Philippine tankers shine in SEA meet

MANILA, Philippines — The lean but mean 18-man Philippine team to the 45th Southeast Asia Age Group Championships in Jakarta, Indonesia scooped 16 medals, including two gold, plus numerous personal bests.

And for the first time in years, a 16-year-old Phl diver in Joseph Reynado pulled off a podium finish with a third-place effort in the boys platform event (16-18).

Philippine Aquatics, Inc (PAI) secretary general Batangas 1st District Rep. Eric Buhain congratulated the young swimmers for their achievements.

“President Miko (Vargas), myself, and the entire Board of Trustees of Philippine Aquatics, Inc. are very happy about the achievements of our team that competed in the 45th SEA Age Group in Jakarta. Our medal success rate was 77 percent with 17 medals from 18 swimmers and four divers,” said Buhain, a two-time Olympian and Philippine Sports Hall-of-Famer.

“That’s a big leap from last year’s 24-percent medal success rate with 24 medals from 99 swimmers,” Buhain added. “We hope to inspire more Filipino age group athletes to go for medal standards in the 46th edition which Thailand will host next year.”

Jennuel Booh de Leon and Arabella Nadeen Taguinota led the charge for the Filipinos, dominating their respective events on the second day of the three-day competition which attracted top junior swimmers from eight countries.

De Leon, 16, from Aklan, claimed the gold in the boys’ 16-18 class 50m butterfly in 25.40 seconds, topping Malaysian swimmer Bernie Elle Yang Lee (25.49) and Thanaseat Thanonthisitsakul of Thailand (25.72).

The 14-year-old Taguinota, from Pasig, ruled the girls’ 14-15 100m breaststroke in 1:13.40, beating Vietnamese Thuy Hien Nguyen (1:14.07) and Natthakita Leekitchakorn of Thailand (1:14.50).

Jamesray Ajido, gold medalist in the 13-under class last year, still proved to be a force to reckon with in the 14-15 category, winning silver medals in the 50m butterfly (25.93), 100m fly (57.12) and 100m backstroke (1:00.68), while Estifano Ramos delivered the country’s fourth silver, clocking 2:10.39 in the boys 16-18 200m back.

“It was a success even with a small contingent. Most of the swimmers got their personal best. We were solid and everybody was in high spirits,” said head coach Ramil Ilustre.