PH captures 3 more bronze medals in SEA Swimming Championships

FILE: Xiandi Chua, Kirsten Robyn Tan and Lady Samantha Corpuz delivered the medals for the Philippines, which ended its campaign in the nine-nation tournament with four golds, 11 silvers and 14 bronzes. (Pixabay photo)

LOS BANOS, Laguna — The Philippines collected three more bronze medals in the 42nd Southeast Asia Swimming Championships at the Trace Aquatic Center here on Sunday.

Xiandi Chua, Kirsten Robyn Tan and Lady Samantha Corpuz delivered the medals for the Philippines, which ended its campaign in the nine-nation tournament with four golds, 11 silvers and 14 bronzes.

Chua, who topped the 200-meter individual medley (IM) and 200-meter backstroke events in the girls’ 16-18 years old category, clocked 58.75 seconds in the 100-meter freestyle to finish third behind Vietnam’s Nguyen Diep Tram (57.75 seconds) and Indonesia’s Adinda Larrasati Dewi (58.02 seconds).

Tan registered 1:02.41 in the 100-meter freestyle event of the girls’ 13 years and under category which was dominated by Thailand’s Napatsawan Jaritkla (1:0040). Vietnam’s Pham Thi Van was second in 1:01.90.

Corpuz submitted 9:44.88 to take the bronze in the 800-meter freestyle event of the girls’ 13 years and under category. Thailand’s Kamonchanok Kwanmuang won the gold (9:04.04) while Vietnam’s Vo Thi My Tien (9:30.56) got the silver.

Six national junior records were set during the three-day tournament, which saw Vietnam pocketing 58 golds, 39 silver and 21 bronzes.

Those who registered new records were Jonathan Cook, Arbeen Miguel Thrulen, Liaa Margarette Amoguis, Rafael Barreto, Juan Marco Daos and Mishka Sy.

Cook won two silvers in the 100-meter breaststroke (1:03.22) and the 200-meter IM (2:07.95) events in the boys’ 16-18 years old category.

“This is my first time to join the tournament and I am happy with the results,” said 18-year-old Cook, who erased Gerard Bordado’s 12-year-old record of 1:05.47 in the 100-meter breaststroke event.

“I’m glad to have been given the opportunity to represent the Philippines,” said 6-foot-0 Cook, who joined the Singapore Open, his first tournament as a Filipino, last week. His mother is from Sta. Ana, Manila.

Cook, who began swimming at the age of seven, was born in New Jersey but is now based in Seattle, Washington. He is the youngest among three siblings.

“I am proud to compete for the Philippines and I hope to join more tournaments,” said Cook, who attended Henry Jackson High School and is set to start college at the Stanford University.

This is the second time that Cook visited the Philippines since he was five years old.

Thrulen clocked 27.75 seconds in the boys 13-under butterfly event to erase the 11-year-old record of Gabriel Castelo (28.17 seconds) while Amoguis posted 5:19.62 in the girls 13-under 400-meter IM event to improve the 5:26.26 mark set by Raven Faith Alcoseba three years ago.

The other record holders are Barreto (25.54) in the 16-18 boys 50-meter butterfly event, Daos (2:05.96) in the boys 13-under boys 200-meter freestyle event and Sy (2:27.34) in the girls 13-under 200-meter backstroke event.

Meanwhile, Palarong Pambansa standout Jalil Sephraim Taguinod of Isabela province also had a pair of silvers coming from the boys’ 100-meter (1:10.19) and 50-meter (32.27) breaststroke events in the boys’ 13 years old and under category. Both times are his personal best.

“I’m not so happy with the two silvers. I need to train harder to improve my performance,” said 5-foot-8 Taguinod, an incoming Grade 7 student at the La Salle-Greenhills. He finished grade school at the Infant Jesus Montessori School in his hometown Santiago.

During the Palarong Pambansa in April this year, the 12-year-old Taguinod ruled the 50-meter and 100-meter breaststroke, 50-meter freestyle, 50-meter backstroke and 200-meter IM events.

He set new meet records in the 50-meter breaststroke (32.31 seconds) and the 100-meter breaststroke (1:12.92).

Philippine Swimming Inc. president Lani Velasco has expressed her gratitude to the Philippine Sports Commission for its all-out support to the young swimmers.

“We would like to thank the PSC for giving our swimmers the opportunity to train in the US,” Velasco said.

She also praised University of Arizona coach Sam Busch, who was hired as foreign coach of the national juniors team last month.

“Sam’s work with our children gave them the motivation and the knowledge to perform well in this competition,” said Velasco, who also cited the skills of local coaches.