Sacho Ilustre
SAN JOSE, ANTIQUE— Low-key and unassuming, swimmer Jerald Jacinto has all the reasons to be proud and flashy in the ongoing 60th Palarong Pambansa here.
The 15-year-old from University of the East-Caloocan shattered four records in one day, two of them with his fellow National Capital Region tankers, to join the ranks of double-gold medalists at the Binirayan Sports Complex swimming pool.
Jacinto, capturing his first career individual gold in the Games, erased his own record with a 59.64-second swim in the 13-17 100m backstroke for secondary boys’ late in the afternoon after resetting the standard earlier in the day with a 1:00.18 clocking during the heats.
“I was all pumped up after breaking the record this morning,” said Jacinto, a triple gold performer in the UAAP. “I got intimidated by the other swimmers but I prefer to stay humble. I hope I can make it to the SEA Games [in Kuala Lumpur].”
He smashed the Palaro mark set by NCR’s Johansen Aguilar (1:00.79) during the 2009 Tacloban Games.
After his solo performance, Jacinto anchored the powerhouse Metro Manila bets to another record-breaking feat in the 200m medley in 1:52.65 with Andrei Pogiongko, Drew Magbag and Ianiko Limfilipino. The quartet eclipsed the standard set by NCR (1:54.57) in 2008 in Puerto Princesa during the heats with a 1:54.08 effort.
Palaro star Maurice Sacho Ilustre also won two golds—400m freestyle and 200m butterfly—and capped the day by shattering his own record in 200m fly with a 2:04.88 performance. It ripped Ilustre’s 2:07.28 mark in 2015 Tagum.
NCR’s Nicole Pamintuan also joined the bandwagon after wiping out the national mark in secondary girls’ 13-17 backstroke with a 1:07.12 clocking in the heats, enough to eclipse the 1:07.47 of Catherine Bondad (NCR) in the 2013 Dumaguete City edition.