Ateneo tankers score UAAP golden double

MANILA, Philippines - Ateneo, with MVPs Jessie Lacuña and Hannah Dato leading the way, completed another championship double at the end of the UAAP Season 78 swimming competitions yesterday at the Rizal Memorial Swimming Pool.

Dominating right from the start, the Blue Eagles tallied 563 points to capture a second straight men’s crown and third overall.

A former Olympian, the 21-year old Lacuña captured his seventh and final gold in the 200-meter butterfly with a clocking of 2:06.37.

In Day 3 on Saturday, Lacuña also bagged golds in record fashion in the 50-meter butterfly (25.31 seconds) and 400-meter individual medley (4:25.89), aside from topping the 200-meter freestyle event.

Aldo Batungbacal, who shattered the long-standing 1,500-meter freestyle record held by National University’s Cesar Palacios (16:55.53) with a new mark of 16:49.89 to easily win the gold, also shone for Ateneo.

Also winning golds for the Eagles in the final day are Axel Ngui in the 50-meter backstroke (26.57) and 50-meter freestyle (23.23), Gian Silva in the 200-meter breaststroke (2:23.03) and 4x400-meter medley relay (4:06.07).

De La Salle is far second with 286 points while University of the Philippines took the third place trophy with 199 points.