Filipinos swim way to four golds, new national records

LOS BAÑOS, LAGUNA—Cheered on by the hometown crowd, Filipino swimmers at the Trace Aquatics Center here surpassed their previous output and even smashed six national junior records at the end of the 42nd Southeast Asia Age Group Swimming Championships.

Filipino-American Jonathan Cook wiped out the 12-year-old mark of Gerard Bordado (1:05.47) with a time of 1:03.58 in boys’ 100-meter breaststroke, good for a silver medal.

Cook’s brilliance was duplicated by Arbeen Miguel Thrulen, who timed 27.75 seconds in the 50-meter butterfly that reset the 28.17-second record of Gabriel Castelo achieved 11 years ago.

The record-breaking feats during the three-day swimfest organized by the Philippine Swimming Inc. (PSI) and backed by the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) boosted the medal tally of the vastly improved Filipino, who netted four golds, seven silvers and 15 bronzes.

PSI president Lani Velasco readily acknowledged American coach Sam Busch for whipping up the junior tankers into great form.

“Sam’s work with our children gave them the motivation and the knowledge to perform well in this competition,” said Velasco, who expressed her gratitude to the PSC for funding Busch, a swim coach from the University of Arizona.

Lia Margarette Amoguis got a bronze medal in the girls’ 13-under 400-meter individual medley after clocking 5:19.62, smashing the three-year record of Raven Faith Alcoseba (5:26.26) by almost seven minutes.

Rafael Barreto, a Phoenix Siklab Sports Youth Awardee, broke the record in the boys’ 16-18 50-meter butterfly (25.54), Juan Marco Daos reset the mark in the boys’ 13-under 200-meter freestyle (2:05.96) and Mishka Sy in the girls’ 13-under 200-meter backstroke event (2:27.34).

The Filipino tankers topped their 4-9-8 gold-silver-bronze performance in Brunei last year during the meet sanctioned by the International Swimming Federation (Fina) and the Asian Swimming Federation.

Adding to the country’s medal tally were Xiandi Chua, Kirsten Robyn Tan and Lady Samantha Corpuz, who took a bronze medal each to cap the Philippine campaign supported by Finis, Boysen Paints, Arena Philippines and Wilcon Depot.