The Philippine swimming delegation concluded its run at the 18th ASEAN University Games with the addition of three silver medals to its tally. A show-stopping performance on the fourth day of the international collegiate competition was presented on Friday, July 15, 2016 at the OCBC Aquatic Center in Singapore. Three more podium finishes bumps the country’s final award count to a whopping four bronze and four silver medals in the tournament, with Lady Eagle Hannah Dato collecting six of the seven accolades in individual events over the last four days.
Again, the women made waves in spectacular fashion on day 4 of the swimming competition as Dato splashed into the spotlight, claiming two more silvers as her own and leading the women’s relay team to its first victory in the last event of the tournament. The reigning Most Valuable Player of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) placed second in both the 100m butterfly with a time of 1:02.42 and the 200m IM at 2:22.33, missing the gold by a second in both races and consequently settled for the silver.
Dato was instrumental as well in sending her teammates to the podium as the contingent’s campaign drew to a close, playing a key role in the women’s third place finish in the 400m relay medley. Competing alongside fellow Ariana Herranz and Fighting Maroons Winona Tee Ten and Joy Rodgers, Dato was crucial in attaining the lead as the butterfly swimmer of the relay. Coming from behind to overtake the thrid Malaysian swimmer, Dato assumed third place and gave anchor swimmer Tee Ten the advantage in finishing with the bronze ahead of opponents Malaysia.
However, a subsequent technicality during the race disqualified relay winners Thailand from the event, putting each participating team one rank ahead to put the Philippines in second behind Malaysian for its eighth and final medal of the AUG.
The last-ditch push for the lead exerted by the women during the relay reflects a promise made yesterday to swim with heart and keep up a fighting spirit entering the final day of the competition. Wednesday’s bronze-medal winner Herranz is proud of the team’s undying effort during the race and throughout the tournament. “Honestly we weren’t expecting to win a medal, but we just swam our best and gave it our all,” she admits.
In the men’s events, the Blue Eagles put on a display of passion as they donned the country’s colors for the last time in this year’s tournament. Captain Axel Ngui timed in at 24.50 seconds in the 50m freestyle to finish in 5th place and ranked 7th in the 200m freestyle at 1:56.48. Aldo Batungbacal came close to scraping a bronze and the first medal for the men but fell short of the finish, placing 4th in the 200m IM with a finals time of 2:13.84. The men’s relay team – composed of Ngui, Batungbacal, Giancarlo Silva, and Arian Puyo of De La Salle University (DLSU) – came in at 5th in the 400m medley to end the country’s campaign.
The Philippines comes away with a total of eight medals as the 2016 ASEAN University Games draws to a close. The Blue and Lady Eagles, however, seek to bring home more than just awards as Season 79 of the UAAP approaches, hoping to use the values learned through the ups and downs of international competition in and out of the pool.
“I said I would do my very best,” says Dato, “Even if it means doubling or tripling our efforts in finishing those last few meters, we always have to keep going.”
