Lacuna bags 4th gold; RP second

LOS BAÑOS , Philippines - Jessie King Lacuna, Jasmine Alkhaldi and Dorothy Grace Hong kept the Philippine flag hoisted yesterday at the close of the 34th Southeast Asia Age-Group Swimming Championships at the Trace Aquatics Complex here.

Lacuna, who had swept the golds in the 50m, 200m and 400m freestyle events in the first two days, capped his brilliant show with another win in the 100m freestyle event for the boys’ 15-17 class of this swimfest among the region’s future stars.

The swimmer from Pulilan, Bulacan clocked 52.81 seconds to become the only Filipino to win four golds in this event, edging out Singapore’s Mohd Kamal (53.96) and Thailand’s Pongkajorn Kitkajarn (54.14) amid cheers from the hometown crowd.

Alkhaldi, who has the looks to go with her skills, ruled the 100m free in the girls 15-17 division in record fashion. She raced under the rain but managed 58.06 seconds to surpass the 58.53 six-year-old meet record of Thailand’s Jiratida Phiny.

The 16-year-old Alkhaldi won the 50m free, also in record time, and the 400m free for a total of three gold medals, the same output of Hong, who celebrated her 17th birthday yesterday with a come-from-behind win in the 50m backstroke event.

Hong, a product of the Ral Rosario Swim Club in Pasig, got off to a poor start and had to challenge Vietnam’s Nguyen Thi in the short race. The loud cheers of those who packed the stands kept her going until she tapped in for the gold in 30.90 seconds.

“There was pressure right from the start because I was going for a third gold and a third meet record. Then I had a poor start and in a very short race it was difficult to recover. But I managed and I’m happy with that,” she said.

Hong, who loves to spend time at home, working on the computer, reading books, baking and cooking when she’s not practicing, won the 200m and 100m backstroke events here in record fashion, and tried her best to set a third record.

“But it’s okay. I’m still happy. It’s already a big birthday gift for myself,” she said as her proud mom, Diana, looked on. She was asked if there was anything she wanted from her mom, and said, “Nothing really. But a PS3 (Play Station) will be nice.”

On the final day of the competition, the Philippines also won three bronze medals courtesy of Fahad Alkhaldi in the boys (13-14) 1500m free (17:07.43), Roxanne Ashely Yu in the girls (11-12) 50m back (32.67) and Banjo Borja in the boys (15-17) 200m breaststroke (2:25.76).

In the end, the Philippines bagged 13 gold, 10 silver and 12 gold medals, a harvest that surprised even the top Filipino officials, considering that the country only had three gold medals and a handful others last year in Kuala Lumpur.

Thailand, which fielded the most number of swimmers (65) here, showed no ill effects of a recent crisis back home, and will have to pay more for their excess baggage of 46 gold, 24 silver and 37 bronze medals when they fly home.

Indonesia came in third in the medal standings with 11-15-13 followed by Singapore (10-31-19), Malaysia (9-7-3), Vietnam (7-9-11) and Brunei with a bronze.