Coseteng swim unearths new pool talents

MANILA, Philippines– New talents emerged from the inaugural Nikki Coseteng swimming championships held recently at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex.

Coseteng, of the Diliman Preparatory School and the event’s chief organizer, said they have achieved their goal of harnessing raw talents from the grassroots by putting up the competitions across all age-groupers from all over the country in 54 events.

Easily the most outstanding swimmer was 12-year-old Paula Cayanan of the Joey Andaya Seagulls Team who amassed four golds in the event, three of them meeting the United States standards.

“I would like to thank the parents and school authorities and all the swim clubs. This proved that given a good program, they will not hesitate taking part in the interest of Philippine swimming,” said Coseteng, a former senator, who staged the event with the Philippine Swimming League.

Cayanan broke the US AAAA mark in 50-meter freestyle (29.69 seconds) with a time of 28.59 seconds. She also timed two minutes, 28.94 seconds in 200m free to surpass the AA benchmark of 2:31.09. Cayanan snatched the 100m backstroke after a 1:19.78 swim which was better than the A standard of 1:23.28. She also took the 200m individual medley honors.

Fourteen-year-old Pricila Aquino also posted impressive times in snaring four golds of her own. The University of the Philippine varsity tanker won 50m free and 100m breast.

But Aquino upped the ante in the 200m IM when she clocked 2:41.65 which was faster than tha AA mark of 2:44.29 for that age-group. She also surpassed the AA mark in 200m free (2:25.39) with a 2:23.06 effort.

Skyler Claveria of Dennis A. Cordero team also made his presence felt with a stunning golden performance in the boys 13 to 14 200m IM. But his gold in the 100m breast set him apart as the 13-year-old beat the 1:14.59 AAA standard when he finished with 1:13.96.

Andrei Manzo, a 17-year-old from Raging Paddlers of Mindoro, annexed the 15-17 100m breast with a time of 1:11.31 which far exceeded the AAA standard of 1:13.09. His teammate Benedict Geneta, 14, broke the AA time in 13-14 200m free (2:17.29) with a time of 2:16.65.

Also garnering multiple golds was Claire Adorna, 18 and swimming for UP varsity. She bagged golds in 18-over 50m free, 100m back and 200m IM.

The competitions had swimmers as young as seven. And among the standouts was 10-year-old Czaree Cassidy Pospia, who collected three golds in 10-under 50-meter butterfly, 50m freestyle and 50m backstroke.