Echavez grabs limelight in Gov Garcia swimfest

Cebuana Loren Dale Echavez stood the brightest among the victors as she bagged the Most Outstanding Swimmer award at the close of the 1st Gov.Gwen Garcia Langoy-Langoy sa Sugbu swimming competition yesterday at the President Diosdado Macapagal Sports Complex in Dumanjug south of Cebu.

The 11-year-old Echavez, who is part of Team Langoy Sugbu, outlasted not only her sister Lhoriz, but the equal-tough Zoe Menguito of Silliman, who was dominating the pool earlier.

Echavez went away with a total of 14 gold medals and a silver in all the individual events she joined.

In the girls 11-12 class alone, Echavez garnered a total of 10 golds plus four in the women's open.

Echavez's defeat to Menguito in the 200-meter backstroke, her first open division battle, turned out to be good motivation for her to strive harder in her next three events.

In the 100m freestyle, Echavez zoomed ahead of Menguito to win the gold with the time of 1:06.2. Menguito clocked in 1:10.47.

Echavez fished out three other golds in the women's open via the 100m and 200m breaststroke with the time of 1:28.63 and 3:16.88, respectively. She also topped in the 100m backstroke at 1:19.72.

Beating a more seasoned and older entries in the open class, Echavez proceeded with ease in the age-group bracket where she got a total of 10 golds.

The 10 golds of Echavez came from the 200m individual medley, 50m and 100m breast stroke, 50m and 100m backstroke, 50m and 100m butterfly, 50m,100m and 200m freestyle.

On the other hand, Joshua Balinas of the Panaad Swimming Club also got into the podium after being the best swimmer among male entries with nine golds to his credit under the boys 9-10 division.

In the other classes, Zamboanga's Jeremias Armonia topped the boys 8-under with nine golds, while the distaff side saw his teammate Angel Saavedra collecting also nine golds.

Anjiyah Gimena dominated the girls 9-10 with six golds and Christian Subibi in the boys11-12 class with nine golds as well.

Another Zamboangeño, Leonar Ventura, ruled the boys 13-14 with eight golds and Rhodora Atienza in the girls with seven golds.

Zoe Menguito reigned supreme in the girls 15-17 with nine golds and Mig Villanueva in the boys division with six golds.

Nhelcr Tortogo dominated the boys 18-above with six golds as University of San Carlos' Clanel Celerio and Zamboanga's Cristin Atienza shared the top seat with three golds each in the distaff side.

In the battle for the overall supremacy among teams, the visiting Zamboanga Amateur Swimming Association was proclaimed the overall champion.

Langoy Sugbu, which is composed of three local clubs -Thresher's, Funsport and Quicksilver - ended second, while Sta.Fe Swimming Club came in third.