Davao City swimmers made a splash on the opening day of the 11th BIMPNT-Eaga Friendship Games 2024, hauling six gold medals, five silvers, and six bronzes, setting the stage for Mindanao Team A-Philippines’ strong campaign at the RVM Sports Complex in Puerto Princesa City on Monday, December 2, 2024.
The team’s standout performers included gold medalists Philip Adrian Sahagun, Lora Micah Amoguis, John Michael Catamco, Rissa Angelian Sahagun, and the boys' and girls' 4x100m freestyle relay teams.
Philip, a third-year BS Entrepreneurship student at De La Salle University, clinched the first gold in the boys' 200m individual medley (IM) with a time of 2:13.52, narrowly defeating Indonesia’s Hidayatullah Aril (2:13.83) and teammate Rodolfo Paolo III Apilado (2:20.82).
Despite limited preparation due to his recent UAAP stint and a week-long training hiatus, Sahagun surpassed expectations.
Pero ang mindset ko lang is swim for the Philippines. No’ng last lap, medyo nakaramdam po ako ng sakit ng katawan ko pero nakita kopo ‘yong kalaban ko na humahabol kaya i-push ko na… ando’n napo ako sa una kaya sabi ko ‘di kona po ibibigay ‘tong gold.
Philip Adrian Sahagun
(My mindset was to swim for the Philippines. During the last lap, I felt my body aching, but seeing my opponent catching up pushed me to give everything)," said the two-time Uaap bronze medalist Sahagun, who also contributed to the boys' 4x100m freestyle relay gold alongside Pietro Dominic Requiza, John Michael Catamco, and Paolo Miguel Labanon. They defeated Malaysia-B (3:50.05) and Indonesia (3:55.73) who salvaged the silver and bronze, respectively.
On the girls' side, Ateneo de Manila University freshman Lora Micah Amoguis won the 200m IM gold, clocking 2:30.73, overcoming Puerto Princesa City’s Maglia Jaye Dignadice (2:38.01) and teammate Allen Joy Santos (2:42.45).
Lora, a freshman pursuing a BS in Life Sciences at Ateneo de Manila University (AdMU), joined forces with her younger sister Liaa Margarette, Juliana Marien Villanueva, and Rissa Angelian Sahagun to clinch the gold in the girls’ 4x100m freestyle relay. Their combined effort clocked 4:19.20, comfortably surpassing Puerto Princesa City (4:20.08) and Mindanao Team B (4:39.57).
The 18-year-old Lora, in a Messenger interview, said,
I am thankful for these two golds that I have gotten since there were so many setbacks getting into this competition that made me think I couldn’t do it.
She was nursing a shoulder fatigue during her events.
In the 2018 BIMPNT Eaga Games held in Brunei, Lora brought home gold in 200m backstroke and 200m IM.
Rissa secured an individual gold in the 200m breaststroke (2:54.96), besting Marien Sofia Cariño (2:57.05) and Malaysia’s Tamia Desiree Chua (3:06.42).
In the boys' 50m butterfly, John Michael Catamco, a sophomore at DMMA College of Southern Philippines, claimed gold with a time of 28.14 seconds.
Catamco described his victory in the 50m butterfly as bittersweet, explaining that he was initially set to claim silver but was awarded gold after his teammate, who finished first, was disqualified.
"I had just finished the 100m freestyle and immediately had to compete in the 50m butterfly. My body was exhausted, but I told myself to give it my all. It was a mix of emotions—both happiness and sadness. I knew I finished second, and it was a close race with the leader. However, when my teammate was disqualified, the gold went to me," Catamco shared in Filipino during a phone interview with VoxPop Davao on Monday evening.
Mindanao Team A's silver medalists included Mira Claire Catayas in the girls' 100m freestyle, Stacey Brenice Requiza in both the girls' 50m butterfly and 50m backstroke, and Juan Alessandro Suarez in the boys' 200m breaststroke. Meanwhile, bronze medals were earned by Gwen Stefanie Pansit in the girls' 100m freestyle and Cassiopiea Bianca Sartiga in the girls' 50m butterfly. MLSA