By Nikolai Ordoña 

Grade 12 students from Ateneo de Manila Senior High School (ASHS); namely, Ivo Nikolai Enot, Victoriano Renzo Tirol, and Ckheil Enecio, made history in their respective sports in the recently concluded Palarong Pambansa 2023.

The three aforementioned Ateneans were among the 9,000 student-athletes representing the National Capital Region (NCR).

Last August 1, Ivo Enot, along with his teammates Ivan Nicolas Radovan, Hugh Antonio Partio, and Jalil Sephraim Taguinod, ruled the secondary boys 200-m medley relay with a time of 1:49.47, setting a new record that surpassed the previous record of 1:51.18, also achieved by NCR in 2018.

“To be really honest, I had a desire of breaking at least one Palaro record when I qualified for my first Palarong Pambansa back in 2016, and this year, my dream came true. Breaking the two 5-year-old relay records with my fellow teammates made me feel as though I were lying on the clouds,” Ivo said.

He also shared how he and his team could not prepare much for the Palaro, as they were also training for the 45th SEA-Age Group Swimming Championships to be held on August 24 to 26 in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Meanwhile, on August 2, Renzo Tirol’s team, consisting of Cezar Nazareno, Jared Cheng, and Arbeen Thruelen, won the secondary boys’ 200-m freestyle relay with a clocking of 1:40.64, once again beating NCR’s former record of 1:41.45.

“It felt overwhelming. The record was set back in 2016 by swimmers who I look up to and are now representing the Philippines in numerous international competitions. I wasn’t particularly into swimming at that time, and I was never the fastest swimmer growing up even in my hometown, so it felt good that I was one of the swimmers that broke the record and be part of history,” Renzo shared.

Aside from their feats with their team, the Atenean athletes also made individual achievements, with Ivo Enot winning a gold medal for the 200-m backstroke and Renzo Tirol claiming two bronzes for the 100-m and 50-m breaststroke. 

The two swimmers both shared words of inspiration for aspiring student-athletes.

“To any aspiring student-athletes, I can only advise them to constantly believe in themselves and to trust every process, regardless of how difficult it may be on them physically, mentally, or emotionally. In the end, it will all be worthwhile,” Ivo said.

“What I can advise for aspiring student-athletes is that you have to accept the fact that there will be a ton of sacrifices made for you to achieve your goal, but I can assure you that it’ll all be worth it in the end. The character you develop throughout the years of being a student-athlete will later help you in life in shaping you to become the best version of yourself,” Renzo also shared.

On the other hand, for archery, Ckheil Enecio bagged two bronze medals in the event’s Olympic round of the secondary boys’ division. He ranked #1 in the said division during the qualifying game at the Department of Education (DepEd) NCR Athletic Meet and received the award for Most Bemedaled Athlete in Archery for Secondary Boys. 

“I have been shooting since grade seven, so I have more experience than some of them. I am happy naman with the results I got [in] this Palaro, and I’m hoping to do better na lang for the next one,” Enecio narrated.

The NCR athletes gathered 85 gold, 74 silver, and 55 bronze medals—the highest among the seventeen participating regions, claiming its 16th straight win, followed by Region VI (Western Visayas) and Region IV-A (CALABARZON). 

Palarong Pambansa

First established in 1948 by the DepEd, the Palarong Pambansa is an annual event where qualified student-athletes from public and private schools represent their respective regions in various sports and competitions. 

Considered as the grandest inter-regional school sports gathering, the games aim to inculcate values such as discipline, teamwork, and sportsmanship and serve as the “primary venue for providing in-school sports opportunities to improve the physical, intellectual and social well-being of the youth.”

This year marks the Palaro’s return after the pandemic, with the last being held in Davao City in 2019. With the theme “Batang Malakas, Batang Matatag,” it was held from July 31 to August 5 in Marikina City.