USC, UC rivalry blazes swimfest

CEBU, Philippines - The pool rivalry between the University of San Carlos (USC) and the University of Cebu (UC) produced six meet records at the start of the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Incorporated (CESAFI) Swimming event at the Cebu City Sports Center yesterday.

Jesse Arriola of USC started the record-breaking spree by establishing a new record in the men’s 1500m freestyle. He finished in 19:15.59 bettering the time of 19:44.77 set by Ruben Suerte.

John Solon got into the act by bettering his 200m freestyle to 2:14.16 from 2:15.59.

Loren Dale Echavez was the third USC record breaker after lowering her record in girl’s 200m freestyle to 2:15.93. Her previous mark was 2:18.43.

Paula Abigael Vega was UC’s first record breaker. She broke the previous 200m freestyle record of 2:38.20 set by Larrisa Ang with a time of 2:27.57.

Noel Cañada, another UC stalwart, reset the 200IM record to 2:26.63. The previous record was 2:28.56 set by Andrei Yosef in 2006.

The UC 400m medley team of Romylyn Ignacio, Joyce Huguete, Merlyn Silva and Trina Caneda were the other record breakers. They established a new record of 5:36.69 breaking their previous mark of 5:49.43.

As of presstime, USC is on top of the medal tally with 15 golds, four silvers and six bronze from the college and high school divisions.

UC is a far second with a 5-11-5 medal haul. The University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R) is third with two silvers and bronze.

Other gold medalists from USC were Claudine Candia in the 50m butterfly, Vincent Canda in the 50m butterfly, Jebb Lynus Cane in the 200m individual medley and 200m freestyle, Gwencent Canada in the 100m breaststroke and Ara Echavez in the 100m breaststroke. USC also had six gold medals in the relays.—Caecent No-ot Magsumbol   (FREEMAN NEWS)