The DLSU Green and Lady Tankers did not disappoint as they broke through multiple events with stellar performances. The UAAP Season 82 Swimming Tournament began last Thursday, October 17, and ended yesterday, October 20, at the Trace College Swimming Pool in Los Baños, Laguna. The tournament brought in results similar to last season’s performance as the DLSU Green Tankers garnered 343 points, while the Lady Tankers notched 203 points, finishing second and third, respectively.
The ADMU Blue Eagles secured their sixth straight championship title, obtaining 353 points, while the UST Growling Tigers made it to third place with 322 points. For the women’s division, the ADMU Lady Eagles achieved a three-peat, keeping the UP Lady Maroons behind them, recording 458 points and 395 points, respectively.
Day one: Green, Lady Tankers launch Season 82 campaigns with mixed results
During the opening day of the tournament, the DLSU Green Tankers and Lady Tankers earned three podium finishes across three team events. The group of Gamaliel Torres, Jexter Janzen Chua, Mctracy Alindongan, and Alfonso Bautista earned gold in the Men’s 4x50m medley relay with a time of 1:49.12. For the same event in the women’s division, Erika Jaurigue, Maggie Mendoza, Carla Jaurigue, and Bettina Ting copped bronze medals as they clocked in a time of 2:13.24, behind the UP Lady Maroons, who were only a few seconds ahead at 2:08.44.
The Green Tankers also secured a podium finish for the 4x200m freestyle relay, as they clinched bronze behind the steadfast effort of Kelles Que, Alnair Guevarra, Antoine Mendoza, and Rochmond Santos.
Results of the individual events did not disappoint as both teams were able to bag a multitude of medals. SEA Games-bound Green Tanker Sacho Ilustre displayed a masterful performance as he claimed gold in both Men’s 100m and 800m freestyle events, clocking in at 52.07 and 8:53.09, respectively.
Lady Tanker rookie Nicole Pamintuan grabbed a bronze medal in the Women’s 100m freestyle, alongside her Atenean counterpart, Andrea Ngui, as they clocked in a time of 1:00.35. Pamintuan also nabbed the Women’s 200m individual medley gold medal as she finished with a time of 2:26.75. Lastly, Lady Tanker Nichole Evangelista earned a silver medal in the Women’s 800m freestyle with a time of 9:53.11, just behind ADMU’s Chloe Daos, who clocked in with a time of 9:28.89.
Day two: Ilustre stakes early claim for MVP, Lady Tankers keep a steady pace
Ilustre opened the second day of the tournament with a first place finish in the Men’s 400m freestyle. In the women’s division in the same event, Evangelista copped the bronze medal, finishing behind ADMU’s Daos and UP’s Nadine Tee Ten. Green Tankers J. Chua and Bautista claimed gold and bronze, respectively, in the Men’s 50m breaststroke. In the same event in the women’s division, Evangelista clinched second place as she went against ADMU’s Ronalyn Lalimo and UP’s Alyssa Pogiongko.
After copping three gold medals during the first two days of the competition, Ilustre continued to sweep his individual events. His gold medal tally includes a record-setting time of 55.44 seconds during the preliminary session of the Men’s 100m butterfly, shattering Olympian Jessie Lacuna’s previous best of 55.77 a season before.
To add to the Lady Tankers’ tally, Pamintuan nabbed gold in the Women’s 200m backstroke, posting a time of 2:28.53. In the men’s division, Green Tanker Christian Sy claimed the bronze in the same event, behind ADMU’s Akiva Cariño and UP’s Jose Arcilla. As for the Women’s 400m freestyle relay event, Lady Tankers Ting, E. Jaurigue, Joanne Wang, and Audrey Chua won bronze after clocking in at 4:12.42, finishing a second behind their rivals from Katipunan at 4:11.31.
