Green Tankers slides to second; Lady Tankers stays at third

The Green and Lady Tankers showed promising performances, but came up short to bring home the championship to conclude this year’s UAAP’s Swimming Completion held at the Trace Aquatic Center, Los Baños Laguna, last September 27-30.

Holding season 74’s title, the Green Tankers failed to defend its crown, losing to the Ateneo Blue Tankers by 17 points in the grand tally, 348-365.

The Lady Tankers on the other hand, placed third behind the back-to-back champions UP and this year’s runner up, the Ateneo Lady Tankers. The Taft-based Lady swimmers garnered 196 total points, way behind UP’s 568, to retain the team’s last year podium finish.

Increased production

The Green and Lady Tankers both managed to grab more points this year. The wins, however, were not enough to bring home the two crowns. The Green Tankers garnered 85 more points compared to last season’s championship year.

On the other hand, the Lady Tankers added 37 to last year’s total. The team, however, still finished at third best for yet another year.

The DLSU men’s team ended the campaign with eight gold, five silver and three bronze medals. All of which came just a hairline against Ateneo’s 11-6-6 record.

On the other hand, the Lady Tankers ended season 75 with a total of eight medals composed of five silver and three bronze medals.

Battling over shortened lineup

Both the Green and the Lady Tankers fought with fewer swimmers as compared to their last year lineups.

With only 14 team members compared to last year’s 22, the Lady Tankers had a hard time collecting points to par up against Ateneo and UP.

“It was a difficult task, but doing it all together as one team made it seem easy,” said Lady Tanker Erika Visitacion.

The Green Tankers, on the other hand, had 19 members, seven less of than the team’s championship season roster last year.

Despite having fewer swimmers this year, the Green-and-White tankers did not fail to punch a spot in the top three. Led by superstar Johansen Aguilar, the depleted Green Tankers team managed to pull off a close margin against the Katipunan-based swimmers. The reigning UAAP Athlete of the Year dominated the waters once more as he bagged seven gold medals this year.

Makati Skipjacks mainstay Aguilar capped his performance with a breathtaking 50-meter backstroke performance, finishing the feat in 27.68 seconds, three seconds faster than Ateneo’s Luis Dapat and UST’s Thomas Yatco.

Aguilar’s last victory was against this year’s Rookie of the Year Alex Ngui in the 400-meter individual medley. Aguilar clocked in at 4:48:11, a new record in the said event. Moreover, Aguilar managed to bag the Most Valuable Award honor.

“It was very challenging this year,” said 20-year old Aguilar, who has led the La Salle Green Tankers in another UAAP podium finish.