THE ATENEO Rowing Team (ART) capped off their impressive 2026 Philippine Indoor Rowing Meet campaign with multiple hardware secured for the Blue and White. The tournament, hosted by the Philippine Rowing Association, was held from March 28 to 29, at the UP Community Court, University Hotel in Quezon City.
Solo 1km events
Opening up for Ateneo in the individual events, the Junior Men’s Solo 1km division saw Stephen Trovela finishing in first at 3:16.6 to clinch gold, while Miguel Cuales followed with a bronze medal at 3:21.5 to complete the podium.
Dan Cabangunay, Elijah Fernandez, Juan Ignacio, and Tomas Romano rounded out Ateneo’s representation in the qualifiers.
In the Junior Women’s Solo 1km, the Blue Eagles dominated the entire podium as Andrea Daquigan—concurrently the captain of the Ateneo Softball Team—finished with gold at 3:55.6, silver for Jasmine Regio at 3:56.2, Ashley Dy in bronze at 4:09.9. Asserting Ateneo’s dominance in the solo event, Myka Ylarde also clinched the fourth spot.
“Sa totoo lang po, parang kinakapa ko po [‘yung laban] kasi first competition ko po, pero ‘yung goal ko lang today is to do my best,” Daquigan shared following her heat.
(To be honest, I was still getting a feel for things because it’s my first competition, but my goal for today is to do my best.)
Over in the Open Men’s Solo 1km, both Team Co-Captain Juancho Villaflor and Marc Belando managed to qualify for Finals A after outstanding performances, with Villaflor finishing in fourth, just a second behind the bronze finisher.
“[The competitors are] trying to push their limits, really trying to see what they can do and what they’re capable of. […] It’s about knowing that you can reach that 1,000 meters, being able to push through what you think is your limit,” Belando mentioned.
Blue Eagles Angelo Perez, Jonathan Reyes, Team Captain Joseph Andaya, and Kevin Sales also tested their mettle in the same event as Villaflor and Belando.
Additionally, ART alumni Leo Lope Franco defended his title with a time of 3:06.0 in the same division.
“I feel very fulfilled. Of course, defending this title did not come so easy. I actually trained quite a lot because I really thought that this year’s competition will be a lot tougher and tighter and there’s gonna be a lot of players from different sports coming in,” the former Blue Eagle shared.
Meanwhile, Julianne Serrano represented the Blue and White as their lone bet in the Open Women’s Solo 1k division.
Team Relay 2km events
Showcasing elite camaraderie, the Blue Eagles also dominated the team events, clinching multiple medals throughout the weekend. Most notably, Ateneo pulled away with a 1-2 podium finish in the Advanced Mixed Team Relay 2km event.
The ART V1 squad, composed of Jasper Brent Go, Ruperto Dungca III, Stephanie Domingo and Team Co-Captain Veramae Cabato, came away with a winning time of 6:36.0, securing the gold medal.
Meanwhile, ART V2’s Reyes, Romano, Dy, and Regio followed closely as Ateneo completed its podium dominance with the quartet clocking in at 6:54.3 to bag the silver medal, just over a second faster than OAR Siargao’s 6:55.9.
“[Ang] pinapaalala po lagi ng captain namin is that talagang nag-train po kami para dito, so ‘yung gagawin lang po namin sa race day is apply kung ano tinraining namin, at alahanin lang lagi na kaya namin ‘to,” Regio shared.
(Our captain always reminds us that we trained for this, so all we need to do on race day is to apply what we’ve done in training.)
Also competing in the same event were ART V3’s Cuales, Ignacio, Serrano, and Daquigan, who all displayed grit and determination for the Katipunan-based squad.
On the other hand, multiple Blue Eagle teams also participated in the Novice Mixed Team Relay 2km event with Sales, Fernandez, Kathryn Custodio, and Anika Sy suiting up under the CreART Rowagers squad along with Sebastian Bautista, Sasha De Jesus, Nicolo Da Silva, and Julia Pariñas for logARTISTIC.
With noteworthy performances behind them, the Blue and White will look ahead towards building on their combined chemistry and individual performances for their upcoming meets, including open-water competitions.
