By Glaiza Salanio and Marcus Suner

Last November 23-26, the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) swimming championship was held at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex, with the FAST Ateneo Swimming Team bringing home a total of 30 medals in different events.

ASHS student-athletes distinguished themselves in several swimming events, particularly in the medley, freestyle, breaststroke, and backstroke categories, in both the boys’ and girls’ categories.

In the boys’ 4x50M medley relay, the team composed of Marcus Molino, Jaime Sy, Emmanuel Viovicente, and Zion Jalla finished strongly, securing the second place.

In the boys’ 4x100M medley relay, the team composed of Marcus Molino, Ramon Viray, Emmanuel Viovicente, and Angelo Tondo locked in third place.

Moving to the individual medley category, Ivo Nikolai Enot showcased his skills and bagged the second place for the boys’ 200M category, while Lora Micah Amoguis secured first place for the 200M in the girls’ category with her skillful performance.

Meanwhile, Liaa Margarette Amoguis sealed the second place in the girls’ 400M individual medley category as well, with her excellent display of skills.

For the breaststroke events, Victoriano Martin Tirol, bagged first place in both the boys’ 50M and 100M, while finishing third in the boys’ 200M.

On the other hand, Miguel Luis Martinez earned second place in the boys’ 50M and 100M breaststroke events.

Placing first in all three backstroke events in boys’ category, Ivo Nikolai Enot was able to show his stunning and skillful abilities.

Similarly, Lora Micah Amoguis exhibited her prowess by finishing first in the girls’ 200M individual medley and second in the 100M and 50M backstroke events.

In the individual freestyle category, Ivo Nikolai Enot continued his streak of strong finishes by grabbing first place in the boys’ 100M event, while Lora Micah Amoguis took second place in the girls’ category of the same event.

Additionally, the two swimmers placed third and first, respectively, in the 200M freestyle event.

For the girls’ freestyle event, Liaa Margarette Amoguis secured second place in the 400M and first place in 800M.

Franz Anderson Ong excellently concluded his 800M freestyle event in second place and his 1500M freestyle event in first place.

Furthermore, securing second place in both the boys’ and girls’ categories for 4x50M freestyle was the boys’ group of Rafael Lentejas III, Angelo Tondo, Franz Ong, and Miguel Martinez, and the girls’ group of Samantha Lim, Andrea Antig, Elicely Diaz, and Karylle Duquez, respectively.

Finishing in second place in the boys’ 4x100M freestyle was the team consisting of Rafael Lentejas III, Zion Jalla, Miguel Martinez, and Angelo Tondo.

The group of Samantha Lim, Andrea Antig, Elicely Diaz, and Karylle Duquez also ended their 4x100M freestyle event in third place.

Lastly, the teams of Ramon Viray, Pierre Kwan, Zion Jalla, and Angelo Tondo, as well as Elicely Diaz, Christina Matti, Patricia Yapit, and Andrea Antig secured second place in both the boys’ and girls’ categories for the 4x200M freestyle event.

Following the event, the team expressed their happiness with the results of the competition, highlighting their eight-peat record through popular social media platforms, such as Instagram and Facebook.

Narrating his overall experience of the event, Ramon Rafael Viray from the Medley Relay team said that it was all about mental preparations and mental toughness.

“So all I had to do really was get my head in the game; look at my own lane, and not look at anyone else,” Viray added.

“I really just want to maintain the team dynamics as a senior here sa varsity namin. I want to be a good leader. I want to be a good role model sa mga juniors namin,” he said.

Meanwhile, according to FAST Ateneo Swimming Team manager Karl Perez, the team this season did improve compared to the performance of the team in previous seasons.

“We attend every training of the swimmers. So, we make sure na kung ano ‘yung nakikita namin na kailangan nila ng improvement, tinutugunan namin. We did improve. We changed some routines in training talaga based on what strokes needed the most condition,” he remarked.