Evangelista at Callera kumolekta ng 2 ginto

TOKYO — Nasungkit nina Aishel Cid Evangelista at Richelle Anne Callera ang unang dalawang gintong medalya ng Phiippine Swimming League (PSL) sa pagsisimula ng 2018 Ja­pan Age-Group Swimming Championship sa St. Mary’s International School swimming pool dito.

Pinagharian ng West Manila Christian School standout na si Evangelis­ta ang boys’ 8-under 25m freestyle event mula sa kanyang 16.46 segundo para talunin ang mga mas matatangkad na karibal mu­la sa Japan, China at Eu­ropean countries.

Muntik na ring mabasag ni Evangelista ang 16.16 segundong tournament re­cord ni Mi­­guel Molina na dating nag-aral sa St. Mary’s In­ter­national School bago su­mabak sa malala­king in­ternational competitions ka­gaya ng Olympics, Asian Games at Southeast Asian Games.

Hindi rin nagpahuli si Cal­lera na namayagpag sa girls’ 8-under 25m freestyle sa bilis na 16.86 segundo, habang nasiguro naman ni Kiara Acierto ng Cagayan de Oro City ang tansong me­dalya sa naitala niyang 18.10 segundo.

‘It’s just the start of the competition and we’re expecting more gold me­dals in the coming events. We’re so proud of these two young swimmers who are pro­ducts of our grassroots de­velopment program. They are now reaping the fruits of their labor and we’re happy to see them grow each and every competi­tion,” pahayag ni PSL President Susan Papa.

Inaasahang hahakot pa ng gintong medalya ang PSL sa pagsalang nina reig­ning PSL Swimmers of the Year Marc Bryan Dula ng Wisenheimer Academy (boys’ 11-12) at Micaela Jas­mine Mojdeh ng Imma­culate Heart of Ma­ry College-Parañaque (girls’ 11-12).

“We are hoping that by sending these young swim­mers in international meets, we would be of help to­ward equiping them with the experience and exposure they need for future big competitions,” ani Papa.

Magpapasiklab din sina Tri­za Tabamo (girls’ 9-10), Mas­ter Charles Janda (boys’ 9-10), Trump Christian Luistro (boys’ 9-10), Ni­cholas Ivan Radovan (boys’ 11-12), Julia Ysabelle Basa (girls’ 9-10), Lawrence Jacob Arabes (boys’ 15-18), Law­rence Isaac Arabes (boys’ 15-18) at Leonardo Dal­man III (boys’ 13-14).

Ang iba pang miyembro ng koponan na sasalang ay sina Albren Jan Da­yap­dapan (boys’ 13-14), Chris­tine Keith De Luna (girls’ 15-18) at Lei Delos Tri­nos (girls’ 13-14).

“We want to express our gratitude to the Filipino community in Japan led by Myles Briones Beltran and Katsumata Hiroshi as well as to Myrna Lagaya of MX3 for supporting our team,” wika ni Papa.