FOR THE first time in history, the Blue and Lady Tankers were crowned the champions of the 77th University Athletic Association of the Philippines Swimming Championships in the men’s, women’s and boy’s divisions. In addition, the high school team also bagged another championship, as the victory last weekend marked their tenth straight title.
The Blue and Lady Tankers swept the competition with an outstanding total of 60 medals consisting of 31 gold, 22 silver and 7 bronze. They also set 22 records and managed to get all the special awards in each division, and the triple championship title.
The Blue Tankers finally brought themselves back to the top from last year’s land on the third best spot of the podium. They garnered a total of 540 points, 11 records, 18 gold, 15 silver and 5 bronze medals.
For the women’s side, they finally achieved their goal of reclaiming the championship after five years of ceding the crown to the University of the Philippines (UP). The Lady Tankers garnered a total of 468 points, 11 records, 13 gold, 7 silver and bronze medals.
First Day
The road to victory started in the first preliminary event of the competition in the Men’s 100m freestyle, where Co-Captain Axel Ngui became the sole finalist of the team. Consequently, he bagged the gold clocking 53.05.
Aside from the Men’s 100m freestyle, Ngui also clenched the top spot of the podium in the Men’s 800m freestyle on the first day. Blue Tankers Aldo Batungbacal and Getty Reyes also dominated the event, as they placed second and third, respectively.
Prized team member, Jessie Lacuna started his debut season as he placed first and broke the record of former Green Tanker Johansen Aguilar in the Men’s 200m Individual Medley, clocking 2:05.59. Blue Tankers A. Batungbacal and Brandon Sing also made their way to final round placing second and eight.
The team also showed prowess during the first day relay events, where they clenched the first place in both the Men’s 4x50m Individual Medley and Men’s 4x200m Freestyle. They also established a new record in the Men’s 4x50m Individual Medley relay, clocking a time of 1:52.06, a millisecond away from the second place finishers, University of the Philippines (UP).
The Lady Tankers weren’t to be outdone in the opening day as they surpassed expectations during the Women’s 100m Freestyle, 200m Individual Medley and 800m Freestyle.
Roanne Yu, Celina Gonzalez, Thea Caluma and Kimberly Uy all advanced to the finals in the women’s 100m Freestyle. During the finals, Yu secured the top spot of the podium while Gonzalez placed at second. Caluma and Uy placed at fourth and fifth, respectively.
In the women’s 200m Individual Medley preliminaries, Hannah Dato immediately broke the record clocking 2:24.55. Come finals, Dato established a brand new record for the same event with the time of 2:21.66, thus securing the gold medal. Ariana Herranz also climbed up the podium, placing third to Dato and Ramona Datu placed seventh in the finals.
Women’s 800m Freestyle record-holder, Uy, defended her title as she broke her own record from the previous season with a time of 9:26.11. Ariana Herranz garnered a silver medal in the event while Caluma and Julia Balanag placed fourth and fifth, respectively.
The Lady tankers brought home another set of gold and silver medals in the two relays held for the day. Lady tankers Gonzalez, Datu, Nathania Rockwood and Roanne Yu placed second to the defending champions, UP Maroons in the Women’s 4x50m Individual Medley relay.
But they redeemed themselves, as Lady Tankers Andee Torres, Julia Balanag, Jackie Cruz and Uy overpowered the other teams as they clenched the gold for the team in the Women’s 4x200m Freestyle relay.
Second day
The Blue Tankers started the next day with a total of 119 points, leading the competition by 51 points from the second placers, UP.
Powerhouse swimmers Lacuna, Ngui and Palencia shone in the first event of the second day by qualifying as the first, second and fourth placers, respectively. Come finals, Lacuna established a new UAAP record for the Men’s 400m freestyle with a time of 4:04.88. Ngui followed by garnering the silver medal while Palencia maintained his rank as the fourth placer.
Rookie Blue Tankers Paolo Mutuc and A. Batungbacal shined in the Men’s 50m breaststroke, as they qualified for the final round by placing first and third, respectively.
But the event proved to be a tough challenge for Blue Tankers A. Batungbacal and Mutuc as the top spot of the podium was clenched by UP Maroon Joseph Beloso. A. Batungbacal still managed to land on the podium finish by placing second to Beloso while Mutuc still contributed points to the team by placing fourth in the event.
