Escollante finished only third place in both the women’s 1,000- and 500-meter touring kayak but gained big accolade for being just an accidental participant in the competitions.
"All-around ako sa competition. Ako ang athlete, coach, technical official at flag bearer sa opening ceremonies," said Escollante, whose initial intention was only to attend a coaching seminar but agreed to compete when egged on by competitors, coaches and officials.
Escollante was even under the weather when she won the two bronzes – the first medals won by a Southeast Asian in the Asian championships.
She clocked six minutes,13.788 seconds in finishing third behind Iran’s Frahnaz Amirshaghaghi (5:55.733) and Macau’s Leong Lai Sze Racy (6:09.002) in the 1,000 meters. In the 500 meters, she duplicated her third-place finish with a clocking of 2:56.631 behind Amirshaghaghi at 2:47.312 and Chinese Yingjie Zhou at 2:46.399.