UAAP-Phl fifth in ASEAN tiff

MANILA, Philippines - Team UAAP-Philippines failed to capture a gold medal on the final day of swimming competitions but the Filipino student-athletes still had a reason to celebrate with the team’s most successful ASEAN University Games campaign in six years yesterday in Palembang, Indonesia.

Hannah Dato settled for a silver medal in the women’s 100-meter freestyle event with a time of 58.06 behind Malaysia’s Cai Lin, who clinched the gold with a clocking of 2:18.88, followed by Raina S. Grahana of Indonesia, who grabbed the silver medal in 2:19.54.

Dato, the Ateneo swimmer who is the Season 77 MVP, also went home with  the bronze medal in the women’s 200-meter butterfly event with a time of 2:22.62.

“I wasn’t really expecting it,” said Dato, who is easily the Team UAAP-Philippines’ best performer with three gold, two silver and two bronze medals, in her Facebook message.

Another Ateneo swimming standout, Southeast Asian Gamer Jessie Khing Lacuna, was good only for a bronze medal in the men’s 1,500-meter freestyle event with a time of 16:47.15.

The Filipino tankers ended their five-day stint with four gold, three silver and nine bronze medals, behind taekwondo’s 4-4-4 medal haul.

At the end of the hostilities, the Filipinos won 10-11-22 gold-silver-bronze medals at fifth behind host Indonesia (64-77-45), Thailand (52-34-23), Malaysia (38-39-49) and Vietnam (24-14-2).

It was Team UAAP-Philippines’ best campaign in the biennial regional competition for student-athletes since the 2008 edition in Kuala Lumpur, where the country went home with 8-12-21.

The Filipinos had two gold, three silver and bronze medals in athletics, one silver and four bronzes in diving, and a bronze medal finish in women’s volleyball.