Blue Tankers Lacuna, Palencia, Reyes and Robie Batungbacal all advanced to the finals in the Men’s 100m Butterfly preliminaries. Lacuna once again owned another UAAP record of the event, clocking 55.79. In the finals, the Blue Tankers maintained their ranks placing first, second, seventh and eighth, respectively.
Backstroke specialists of the team, Reyes, Sing, Jan Jeric Santos and R. Batungbacal swam in their first main stroke event, the Men’s 200m backstroke. First placer Reyes and third placer Sing landed the podium finish, while Santos placed seventh in the finals.
In the Men’s 4x100m freestyle relay, Blue Tankers Santos, Sylver Sison, Geoffrey Que and R. Batungbacal finished second best among their competitors.
The Lady Tankers kept the momentum going as Dato, Herranz, Caluma and Uy once again advanced to the finals in the women’s 400m Freestyle. Dato established her second record in the competition with a time of 4:30.76. Uy secured the second best spot to Datu, and Herranz and Caluma placed fourth and fifth in the event.
Breaststroker Datu became the sole finalist for the women’s 50m breaststroke finals. She consequently placed fourth in the finals.
Dato shined once again in the Women’s 100m butterfly as she established records in both the preliminaries and finals. Dato timed a 1:02.52 in the preliminaries but broke the record again in the finals clocking 1:02.22. Previous record-holder, Lady Tanker Gonzalez, placed second to Dato, and Caluma earned the sixth place.
Herranz earned her first gold medal in the Women’s 200m backstroke while Uy placed fourth.
Concluding the second day of the championships, Lady Tankers Yu, Torres, Cruz and Shayn Ting raced with other competing universities in the Women’s 4x100m Freestyle relay placing first in the event.
Third day
The third day became even more promising to the Blue Tankers as they garnered more records and podium finishes.
Lacuna, Ngui and Palencia dominated the Men’s 200m freestyle event as they all qualified for the finals and placed first, second and third, respectively. Lacuna also broke his third record of the season, clocking 1:53.02.
Right after the Men’s 200m freestyle event, the competition moved onto the Men’s 50m Butterfly, where Lacuna established a record-breaking time of 25.42. Aside from Lacuna, Palencia sprinted his way to the fifth place of the event.
In the Men’s 100m breaststroke, A. Batungbacal finished first in both the preliminaries and the finals, while Mutuc ascended his ranks from sixth place in the preliminaries to fifth place in the finals.
Reyes, Santos and Sing represented the team in the Men’s 100m backstroke event, where they all advanced to the finals, where they eventually placed second, third and fifth, respectively.
In the Men’s 400m Individual Medley, Lacuna finished off his last event for the day with another UAAP record, timing 4:47.90. Rookie A. Batungbacal also gave an excellent performance as he raced closely with Lacuna, landing the silver medal to him.
For the Lady Tankers, Dato peaked in her record-breaking legacy as she broke three records within the day.
She started off by breaking the record of the Women’s 200m Freestyle clocking 2:07.88. Lady Tanker finalists Uy secured the second best place once again and Caluma and Yu placed fifth and sixth overall.
Datu and Sandra Gojar qualified for the Women’s 100m Breaststroke finals as they place sixth and eighth, respectively, against their competitors.
In the Women’s 50m butterfly finals, Dato and Gonzalez make waves as they place first and second to each other, respectively. Dato established her fifth UAAP record with a time of 28.20.
Herranz secured the gold in the Women’s 100m backstroke finals, while finalist Uy landed on the eighth place in the event.
In the Women’s 400m Individual Medley, Dato made an outstanding performance by breaking records in both the preliminaries and finals once again. She clocked a time of 5:05.30 in the finals placing first and Lady Tanker Herranz placed fourth.
The team made a strategic move and set out their best players in the Women’s 4x50m Freestyle relay. Lady Tankers Yu, Torres, Gonzalez and Gojar made their lead in the event, placing first in the event.
Fourth day
In the fourth day, Men’s 4x50m Freestyle relay, Que, Sison, Sing and Mutuc had another close fight with rivals from De La Salle University. However, they were only able to place second to them in the final results.
The Blue Tankers were inching closer towards its glory as they opened the day with a collection of 386 points from the previous events.
Ngui and A. Batungbacal placed first and second on the podium, respectively, in the Men’s 1500m Freestyle finals. In addition, Reyes and Gargantiel placed sixth and eighth overall.
