Flexing its swimming muscles to the hilt, Vietnam swept the six-kilometer mixed relays in both age groups of the 4th Southeast Asia Open Water Swimming Championships presented by the Philippine Sports Commission on Saturday.
Under fair conditions once again at the 1.5-kilometer course overlooking Boracay Newcoast, the Vietnamese tankers were in a class of their own in the 14-18 and 20-and-over divisions of the meet organized by Philippine Aquatics Inc. and sanctioned by the Southeast Asian Swimming Federation.
Ngoc Vin Dho, Kha Ni Nguyen, Tu Uyen Le Huynh, and Van Dung Cao combined for a time of one hour, 15 minutes, and 43 seconds to clinch the gold in the 14-18 division.
Vin Thabao Nguyen, Thi Bac Ngoc Vo, Thi Thuy An Pan, and Gu Phuc Tran topped the older category in 1:13.20.
(C) Pet Salvador/PAI
Thailand (1:16.50) and Singapore (1:20.33) took the silver and bronze, respectively, in the 14-18 division, while the Thais (1:16.45) and Indonesians (1:20.21) completed the podium in the 20-and-over class.
With most of the Filipino tankers still familiarizing themselves with the intricacies of open water swimming, the country’s campaigners finished fourth and last in both divisions of the championships, which were also backed by the Aklan provincial and Malay municipal governments.
In the 14-18 bracket, Alexander Chu, Nuchs Veronica Ibit, Graziella Sophia Ato, and Anton Paulo Dominick Della clocked 1:22.34, which coincidentally was also the time posted by the older quartet of Zhyhed Pheonix Pajas, Makayla Bettina Fetalvero, Stacey Arabelle Bee, and Rio Stephen Coliyay.
“I tried my best to catch up in the last leg of the relay but the Singaporean swimmer ahead of me was just too far ahead,” Della said of his anchor leg in the 14-18-year-old race.
“Perhaps if we had more time to train together we could have performed better,” added Della, the most bemedalled high school swimmer with four gold medals in the last Palarong Pambansa.
Bella Aaliya Pano led a 1-2-3 Philippine finish in the girls’ 16-17-year-old 3K festival event, clocking 40:11.49 for the gold. Dominique Gabrielle Lepaco (50:25.27) and Samantha Dainyhel Jamelarin (50:30.06) settled for silver and bronze, respectively.
(C) Pet Salvador/PAI
Sharing the spotlight was Vernan Certeza, 85, of Jaro, Iloilo, the oldest participant in the men’s 3K festival event, who astonishingly needed just under 90 minutes to complete the race.
PAI secretary general Eric Buhain saw a silver lining in the performance of the local swimmers, noting that the majority were still transitioning from the shorter distances of indoor swimming to the challenges of the longer open water discipline.
“We are sowing seeds for the future with these young swimmers, an investment in open water swimming that will pay off in the long run as we aim to aggressively catch up with the rest of the region,” Buhain said.
“Given time, we aim to be at par if not better than our Southeast Asian neighbors,” he said.
