By Jean Malanum
PUERTO PRINCESA CITY – Taguinota siblings Arvin Naeem II and Arabella Nadeen bagged three gold medals Thursday as Pasig City ruled the Batang Pinoy National Championships swimming competition at the Ramon V. Mitra Jr. Sports Complex here.
Arvin Naeem II won the boys 12-13 4×50-meter medley relay with Charles Ezekiel Canlas, Jefferson Saburlase and Marcelino Picardal III for his sixth gold medal in the tournament organized by the Philippine Sports Commission with support from the city government of Puerto Princesa headed by Mayor Lucilo Bayron.
The 13-year-old’s earlier victories were in the 100m freestyle, 100m backstroke, 200m backstroke, 200m Individual Medley and 4x50m freestyle relay event with Ricardo Delgado, Picardal III and Saburlase.
Arabella Nadeen, 16, registered a new record in winning the girls 16-17 50m breaststroke.
She also dominated the 14-17 4x50m medley relay event with Maria Zabelle Eugenio, Shinloah Yve San Diego and Maria Francesca Barretto.
Pasig City has a total of 11 golds, nine silvers and 11 bronzes, while Quezon City garnered 10 golds, 14 silvers and seven bronzes.
San Fernando City, La Union was third with seven golds, four silvers and one bronze followed by Pampanga (6-3-4), Taguig City (5-2-4), Mabalacat City (4-1-0), Naga City (4-1-0) and Malabon (4-0-0).
Malabon’s Sophia Rose Garra dominated the girls 12-13 category with four golds, while Naga City’s Albert Jose Amaro II bagged four golds in the boys’ 16-17 category.
Also with four golds were Kyle Louise Bulaga of San Fernando, La Union (girls 14-15) and FJ Catherine Cruz of Mabalacat City (girls 16-17), while Ashton Clyde Jose of Taguig City got three golds.
A total of 11 records were broken, including three from Amaro (50m, 100m and 200m freestyle) and two from Cruz (100m and 200m backstroke).
Other winners were Jan Dwayne Malpas of Tacloban City and Rielle Aislyn Antonio of San Juan (12-13 50m breaststroke); Sebastien Isidore Marcelo and Riannah Chantelle Coleman of Pampanga (14-15 50m breaststroke); Jaime Uandorr Maniago of Quezon City (boys 16-17 50m breaststroke); Christian Isaiah Lagnason and Liv Abigail Florendo (12-13 200m freestyle) and Quezon City’s girls 12-13 4x50m medley relay and boys 14-17 4x50m medley relay teams.
Meanwhile, Pasig City has collected 83 golds, 50 silvers and 93 bronzes to stay on top of the overall medal tally board, as of press time.
Baguio City ranked second with 63 golds, 54 silvers and 59 silvers followed by Quezon City (49-45-45), Davao City (35-35-29) and Cebu City (28-34-29).
The top five local government units will receive PHP5 million, PHP4 million, PHP3 million, PHP2 million and PHP1 million as incentive. (PNA)
