Genevie Natinga emerged the biggest medal earner on the first day of the sportsfest – the biggest staged in the region since the Mindanao Meet in the 1960s – with four gold medals and a silver to lead Iligan City’s charge at the start of the swimming competition.
Iligan City, which is an hour-and-a-half bus ride away from Tubod, had a total haul of six gold, three silver and four bronze medals to tow the field in the swimming event, which included an unattached team from Davao City under legendary tanker Jairullah Jaitullah.
Jaitullah, who played in three Olympic Games until the 1970s, and his Coastal Davao Swim Team came here without support from their local government but nonetheless delivered the goods with a second-best three gold, two silver and two bronze medals.
One of the five former national athletes feted by host province Lanao del Norte and the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) on opening day, Jaitullah was part of the team which topped the 4 x 200 freestyle relay while teammate Norton Alamara won the other two gold medals in the 100-m freestyle and 50-m backstroke.
Natinga got her gold medals in the 200-m freestyle, 100-m backstroke, 200-m individual medley and 100-m butterfly while Iligan City’s other two gold medals were handed in by Nikko Cao Hok, who topped the 200-m butterfly and 400-m individual medley.
Natinga failed to make it a five-gold haul after a heartbreaking defeat to Monique Bacolod of Cagayan de Oro in the 50-m backstroke. Both Natinga and Bacolod clocked 35.17 seconds but the judges decided in Bacolod’s favor and Natinga settled for the silver.
Aside from Bacolod, the only other medal Iligan City and Jaitullah’s team failed to win was in the women’s 100-m backstroke, topped by Misamis Occidental’s Kharem Ajias.