Getty Reyes
A FRESH graduate from the Ateneo High School, Gerard “Getty” Reyes is now moving on to the collegiate scene, gearing up to represent the Blue Tankers in this season’s University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP).
Reyes has been swimming competitively for 12 years. He started training in Celebrity Rapids Swim Club under Coach Ronald Cruz. When he enrolled in the Ateneo Grade School, he finally settled in training with the varsity under Coach Sherwyn De La Paz.
Reyes started setting goals for himself in terms of competitive swimming as he entered high school. “When I got to high school, that [was] when I saw that I had potential. Then, when I was in first year, I wanted to be Rookie of the Year (ROY),” he explains in a mix of English and Filipino.
Unfortunately, Reyes wasn’t able to garner his desired award. This pushed him, however, to become more serious in honing his skills. He decided to train under the Ayala Harpoons Swim Club, which was coincidentally coached by Ateneo Swimming Program Director and Coach Archie Lim.
Reyes’ subsequent competitions resulted in his great improvement under Lim. Reyes became a key player in the Ateneo juniors team, securing the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award for two consecutive years in the UAAP juniors division.
Reyes believes that his two MVP awards were made possible through the mentality established in him by Coach Lim. When he was in his junior year, he told Lim that he wanted to be the MVP even though he didn’t train that much. “But Coach Archie would tell me, ‘How can you become MVP if you don’t put effort into it?’ I then started to train even more and I barely missed training,” Reyes shares.
Reyes continued to improve and was able to qualify for the 38th Southeast Asian Age Group Swimming Championships held in Singapore this year. He also garnered the I Am Xtreme award of the Speedo G-League National Long Course Championships held last July.
Reyes is setting his eyes on clenching the ROY title this UAAP season. This promising swimmer will help lead the team towards the crown for the next few years, winning medals and breaking records along the way.
Ariana Herranz
NATIONAL TEAM player Ariana Herranz is now preparing to join the Lady Tankers in their goal to finally claim the championship title in this season’s University Athletic Association of the Philippines.
Herranz was born in Baltimore, Maryland, but she started her swimming career in San Pablo City, Laguna at a tender age of two. In her first few years of swimming, Herranz was taught by the famous Olympian breeder, Bert Lozada.
At the age of six, Herranz started to represent Lake City Swim Club in different swimming competitions. Under Coach Jayvee Villagracia, her skill in the sport was naturally exhibited by her backstroke and individual medley (IM) events.
By the time she turned 11, she had already garnered gold medals in the 50m and 100m backstroke and 200m IM events in the 2009 Palarong Pambansa held in Tacloban. Her swimming prowess caught the attention of National Team Coach Carlos “Pinky” Brosas, who recruited the swimmer into the national training pool.
Herranz’s skill improved through Brosas’ training program. “I matured in training when I transferred to Coach Pinky,” says Herranz in a mix of English and Filipino. “We had no choice. We’re training with Olympic swimmers, so we had to adapt to their way.”
Herranz entered her first international competition, the 33rd Southeast Asia Age Group Swimming Championships held in Malaysia in 2009. She then qualified for the Philippine team lineup of the SEA Age Group Swimming until she reached the age limit.
Herranz continues to improve greatly, and she is now one of the top backstrokers in the Philippines. Her performances in other national competitions, such as the Philippine National Games, allowed her to be one of the chosen athletes who were given the privilege of witnessing the 2012 London Olympics.
Last year, Herranz qualified in a major international competition, the 2nd Asian Youth Games held in Nanjing, China. Herranz was able to race until the semifinals, making it to the top 10 in the 100m backstroke event.
As a promising new addition to the team, Herranz is ready to achieve both her personal bests and to help the Lady Tankers win this season.
Aldo Batungbacal
ALBERTO “ALDO” Batungbacal is definitely not new to the Ateneo community. He has been garnering records and medals in major nationwide competitions for the Ateneo High School—the team that is currently running for a 10-peat in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP).
Batungbacal was born a swimmer, as he started to swim competitively as early as his toddler years. After switching to different clubs during his first few years of competitive swimming, Batungbacal finally decided to stay in Quezon City (QC) Waves Swim Club.
Batungbacal’s skill greatly improved through the help of the long-time coach of QC Waves, Awad Borja. He currently trains under Coach Cyrus Alcantara.
Batungbacal’s passion for swimming was cultivated through his brother, fellow Blue Tanker Roberto “Robie” Batungbacal. The competitive nature of the UAAP forced the younger Batungbacal to push himself to the limit. “When I was [in] first year [high school], Robie beat me in [the] UAAP [Juniors]. He never beat me ever since,” shares Batungbacal. “After that, whenever he would train, I would have to train more because I wanted to be better.”
This became evident when Batungbacal hit his third year of high school, as his workouts became more specialized to fit his needs. The breaststroker specialist was able to further develop all of his four strokes, enabling him to swim individual medley (IM) events in his future competitions.
Batungbacal then started to bag the medals in most of the national competitions he joined. His first feat was in Palarong Pamabansa 2013, where he swept all the gold medals in the 100m and 200m breaststroke, and 200m and 400m individual medley events. He then exhibited his skill in the UAAP Juniors 76 Swimming Championship, finally owning the records of the juniors 100m and 200m breaststroke, and 200m and 400m IM.
Aside from his successes in the national arena, Batungbacal entered his first international competition in 2013, the 37th Southeast Asia Age Group Swimming Competition (SEA Age) held in Brunei. Consequently, he also qualified for the 38th SEA Age Championship this year in Singapore.
With all of the achievements under his belt, this freshman aims to help the team win the championship in the UAAP. “We can start a new legacy, along with Jessie [Lacuna] and my brother.”