Seventh heaven for NCR swimmer

PROSPERIDAD, Agusan del Sur, Philippines — A golden ride into the sunset.

Graduating tanker Patricia Mae Santor saved her best for a last hurrah, wiping out all of her seven swimming events to emerge as the most bemedaled athlete so far in the 66th Palarong Pambansa at the Aquatic Center of the Datu Lipus Makapandong Gov. D.O. Sports Complex here.

The UST standout completed a rare septet feat by clocking 1:04.9 seconds in the secondary girls’ 100-meter butterfly at the close of the four-day swimming competition here, coming in just milliseconds short of the 1:03.67 meet record of Camille Lauren Buico also from NCR set in the 2019 games in Davao.

She previously ruled the 50m butterfly (28.98), 200m butterfly (2:22.24), 200m (2:27.94) and 400m (5:14.83) individual medley as well as the relays in 4x50m medley (2:00.97) with teammates Krystal Ava David, Nichole Rivera and Sophia Rose Garra; and the 4x100m medley (4:27.13) with David, Garra and Reiko Uy.

Santor smashed the record of Buico (29.06) in 50m fly while she led team NCR to a new mark in the 4x100m, surpassing the 4:32.39 tally of NCR as well, both in 2019.

But Santor wanted a cherry on top with a third record to glitter her seven-gold medal harvest, thus shedding a tear upon emerging from Lane 4 for one last time in the country’s premier scholastic multi-sport meet supported by the Philippine Sports Commission.

“I became emotional not because of winning my seventh gold although it’s really a good achievement but I was aiming for the record,” shared Santor, who celebrated her 18th birthday last May 17.

With the Palaro crown now in her pocket, Santor has entered a league of her own with a triple tiara in the past year as a perfect swan song before her collegiate jump.

She was also the most bemedaled athlete in the Batang Pinoy last year in General Santos City with six golds and one silver while capturing her second MVP in the UAAP Season 88 for UST with six golds and one silver, including three new UAAP records.