HAVING LAID claim to the waters of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Swimming tournament with a record-shattering campaign for the crown in Season 77 and having made history with another successful voyage to victory in Season 78, the FAST Ateneo Swimming Team has established an era of dominance in the pool of the country’s premier collegiate athletic league, asserting its authority to earn a crucial and valuable vantage point at the top of the table.

However, the length of the trophy’s stay on one side of Katipunan has set all others’ eyes on the prize, fueling the fire of a constant power struggle for glory that characterizes the nature of the competition as the Eagles battle to maintain their hold on the title. But as the next test of their mettle approaches and the championship once again comes up for grabs, the swimming tournament of UAAP Season 79 becomes much more than just a heated haul for medals or merely a showdown of physical superiority alone. With much of the outcome resting on how diligently teams have trained in the months leading up to the event, the race for the podium finish is a contest that occurs long before the surface of the pool is broken, simply determining at the end of the day whether one team’s ambition to unseat the champions can outclass the champions’ desire to keep the throne.

Surmounting the challenge

Although entering the fray as marked targets on the battlefield, the Ateneo men’s and women’s swimming teams do wield a significant advantage that reverts the odds and gives them an unmistakable edge in the pool – experience in familiar territory. The conquest for a third consecutive championship sees the Blue and Lady Eagles sailing forth into previously charted waters with a largely unchanged core of seasoned veterans composing the crew, many of whom were present when the team first splashed into the spotlight two seasons prior.

With international swimmers Hannah Dato and Axel Ngui captaining the journey towards triumph and the team’s arsenal of firepower bolstered by the return of Olympic cannon Jessie Lacuna, it seems that the expedition for a third year of glory runs along a course untouched by any immediate signs of clear and present danger. However, Program Director Archimedes Lim acknowledges that one factor that remains as a potential threat to the team’s success is the growing pressure arising from raised expectations for another golden finish.

The downside to the boosted reputation and winning pedigree with which the team has immortalized itself into history books is the resulting unspoken and unwritten expectation that results can and will be repeated in succeeding seasons. With the Eagles soaring to the top of the competition by setting the standard a notch higher every season, the challenge of raising the bar adds a heavy mental burden onto the shoulders of both coaching staff and captain as the tournament nears.

“Honestly, it is a challenge to maintain the gold [medal] harvest,” admits Lady Eagle and women’s team captain Hannah Dato. “And likewise, it is a challenge to defend and maintain the team crown.”

Although an atmosphere of pressure does seep into training as the team enters the final stretch before their defense of the championship, tension sparked by the expectations to deliver results are lifted by dealing with the emotional and physical load in a positive and productive manner. Lim’s method of combating the increasing weight on the shoulders of both swimmer and coach translates to converting pressure into excitement in order to achieve the same result of steering the squad in the direction of a finish on top of the podium.

“There’s a lot of pressure but at the same time a lot of excitement to do something that people will be talking about,” shares Lim, “We always channel that pressure into excitement, into training harder and pushing ourselves.”

Blue Eagle and men’s team captain Axel Ngui reflects his coach’s sentiments towards keeping a composed mentality and healthy camaraderie between teammates in the months leading up to the swim. “The team deals with pressure by supporting each other and focusing on feeling good,” says Ngui. “We have each other’s backs and ensure that there is a positive training environment where everyone is energized and inspired to swim fast.”

However, although wrestling with the prospect of public expectation is a challenge on one side of the spectrum, constantly improving their own standard of excellence in response to a rapidly climbing level of competitiveness between schools is the hurdle on the other. Because each participating school in the tournament is continuously making efforts to meet and surpass the standards of the championship team, the task falls on the Blue and Lady Eagles to set the bar even higher and change the game.

Raising the standard

With the opportunity for aquatic glory presenting itself on equal footing to each school once each year, the aftermath of the race for the podium finish greatly depends on how teams prepare both physically and emotionally in the preseason. The tankers’ course of action emphasizes not the application of specific training or nutrition regimens but rather the instillment of a certain mindset on which victory is rooted, instructing the Eagles never to settle for anything but the best, giving the team its edge over the rest of the competition.

“The keyword is setting the bar higher,” expresses Lim. “Everyone is improving, and it’s up to us to keep placing the bar higher so that no one can reach us.”

In addition to the championship mentality employed during training, another important aspect of the team’s dynamic that has sealed its spot at the top of the food chain is the maintenance of its caliber through both local and international exposure of its athletes. Captains Dato, Ngui, and veterans Ariana Herranz, Giancarlo Silva, Romina Gavino, Eman Dapat, and Aldo Batungbacal donned the country’s colors at the 18th ASEAN University Games in Singapore earlier in July, while senior Jessie Lacuna recently swam at the highest level of international competition, representing the nation at the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Recruitment also plays a huge role in quality assurance by replenishing holes on the roster and ensuring that old spots are filled by athletes who can lend the same intensity of mental and physical toughness that their predecessors did. With high school standouts such as Miggy Arellano, Jethro Chua, and Andrea Ngui joining FAST’s senior ranks and testing their wings for the first time, it seems as if there is hope on the horizon for the next generation.

But perhaps the most defining characteristic that distinguishes the Atenean athlete at the end of the day which could prove to be the ultimate gamechanger is the attitude with which he or she swims. What sets a Blue Eagle apart from the competition is not his colors or his speed, but rather that he swims for the name of his school instead of for his own.