Guerrero annexes second gold in ASEAN games

Jenny Rose Guerrero kept the Philippines campaign afloat for the second straight day after she captured the country’s second gold medal late Monday in the swimming competition of the 11th ASEAN University Games at the Rizal Memorial pool.

Guerrero, a 17-year-old first year economics student of De La Salle University, defeated Thailand’s Tachapor Lamsanitamorn for the second straight day with another golden swim in the 50-meter breaststroke.

A veteran of the 2000 Sydney Olympics, Guerrero timed 35.7 seconds, ahead of Lamsanitamorn’s 36.51 and Singaporean Emy Sukowo’s 38.04, to add another gold medal to her growing collection which included one in the 200-m breaststroke.

"I just gave it my best because I’m swimming not just for my school and the UAAP but also for our country," said Guerrero, who is eyeing her third individual gold medal in the 100-m breaststroke late yesterday.

But while she emerged victorious in the breaststroke event, Guerrero was not as successful in the 200-m individual medley where she ended up with a bronze medal behind Thai tankers Hiranya Tanraphan and Papaporm Wasitnitiwat.

Her victory, however, came as an island of calm amid an ocean of tumult as powerhouse Thailand kept ranking in the medal, winning nine more gold medals of the 12 disputed in Day 2.

Thailand, now with a total of 16 gold medals, got the second batch of its huge gold haul Monday from its men’s and women’s 400-m medley relay teams, Tanraphan (2), Piyaporn Tantiniti (2), Arwut Chinnapasaen (1), Vorrawuti Aumpiwan (1), Piyawat Kraithmjtkul (1) and Teanpo Boonamkitsawad (1).

Aside from Guerrero’s gold medal in breaststroke, the other two gold medals Thailand failed to cop were won by Dennis Yan Seng Lee of Singapore (men’s 50-m freestyle) and Ariski Darmadi (men’s 200-m individual medley).