Antiqueño earns three gold medals

ILOILO CITY, Philippines — Guilliver Clive Clemente of Antique swam to his second and third gold medal, Krisha Aguillon and Aubrey Mae Mercado sprinted to their second mint and host Iloilo City dominated taekwondo to seize the spotlight on the second day of the Visayas leg of the 2019 Philippine National Youth Games-Batang Pinoy at the Iloilo Sports Complex here.

The 14-year-old Clemente blitzed the 400-meter individual medley and 50m breaststroke in a just a few minutes span to add to his victory in the 200m IM the day before and emerge the first triple gold medal winner of the event for in and out-of-school athletes aged 15 years old and below.

Clemente, a San Jose native who is a Grade Eight student at Antique National School, timed in five minutes and 18.92 seconds in the 400m IM, took a brief breather before plunging back to action in the 50m breast where he clocked 33.48 in claiming a third gold.

Now he’s eyeing two more mints as he competes in the 100m and 200m breast today.

“I just want to improve on all of my time but if I could also win more gold medals, that would be nice too,” said Clemente, who recently qualified in the 200m IM in the Palarong Pambansa set in April in Davao City, in Filipino.

Aguillon and Mercado, who topped the 100m and 400m, respectively, the day before, teamed up in the 4x100m relay with Athena Rose Desana and Shalthea Deloteavo and blew away the competition by registering 52.7.

Aguillon, who studies at Tay Tung, and Mercado, who is from Negros Occidental National School, however, will have to part ways as they go for nothing less than a third gold in the 200m starting today.

“May the best runner win,” said Aguillon, who struck gold in the Palarong Pambansa in Vigan, Ilocos Sur last year.