Barreto seizes SE Asia swim gold

RAFAEL Barreto delivered the first gold medal for the Philippines on Sunday in the 39th SEA Age Group Swimming Championship in Vietnam.

The 15-year-old from Quezon City clocked 26.06 seconds to top the boys’ 14-50 meter butterfly, beating Donovan Lee of Singapore (26.38) and Indonesia’s Azel Zelmi (26.55).

Barreto’s golden feat was the first for the country since its victory drought in Singapore last year.

Ianiko Grieco Limfilipino and Xiandi Chua added two silver medals earlier in the day in the boys’ 14-15 and girls’ 14-15 400m individual medley.

Limfilipino clocked 4:48.90 in placing second to Vietnam’s Dat Huynh Man (4:41.02) while Chua registered 5:07.17 behind Vietnam’s Phuong Tram Nguyen Diep, who shattered the 17-year record of Malaysia’s Sia Wai Yen (4:59.72) with a 4:59.13 effort.

It was the fourth medal for Barreto, a third-year high school student from Ateneo de Manila, following a bronze in the boys’ 18-under 400m freestyle relay with Miguel Barlisan, Patrick Galvez and Marco Austriaco.

Barreto, whose 12-year-old brother Miguel topped the 2015 Batang Pinoy National Finals in Cebu with six golds, also placed third in the 200m free in 1:59.07.

Overall, the Filipino swimmers, mentored by national head coach Archimedes Lim, amassed one gold, two silvers and five bronzes on Day 2 of the three-day meet. June Navarro