Southeast Asian Age Group Swimming Championships campaigners Peter Cyrus Dean (left) and Angela Talosig ruled their respective events at the 2023 Palarong Pambansa. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines-Angela Mikaela Talosig initially reinforced her survival skills by spending more time in the pool and eventually discovered that she could actually make a career out of it.
The 17-year-old from Midsayap, North Cotabato swam fastest in the secondary girls’ 400-meter freestyle at the 2023 Palarong Pambansa on Tuesday, clocking four minutes and 38.98 seconds in validating her status as a promising tanker for the national team.
“I just wanted to enhance my water survival skills and found out that I can really swim,” said Talosig, who will don the national tri-colors at the Southeast Asian Age Group Swimming Championships in Jakarta, Indonesia on Aug. 24-26.
Big City swimmers Athena Shannessa Chang and Iliazel Fei Doliente of the National Capital Region arrived at far second (4:46.93) and third (5:05.84) as Talosig gave the South-Central Mindanao region the bragging rights at the Marikina Sports Complex Swimming Pool.
“This is my first gold here in the Palaro and it’s really something special. I’m hoping to win more,” said Talosig, an incoming Grade 11 from Southern Christian College.
She’s a favorite to rule the 200m freestyle on Wednesday as well as the 100m, 800m, 1500m free over the few days while also aspiring to anchor her team to victory in two relay events.
“I want to become an elite swimmer for our country someday. I have to consistently win races locally and internationally for me to achieve that,” said Talosig.
Peter Cyrus Dean of Calabarzon will accompany Talosig in the SEA Age Championships, proving his worth in the secondary boys’ 100m backstroke with the quickest time of 1:00.69 to defeat Jennuel De Leon of Western Visayas (1:00.85) by a hairline.
“I’m confident that I can swim faster, but I felt heavy in this pool,” said the 16-year-old Dean, whose claim to fame was the five gold medals he captured in the Philippine Sports Commission-Batang Pinoy Championships last year in Vigan City, Ilocos Sur.
He came a tad short of erasing the existing 2017 Palaro record of national team standout Jerald Jacinto (59.64 seconds). NCR’s Lance Rafael Cruz settled for the bronze medal in 1:01.17.
“It would be nice if I could win my other individual events,” said Dean, a Grade 11 student at the Manuel S. Enverga University Foundation in Lucena City.
Dean attempts to replicate the golden effort in the 50m and 200m back, 200m and 400m individual medley in the next couple of days.
In the elementary division, NCR’s Krystal David registered the first record-breaker of the Games in the girls’ 100m breaststroke.
The 12-year-old David smashed the decade-old standard of NCR’s Raissa Gavino (1:19.35) achieved in 2013 Dumaguete City with a faster 1:17.98 clocking in resetting the record and pocketing the gold medal.
Other top podium finishers in the pool were Quendy Fernandez of Region 4B (boys’ secondary 100m back, 1:06.35), Region 11’s Paolo Miguel Labanon (boys’ secondary 400m free, 4:12.72), Christian Lagnason (boys’ elementary 400m free, 4:48.44) and Liv Abigail Florendo of Ilocos region (girls’ elementary 400m free, 4:55.87).
Over at the rain-battered Philsports track and field oval in Pasig City, Bicol’s Ana Bhianca Espenilla topped the secondary girls’ javelin throw in 42.81 meters while Joshua Patorara of Western Visayas snared the gold in 6.57m from Jasper Bedonio (6.56m) of Ilocos.
Also in athletics at the Marikina Sports Complex track oval, Loraine Audrey Batta (10:49.7) of Calabarzon nipped Asia Paraase (10:50.3) of Central Visayas in a dramatic finish for the gold in the secondary girls’ 3000m.