event.
Chu led from start to finish, touching in 8:48.39 ahead of the Blue Eagles trio. Santos claimed second place with a time of 8:52.88, while Daos settled for third in 8:53.03.
“I prepared a lot for that 800m freestyle because I really wanted to get a medal, and distance is one of my main events talaga,” Chu said.
“Ateneo was always 1, 2, and 3 in the previous years, so me being first kanina was a big surprise for me.”
The afternoon session began with an intense matchup in the Men’s 4x50m Medley Relay as three teams were neck and neck from start to finish.
In the end, University of Santo Tomas quartet of John Neil Paderes, Lance Lotino, Jules Mirandilla, and Johan Aguilen clinched the gold with a time of 1:47.99. UP took the silver in 1:48.28, while DLSU rounded out the podium at 1:48.33.
The Fighting Maroons also secured a gold medal in the day’s final event, the Men’s 4x200m Freestyle Relay, with Alumbres, Kensaku Hatazawa, Ethan Chua, and Keane Ting finishing in 8:05.06, narrowly ahead of the Green Tankers (8:06.33) and the Blue Eagles (8:18.12).
Meanwhile, University of the Philippines signaled its intent to reign supreme in the women’s division, achieving the same medal tally as Ateneo’s men’s swimming team, amassing 91 points for the day.
The Fighting Maroons displayed another rousing performance in the Women’s 100m Freestyle as Camille Buico (0:59.45) and rookie Quendy Fernandez (1:00.21) secured a 1-2 finish ahead of UST’s Alyza Ng (1:01.42).
Another young upstart, Juliana Villanueva of UP, ruled the Women’s 800m Freestyle.
The rookie pulled away from the field early in the race and was virtually swimming solo the rest of the way. She completed her swim with a time of 9:39.94 as two swimmers from DLSU, Alcoseba (9:54.01) and Sanchez (9:54.05), grabbed the second and third spots, respectively.
The Ateneo squad of Sam Coronel, Annika Isip, Marjorie Manguiat, and Kimi Manuel put an end to the long, dominant reign of UP in the Women’s 4x50m Medley Relay, doing so in a record-breaking fashion as they registered a time of 2:02.29, smashing the old UP mark of 2:04.45. UST touched next at 2:04.33 as UP settled for third in 2:04.34.
When asked how the record-breaking win felt, senior Manguiat said: “Nung nanalo kami nung nagtouch si Kimi tapos nakita namin na first kami, sobrang saya namin kasi from last year, parang nag-silver lang kami, so it felt like we fell short. But this year, sabi namin we’re really back for more. Pinaka hindi namin ineexpect yung record talaga. The record is just a bonus, it’s a manifestation of all our hard work and yung pagod namin sa training. And we owe it all to our coaches, teammates, family, and siyempre to God.”
The women’s team of Ateneo went on to bring home two more gold medals in the afternoon with the performance of strong Rookie of the Year contender Mishka Sy in the Women’s 200m Individual Medley, and the team of Coronel, Manuel, Nirel Ibarra, and Sam Doragos in the Women’s 4x200m Freestyle Relay.
Sy brought home the gold in 2:23.63, beating UP’s veteran tanker Erin Castrillo (2:24.63) and fellow rookie Shairinne Floriano (2:28.54) of UST.
On the other hand, Ateneo (9:17.06) swept in for the gold in the day’s other relay event as the team of DLSU, who led for most of the event, were disqualified for an infraction. UST (9:19.58) brought home the silver medal as UP (9:22.92) took third place.
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 3:00 pm.
