HONG KONG - The Philippines stroked to 42 gold medals in 98 events and topped the two-day, six-nation 24th annual Mantas 2000 Invitationals at the Shing Mun Valley Swimming Complex, Tsuen Wan, here last Sunday.
Nine Filipino clubs triggered the tidal wave that buried the host Mantas in second place. The Hong Kong team of 77 swimmers bagged 38 golds. Vietnam's Saigon Sharks collected five golds to wind up third.
Parañaque's Blue Marlins of the Elorde Sports Center took team honors behind 17 golds. Coach Angelo Lozada's Philippine Columbian Association Stingrays finished second and last year's champion Alabang Country Club Gators, missing the services of two mainstays drafted for the national pool, slipped to third. As hosts, the Mantas did not figure in the team race.
The other Filipino clubs were the Ayala Heights Harpoons, Bert Lozada's Arctic Penguins, Manila Seahawks of Pandacan, Quezon City Waves, International School of Manila Sailfish, and the Camp Crame Sea Dragons.
Jefferson Jomlun, 12, was the undisputed star of the show. Coach Abdul Gaillot's Davao City discovery was never threatened as he swept 10 individual events and anchored the Marlins to victory in the boys 200-meter freestyle relay. Jomlun, an Olivarez College high school sophomore, ruled the 100-meter freestyle, 50-meter breaststroke, 100-meter butterfly, 50-meter backstroke, 200-meter individual medley, 200-meter freestyle, 100-meter backstroke, 50-meter butterfly, 100-breaststroke, and 50-meter freestyle events for the boys 11-12 age group.
The Mantas' Natalie Durant, 9, was second in the individual medal standings with seven golds.
Five Filipinos were cited for compiling the most points in their age groups. Jomlun was the outstanding swimmer in the boys 11-12 category. The others were the Stringrays' Carmina Quilala in the girls 8-and-under, the Waves' Matthew Tano in the boys 9-10, the Marlins' Wilven Hussin in the boys 13-14, and the Gators' Luigi Manotok in the boys 15-and-over.
Tano, 10, earned six golds and Hussin, 13, five. Southeast Asian Games veteran Althea Lim of the Harpoons hauled in four golds and broke the meet record in the 15-and-over girls backstroke when she clocked 1:09.81 to erase Akiko Thomson's mark of 1:11.02 set in 1991. Manotok and the Seahawks' Bea Delmundo pocketed three golds each. The Gators' Mimi Lucas, Quilala, and the Sea Dragons' Carlo Esguerra had two golds apiece.
Other Filipino gold medalists were the Gators' Joseph Brimer, the Sea Dragons' Jose Sarte, the Marlins' Den Eric Basconcillo, and the Stingrays' Kevin Tiambeng.
There were 17 teams in the meet which was launched by the late British Army Capt. Harry Wright in 1976. Wright's wife June and son Robin remain active in organizing the yearly swimfest.
Coach Anthony Lozada's Gators came without stalwarts Jenny Guerrero, in the waiting list for the Sydney Olympics, and Cricket Manotok, competing in the Cebu national tryouts.