Jennuel De Leon of Western Visayas reset another standard in the pool in winning the secondary boys 50-meter freestyle to headline a parade of record-breakers at the 2023 Palarong Pambansa on Friday.
The 18-year-old De Leon clocked 24.09 seconds to shatter the existing mark of Keanne Ting (25.39) that the National Capital Region tanker accomplished in 2019 Davao City.
Nine other swimmers in the same event overshadowed Ting’s previous record with Calabarzon’s Matthew Thomas Alumbres placing second (24.32) and Marcus Johannes De Kam winding up third (24.86).
De Leon also wiped clean a previous standard in the secondary boys 50m backstroke on Thursday.
Calabarzon’s Jamesray Mishael Ajido ruled the secondary boys 100m butterfly in 56.78 seconds, eclipsing NCR’s Miguel Barreto’s 57.40 record in 2019 while NCR’s Lance Rafael Cruz also put himself in the record books in the secondary boys 200m breaststroke.
The 18-year-old Cruz clocked 2:25.29 at the Marikina Sports Complex swimming pool that obliterated the 2019 mark of Calabarzon’s Jordan Lobos (2:26.77)
The Calabarzon quartet of Kaelan Garzon, Kensaku Hatazawa, De Kam and Alumbres, meanwhile, scrubbed the 2015 NCR standard (3:41.38) in the secondary 400m freestyle relay with a collective effort of 3:37.83 at the conclusion of the swim meet.
A total of 11 Palarong Pambansa records in the secondary division fell in the pool.