Day three: Green Tankers continue surge atop standings, Lady Tankers remain third
As the team from Taft carried forward into the competition, they continued to heap up medals in the individual events. Adding to La Salle’s tally, Ilustre bagged gold medals in the Men’s 200m freestyle and 50m butterfly, while J. Chua won first place in the 100m breaststroke. Furthermore, Pamintuan earned her team silver medals in the Women’s 100m backstroke and 400m individual medley. Meanwhile, Evangelista finished the Women’s 100m breaststroke in second place and Green Tanker Sy secured silver in the Men’s 100m backstroke.
As for the Men’s 200m freestyle relay event, the team of J. Chua, Alindongan, Torres, and Bautista had a close finish with their rivals from Katipunan as they placed second with only a few seconds to spare, clocking in at 1:38.45 compared to Ateneo’s 1:37.26.
Day four: Green Tankers fight through tight finish, Lady Tankers secure third place
After a strong showing in the opening days of the tournament, both the Green and Lady Tankers came into the final stretch of the season chasing hard for a good finish. Entering the fourth day in the lead, the Green Tankers were in for a close fight for the championship title with a relatively small difference in points between them and their archrivals, the ADMU Blue Eagles.
In their pursuit of finishing on top, the Green Tankers came onto the podium for four events. A. Mendoza finished second in the 1500m freestyle event, three seconds behind ADMU’s Ianiko Limfilipino. In the 50m backstroke, Sy recorded a time of 28.41 seconds to put him on the third-place spot behind UST’s Christian Anor in first and ADMU’s Miguel Barlisan in second. Ej Jayme made a top-spot finish in the 200m breaststroke, recording a time of 2:27.31, while Ilustre also bagged a gold-medal finish for the 200m butterfly with a time of 2:05.65.
The impressive individual performances from the ADMU Blue Eagles propelled them to overtake the Green Tankers for the top spot with a six-point lead. As the competition winded down to the final event of the tournament, the Men’s 400m medley relay, the Green Tankers looked to finish strong to reclaim their seat at the top. However, they were unable to finish on the podium, while the ADMU Blue Eagles finished in second place to secure the championship win. The UST Growling Tigers were also able to make a wave in this event with their record-breaking time of 4:01.13.
In the Women’s division, the Lady Tankers clinched one podium finish with a strong effort from Pamintuan in the 50m backstroke event to end the season in third place. The Lady Tanker was awarded the bronze medal for the event, as she recorded a time of 31.70 seconds, behind UP’s Regina Castrillo in first and UP’s Cindy Fernandez in second. The ADMU Lady Eagles, on the other hand, highlighted their strength as they swept the 200m butterfly event, claiming all top three spots to prove that they were deserving of the championship win.
Individual awards
To conclude the UAAP Season 82 swim meet, ADMU’s Jiron Rotoni was named Rookie of the Year (ROY) for the Men’s division, while UP’s Castrillo was granted the ROY award for the Women’s division. Green Tanker Ilustre was awarded Most Valuable Player (MVP) for the Men’s division after claiming gold finishes in all of his seven events. On the other hand, Daos from the ADMU Lady Eagles clinched her third straight MVP award in the Women’s division.
Although they were unable to improve their final results from last season, both the Green and Lady Tankers spent the four-day swim meet performing at their best to achieve stellar results. As they racked up a bagful of podium finishes, along with a record-breaking swim, both teams will end their UAAP Season 82 campaign on a high note.
Lady Tankers team captain Ace Agustin expressed her strong pride in her team after the four-day event. “Everyone really stepped up this season, and so many of them performed beyond what was expected. We improved so much from last season, and it really showed. It made me so proud that we’re able to put up a really good fight this season, the effort of every [swimmer] really showed,” she shared.
Green Tankers team captain Alnair Guevarra also expressed his thoughts on his team’s defeat to the ADMU Blue Eagles. “I think that they really proved they were the stronger team,” he shared. “Even with that result, I really think everyone gave their best…We kept on pushing each other to do our best because doing our best in every swim is also equivalent to beating our opponents.”