Ngui made waves in the Men’s 50m backstroke finals as he placed first in both the preliminary and final round. Santos landed as the third placer and Sing placed seventh in the finals.
A. Batungbacal ended his last event in the competition in the Men’s 200m breaststroke finals where he placed first and broke an 11-year old UAAP record, clocking 2:24.23. Blue Tanker Mutuc followed him with a land on the second best spot on the podium, while Steven Tiu placed sixth overall.
Finishing off his last event, the Men’s 200m Butterfly, Lacuna broke the record twice in the preliminaries and during the finals. Lacuna established the record with a time of 2:05.22 in the preliminaries, then broke his own record during the finals with a time of 2:03.93.
Reyes and R. Batungbacal also swam in the Men’s 200m butterfly event, placing third and eighth to Lacuna during the finals.
Finalists of the last individual event, the Men’s 50m Freestyle, were Ngui, Mutuc and Que. Ngui redeemed himself from last year’s finish as he finally reclaimed the gold from the UP Maroon Charlie Walker. Mutuc and Que then placed fifth and seventh in the finals.
The Blue Tankers Santos, Mutuc, Que and Palencia ended the competition by dominating the last event, the 4x100m Individual Medley relay. Aside from placing first in the event, they also established a new UAAP record.
The Lady Tankers replicated the amount of success that the Blue Tankers received by the fourth and final day. The ladies were still leading in the championship, as the events of the final day decided and finalized their rankings once and for all.
Herranz sprinted her way to the second top spot of the podium in the Women’s 50m backstroke finals. Gonzalez landed on the fourth place of the event.
Datu once again became the sole qualifier of the last breaststroke event of the championships, the Women’s 200m breaststroke. She ascended her ranks from the preliminaries by placing fifth overall.
Dato swam her last event of the championship, where she definitely finished with another record-breaking time. Dato clocked a new record for the Women’s 200m butterfly with a time of 2:19.70. Finalist Caluma also landed as the seventh placer of the event.
The Lady Tankers truly ended the last individual event of the season by taking over the podium in the Women’s 50m Freestyle. Gonzalez, Yu and Caluma placed first, second and third, respectively, in the event.
In the last event of the championships, the Women’s 4x100m Individual Medley Relay, Lady Tankers Torres, Datu, Cruz and Ting claimed the second place of the podium.
FAST domination
With an outstanding haul of seven records and gold medals for all the seven events he joined, Lacuna was awarded, with no question, the Seniors Men’s Most Valuable Player award of the championship.
“From last year’s performance, I saw the big improvement of the college team and how they worked everyday,” says Lacuna in a mix of English and Filipino. “They really inspire me, that I can still improve.”
Freshman A. Batungbacal was named the Rookie of the Year in the Seniors Men’s division. He was also awarded Rookie of the Year during his first year in the UAAP Juniors’ division, and has been a consistent podium finisher and record-holder throughout the years.
Like Lacuna, Dato’s impressive haul of seven records and medals led her to be awarded Most Valuable Player of the Seniors Women’s division.
“Hindi ko naakalain na magagawa ko ito (I didn’t expect that I would be able to do this),” says Dato. “Nakita ko ang teamwork at mas lumakas ang loob ko. Dahil sa aming lahat, kaya kami nanalo (I saw the teamwork and I found strength in myself. We won because of everyone on the team).”
Another stunning rookie from the team was awarded the Rookie of the Year of the Seniors Women’s Division. Lady Tanker Herranz hauled a total of 80 points and five medals in the whole duration of the championship.
Aside from the swimmers, both the men’s and women’s coaches of Ateneo’s program clenched their respective awards. Sherwyn De La Paz won the Coach of the Year recognition for the men’s team, while Candice Esguerra was awarded for the women’s team.
The team strongly believes that their victory would not have happened if it weren’t for the help of fifth year swimmers, Yu and Gonzalez, as well as the impressive bevy of rookies in the competition.
Most of the swimmers stepped up from the previous season’s lackluster performance and are now more determined to defend the triple championship title.
“I am so happy for this experience. I’ve learned so much and I want the swimmers to remember this moment,” says Ateneo Swimming Program Director Archie Lim. “Hopefully by next year, we’ll be doing a triple defense. It’s a big responsibility, but I have confidence in this team.”
The Blue and Lady Tankers have now definitely capped off the last UAAP competition of the first semester with a great victory for the Ateneo community.
