UAAP: Green Tankers settle for fourth; Lady Tankers clinch third place

The DLSU Tankers were determined to improve their previous UAAP standing this year. However, with the Green Tankers finishing fourth and their female counterparts ending their campaign at third place, their hopes of winning a championship this season were stumped.

The four-day event held at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex from October 2 to 5 concluded as the top swimming teams from different universities battled head-to-head. ADMU showed complete dominance in the pool events this season after losing to UP last year. The Green Tankers finished with 159 points in total, far from the top two seeded teams Ateneo and UP, who notched a score of 540 and 325 correspondingly.

This year’s squad struggled after the departure of former MVP Johansen Aguilar. The rookie-laden Tankers held their own against some of the top swimmers in the country today. Kito Zialcita of the Green Tankers managed to contribute quality points for the DLSU squad after displaying impressive performances in the breaststroke and relay events.

In his first UAAP appearance, rookie Green Tanker Red Silvestre made his presence known in the collegiate level. The butterfly specialist proved that he could swim side-by-side with olympian, Jessie Lacuna of the Ateneo swimming team. In addition Silvestre, together with teammates Joey Pronove, Pierce Beltran, and Miggy Narciso, established a new UAAP record in the Men’s 200 Free relay event with a time of 1:41.10.

Prior to the competition, the DLSU Tankers established a mindset of performing at their best regardless of the outcome. “Yung inexpect namin ng mga teammates ko is ibigay lang namin yung best namin. Wala kaming paki-alam kung anong place ka or what, basta binigay mo yung best mo, okay na yun.” Silvestre comments.

For the Green Tankers, their standing notched down two spots after taking first runner up last season.

On the other hand, the Lady Tankers managed to stay consistent after taking third place this season. Totalling a measly 121 points, the lady Green-and-White representatives finished behind the dominant ADMU and UP swimming teams, who had 540 and 325 points respectively.

Lady Tanker Sabrina Ingrid Ilustre grabbed third place in 100 Meter Freestyle after posting a 1:01.87 time behind Ateneans Roanne Yu and Anna Gonzalez who logged 59.69 and 1:01.34 respectively. She however bagged first place in the Women’s 200 Meter Breaststroke after finishing the event with a 2:48.87 mark that put her ahead of UP’s Joy Rodgers and Jodie De Leon who placed second and third. In addition, Ilustre managed a third place finish in the 200 Meter Butterfly event that saw Hannah Dato of Ateneo and Delia Cordero of UP atop the podium.

The team consisting of Lady Tanker Captain Raissa Teaño, Mariel Carandang, Carina Guanio, and Sarah Castaneda was able to grab another third place finish in the Women’s 200 Meter Freestyle Relay. Again, the Taft-based squad finished behind ADMU posting a 1:54.37 time, three seconds faster than second-placer UP and six seconds quicker than La Salle.

Despite the results, the DLSU Tankers stand proud and look to make a bigger impact next season. “Expect nila na malakas na [yung] Tankers kasi magkakaroon kami ng mas magandng chemistry sa isa’t isa at sa coaching staff.” Silvestre shares.