Cabayaran sinks swim mark; Gomez scores

DAVAO CITY—Swimmer Alexi Cabayaran has the knack for claiming psychological victory even before she hits the pool.

Small wonder that her record-breaking feat in the elementary girls’ 200-meter freestyle hardly surprised the 12-year-old from Western Visayas in Day 2 of the Palarong Pambansa on Tuesday.

“I expected to win because I trained hard during my preparation,” said Cabayaran in Filipino, after her gold-medal effort clocked at 2:15.76, shattering the mark of National Capital Region’s Imee Joyce Saavedra (2:16.72) accomplished five years ago in Sta. Cruz, Laguna.

Cabayaran, an incoming Grade 7 pupil who hails from Silay City in Negros Occidental, pocketed another gold in the 100m backstroke, but her 1:10.04 clocking missed smashing the 13-year-old standard of NCR’s Dorothy Grace Hong (1:09.65) by a hair.

Scooping six gold medals in the Batang Pinoy Visayas leg in Iloilo City almost three months ago, Cabayaran is seeking to erase her three-gold output in Vigan City last year.

“This is my last year in the elementary division and I intend to sweep the rest of my events,” said Cabayaran, who will swim in the 100m back, 100m free, 50m free and 100m fly.

Algin Gomez of Cagayan Valley shared the limelight with Cabayaran after jumping to his second gold in the secondary boys’ triple jump at the University of Mindanao track oval with a leap of 14.62 meters.