THE LADY Tankers celebrated as they emerged champions for the first time ever in Season 71 of the University Athletics Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Swimming Tournament held at Trace Aquatic Sports Center, on September 25 to 27 in Trace College, Laguna.
With them were the Blue Tankers who, similar to their performance last year, won fourth place among the field of competitors. The Blue and White brought home a total of 30 medals and set eight new records for the UAAP this season.
The Lady Tankers outshone other UAAP teams such as University of the Philippines (UP) and University of Santo Tomas. All their relays broke the standing UAAP records with Tankerbelles Mia Crespo (I BS CTM), Bianca Uy (IV BS CoE), Gem Ong (III AB MEco), Keshia Fule (IV AB Comm), Karissa Decena (III BS Bio-A), Kathleen Tan (III BS CTM), Klaudine Decena (I BS LfSci), and Zari Sabelita (I AB Comm) combining for the four relay golds.
A fight to the finish
The Tankerbelles also grabbed three individual records to add to their collection of relay golds. Nicole Santiago (IV AB MEco) broke her own record for the 800m freestyle, clocking in at 9:40.00. She also set a new record for the 200m freestyle, while teammate Ong notched a record-breaker in the 50m freestyle event.
During the first two days of the competition, the Lady Tankers gained steam and took a sizable lead against its competitors. The culminating events saw a rally by the University of the Philippines (UP) to trim the lead down and turn the affair into a fight to the finish. The Lady Tankers’ Ateneo recruits, however, refused to give in and helped snatch the win in dramatic fashion.
Womens’ Team Captain Ian Banzon (IV BS HSc) said, “We won over UP by three points overall in the end to win the championship. Lahat nag-contribute (Everyone contributed) and it was definitely a team effort.”
Starting strong
The Blue Tankers started off the tourney strong as they won first and broke the UAAP record for the 4×50 medley relay on day one. The four-man team was composed of Jan Formalejo (III BS Bio-A), Jan Chiu (IV BS LM), Bruce Sing (III BS Ch MSE) and Men’s Team Captain Jonas Ramos (IV AB MEco).
Ramos said, “It was a good feeling that we were able to [compete] but for this part of the competition, we have a long way to go.”
Individual swimmers such as Chiu and Evan Uy (III BS MIS) also copped silver and bronze medals in the freestyle events. However, the men’s team slipped on the second and third days of the competition and missed out on a podium finish.
