By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
Thanya Dela Cruz picked up her third gold medal Saturday in the 2021 Philippine Swimming Inc.’s National Selection tournament at the New Clark City Aquatics Center in Capas, Tarlac.
Dela Cruz continued to dominate the opposition by ruling the women’s 100-meter breaststroke with a time of 1 minute and 11.28 seconds – just 0.36sec shy of the PH mark of 1:10.92 set by Desirae Mangaoang last June in a United States event.
Her earlier gold medals came Friday in the women’s 50m breast where she posted a new PH mark, and the women’s 50m freestyle.
Camille Buico, John Niel Paredes, Ted Laminta and Michaela Mojdeh, meanwhile, clinched their second gold medals by topping their respective events.
Buico ruled the women’s 50m butterfly with 28.69sec after topping the women’s 100m fly Friday, while Paredes won the men’s 200m backstroke with 2:14.94 after winning the men’s 100m back Friday.
Mojdeh, for her part, prevailed in the women’s 400m individual medley with 5:23.63 to follow up Friday’s win in the women’s 1500m IM, while Laminta took home his second win in the men’s 400m IM with 4:49.00 after Miguel Barreto got disqualified.
Barreto, however, had already made his campaign felt in the men’s 200m freestyle after winning 1:56.74.
Other winners were Xiandi Chua in the women’s 200m free (2:09.17), Jordan Lobos in the men’s 100m breast (1:04.66), Seb Wong in the men’s 50m fly (25.67sec), Gianna Garcia in the women’s 200m back (2:33.96) and Hannah Sanchez in the women’s 1500m free (18:55.97).
