LONDON Olympian Jessie Khing Lacuna remained the country’s finest swimmer after smashing two meet records yesterday in the national finals of the 6th Speedo
G-League Philippine National Long Course Swimming Championship at Rizal Memorial pool.
Lacuna, winner of a silver medal and a pair of bronzes in the recent Singapore Southeast Asian Games, set the meet marks over the fast-rising Maurice Sacho Ilustre in the 1500-meter and 400m freestyle.
The 22-year-old from Pulilan, Bulacan, erased the 1500m record (17:01.85) he set last year with a time of 16:33.10, handily beating Ilustre, the Philippine National Games multiple gold medalist who clocked 17:05. Miguel Antonio Arellano was third in 17:26.93.
“I wasn’t thinking about my opponents because I was more concerned about my clockings,” said Lacuna, an Interdisciplinary Studies junior at Ateneo. “For the (1500m), the target was to go 16 minutes flat.”
Ilustre’s time broke the old standard of Fahad Alkhaldi (17:17.82), set in 2011, for swimmers 16 years and younger.
Lacuna duplicated the victory in the 400m free where he also defeated the 16-year-old Ilustre. Lacuna clocked 4:02.90 to eclipse the 4:06.38 mark he set in 2012.
Ilustre touched the wall in 4:12.83 and national team mainstay Axel Toni Ngui got the bronze in 4:13.32.
Hannah Dato also smashed meet records in the 800m and 400m freestyle. The 21-year-old timed 9:27.37 in the 800m, besting her old mark of 9:34.94. Kirsten Chloe Daos got the silver (9:39.20) and Raissa Gavino placed third (9:54.58).
Dato also broke her own record of 4:38.77 in the 400m with 4:34.37.