BY REYNALD MAGALLON
At 12 years old, Krystal Ava David knew full well that her dream of reaching the Olympics is still far from her reach, but that doesn’t entirely mean that she has no chance.
Certainly not after making a huge splash in her very first Palarong Pambansa, winning the gold medal in the elementary girls 100-meter breaststroke in a record breaking fashion on Tuesday, Aug. 1.
The student from Colegio San Agustin-Makati posted a personal best time of 1:17.98 to break the Palaro record of 1.19.4 set by Raine Gavino in 2013 Palaro in Dumaguete, Negros Oriental.
Azula Elise Villanueva from Region 3 copped the silver with a time of 1:24.79 while Cathlene Hengania from Region 10 bagged the bronze after recording a 1:25.48.
“It means a lot since it’s my first Palaro and I’ve been dreaming of going to the Palaro since first grade, so it really means a lot to me,” said David who also dreams of following the footsteps of national team swimmers like Jasmine Alkhaldi and Jasmine Mojdeh.
“I’ve been dreaming also of reaching the Olympics. It’s still far but if I work hard enough maybe I could be there like when I’m 20 years old,” she added.
And it was not only David who made a case of becoming one of the country’s prized swimmers in the future.
Angela Talosig, grade 11 student from Southern Christian College in Midsayap, North Cotabato and Peter Cyrus Dean from Manuel S. Enverga University in Lucena City proved to be one of the promising swimmers emerging from Palaro.
Already qualified for the SEA age group swimming championship in Jakarta, Indonesia, next month, the two warmed up with their own gold medals in their respective events.
Talosig ruled the secondary girls 400m freestyle with a time of 4:38.98 beating her NCR counterparts Athena Chang (4:46.93) and Iliazel Doliente (4:50.20) who won the silver and bronze medals respectively.
“Nag aral po ako ng swimming una po parang as a survival skill pero ngayon wish ko po maging professional and national team,” Talosig also declared.
Dean, on the other hand, clocked 1.00.69 to top the secondary boys 100m backstroke. He defeated Jennuel De Leon of Region 6 (1:00.85) and Lance Rafael Cruz of NCR (1.01.17).
