Ariel Joseph Alegarbes splashes his way to victory in the men’s 50-meter butterfly S14 event in the swimming competition of the 11th ASEAN Para Games Tuesday at Jatadiri Sports Complex pool in Semarang, Indonesia. –CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines–Team Philippines has found a new hero from the pool after rookie para swimmer Ariel Joseph Alegarbes pulled off a golden double in record-shattering fashion on Tuesday at the 11th Asean Para Games in Surakarta, Indonesia.
Alegarbes charged ahead in the final 10 meters of the men’s 100-meter backstroke S14 to capture the gold medal by a touch in one minute and .03.01 seconds before a delighted Filipino crowd cheering for him, including his father Abner, at the Jatidiri Sports Complex pool.
The 18-year-old Alegarbes edged Muhammad Imaan Aiman, who led the race three-fourths of the way before settling for the silver in 1:03.20 followed by Thailand’s Mrjirachot Chuvong at distant third in 1:11.68.
Shortly after that scintillating win, Alegarbes went back to the pool and was never denied in winning the men’s 50m butterfly S14 in 26.43 after leading the pack from start to finish.
The prized find from Victoria, Negros Oriental established new meet records in both events. He first broke the five-year-old mark of Indonesia’s Muhammad (1:03.60) in the 2017 Asean Para Games in Kuala Lumpur and erased the joint record of Malaysia’s W.Y. Chung and Indonesian D. Nugruho of 30.01 seconds, also in Malaysia.
Alegabres snared a gold and a silver in the 100m butterfly S14 and 100m backstroke S14, respectively, in the Asian Youth Para Games held in Manama, Bahrain last December.