Unlike in previous seasons, record-breaking performances in individual events have become few and far between in the UAAP Season 86 High School Girls’ Swimming Championships.
Clara Delos Santos of University of Santo Tomas broke the dry spell on the second day of action, Friday, at the Teofilo Yldefonso Swimming Pool in Malate, Manila.
Delos Santos rushed to a 33.64-second finish in the Girls’ 50m Breaststroke during the morning preliminaries to erase the old UAAP record by more than a second.
She later dominated the afternoon finals to secure the gold medal in 33.83 seconds, ahead of University of the Philippines Integrated School’s Angela Torrico (35.44) and teammate Anna Viktoria Hansson (37.57).
Coupled with the UAAP record she and her teammates in the Girls’ 4x50m Medley Relay established on day 1, Delos Santos now has two UAAP records to her name.
The girls from UST brought home two more gold medals for the day, one in the Girls’ 100m Butterfly and another in the Girls’ 4x100m Freestyle Relay, to bring their total tally at the halfway mark to five golds, four silvers, and three bronze medals.
UST also registered a total of 222 points in the team standings to establish a wide margin against the Ateneo de Manila University (143), UPIS (117), and De La Salle Zobel (49).
Patricia Mae Santor of UST led all finalists in the Girls’ 100m Butterfly with a strong performance en route to a gold medal with her time of 1:04.42 which was followed closely by her teammate, Sinagtala Cuevas, who touched in at 1:05.40 for the silver medal. Aubrey Tom of UPIS finished third in 1:06.38.
UST’s team of Sealtiel Cherrie Daiz II, Kristine Uy, Gerice Oyaman, and Laureen Sealtiel Daiz brought home the day’s final gold medal for the Junior Tiger Sharks in the Girls’ 4x100m Freestyle Relay with a time of 4:19.61. DLSZ finished second in 4:30.64, followed by Ateneo who clocked in at 4:37.49.
Tom continued to bring home gold medals for UPIS as she led the way in the Girls’ 400m Freestyle in 4:50.90. Rookies Liaa Amoguis (4:52.53) of Ateneo and Daryn Joy Santa Maria (4:52.84) of UST contested for the silver medal where the former edged out the latter by a fraction of a second.
Lora Amoguis, last year’s Most Valuable Player, took the gold for Ateneo in the Girls’ 200m Backstroke where she swam in 2:30.99, ahead of UST’s Ishaelle Mae Villa (2:33.02) and DLSZ’s Zia Ranjo (2:33.69)
Over at the boys’ side, UST kept their formidable form after tallying a total of 305 points in two days of action, more than double the score of second-place Ateneo, who only managed 149 points. Thus, UPIS (41) and DLSZ (20) were virtually thrown out of title contention this early in the season.
The UST Junior Tiger Sharks flexed their might in three events, winning the Boys’ 400m Freestyle, Boys’ 100m Butterfly, and Boys’ 4x100m Freestyle Relay.
In the latter event, they also reset their old UAAP record as the quartet of Jabrielle Marcos Delizo, Ryan Zach Belen, Jacob Adrien Tejada, and Jose Emmanuel Austria combined for a 3:43.29 finish. Ateneo could only manage a 3:56.03 finish for second while UPIS took the bronze in 4:29.09.
The Boys’ 400m Freestyle and Boys’ 100m Butterfly finished in a similar fashion for UST as they swept both events, not just crowding the podium, but also taking fourth place.
Marcus De Kam collected a second gold under his belt with his 4:14.14 performance in the Boys’ 400m Freestyle, to lead teammates Renz Santos (4:17.93), Ivan Radovan (4:18.21), and Aishel Evangelista (4:20.54).
In the Boys’ 100m Butterfly, it was Santos’ turn to lead his team as he finished in 57.57 seconds, followed closely by teammates Hugh Antonio Parto (57.79), Radovan (57.81) and Yohan Cabana (58.81).
Again, Ateneo’s Ivo Enot, the reigning Most Valuable Player, would not be denied a gold as he secured the win in the Boys’ 200m Backstroke finishing in 2:14.83. UST’s Jullian Louwers De Kam (2:17.16) and Cabana (2:19.93) rounded out the podium.
Victoriano Tirol and Miguel Martinez, both from Ateneo, made it a 1-2 finish for the Blue Eagles finishing in 30.83 seconds and 31.19 seconds, respectively. UST’s Joaquin Mirasol took the bronze in 31.78 seconds.
The penultimate day of action will feature the 200m Freestyle, 100m Breaststroke, 50m Butterfly, 100m Backstroke, 400m Individual Medley, and the 4x50m Freestyle Relay. Morning preliminaries begin at 8:30 a.m. while the afternoon finals commence at 3:00 p.m.
