TAGUM, Davao del Norte – All-Star Swim Club’s Xiandi Chua sustained her perfect run on Saturday, adding three more golds to her treasure trove in the Philippine National Age Group Swimming Championships at the Davao del Norte Sports and Tourism Complex Aquatic Center here.
Back to full-time training only last January, Chua stamped her class in the girls 16-18-year-old 200-meter freestyle, 100-meter breast stroke and 200-meter individual medley events t, boosting her collection to five after opening-day wins in the 200-meter back stroke and 400-IM races.
The 2018 Southeast Asian Age Group swimfest double gold medalist was the runaway winner in the 200 free, clocking two minutes and 9.16 seconds, nearly 10 seconds ahead of La Salle Zobel’s Raven Faith Alcoseba (2:17.49) in the meet organized by the Philippine Swimming Inc.
Chua also cruised to victories in the 100 breast stroke (1:15.92) and 200 IM (2:25.24) in the competition supported by the Philippine Olympic Committee, Philippine Sports Commission as well as the Davao del Norte provincial government led by Gov. Anthony del Rosario.
“I only came back to full-time training last January so I came basically not to win golds but to improve on my times,’” said Chua, 17, who is keen on competing for the country in the 30th Southeast Asian Games in December, and will gun for a 6-for-6 sweep of herd events in the 100-meter freestyle on Sunday.
Holiday Gym Swim Club’s Lorah Micah Almoguis of Davao added her second and third mints, clinching the girls 11-13 100-meter backstroke crown (1:34.48) and the 200-meter IM (2:35.19) in a duel with younger sister Liaa Margarette (2:36.93), the outstanding swimmer of the Batang Pinoy Mindanao eliminations also held here last February.
Also among the double gold medalists was Rizal Alpha Dragons’ Aubrey Tom, who ruled the girls 11-13 meter freestyle (2:17.76) and 50-meter butterfly (31.39) in the event that drew over 200 swimmers and 54 clubs from all over the country and serving as national team qualifier for the SEA Games.
Barracuda Swimming School’s Nimrod Montera and Holiday Gym Swim Club’’s Ivo Nikolai Enot likewise picked up their second golds apiece in two days with wins in the boys 11-13 200-meter freestyle (2:18.42) and 50-meter butterfly (29.99), respectively.
PSI president Lani Velasco, who arrived here early on Saturday, thanked del Rosario and sports administrator Giovanni Gulanes for the use of the provincial government’s world-class pool, site of the 2015 Palarong Pambansa swimming meet.
“We would like to thank Gov. Del Rosario for allowing us to use their excellent facilities for our swimmers. Hopefully we can use them for future PSI competitions,” Velasco said.
“It is our honor and privilege to host of the PSI national age group competitions and look forward for more events like these ahead,” Gulanes, who watched the swimmers compete on Saturday, said on behalf of the Davao del Norte provincial government.
