XIANDI Chua completed a sweep of her three events, including a thrilling win in the women’s 100-meter freestyle event at the close of the Philippine Swimming Inc. National Selection meet at the New Clark City Aquatics Center in Capas, Tarlac yesterday.
A medley specialist and a member of the All-Star Swim club, Chua clocked 59.68 seconds to rule the race, the only swimmer to submit a sub-60 time among the 10 entries in the three-day competition.
Camille Buico of Rising Atlantis Swim Club relegated QC Buccaneers’ Chloe Daos to second place in 1:00.34, just 0.01 seconds ahead of the latter, in the meet sanctioned by the International Swimming Federation, the world swimming body known by its French acronym FINA.
“My times in this meet weren’t really good because my times went up,” said Chua, who won a silver and bronze medal in the 4×100-meter and 42×00-meter freestyle relays, respectively, in the 30th Southeast Asian Games at the same venue in 2019.
“But I think it’s a nice opportunity to race again because I was able to see where I’m actually at and how I can I improve on it in training,” she added.
John Neil Paderes also completed a golden treble in the backstroke events, with the BEST Main member adding the men’s 50-meter backstroke in 27.77 seconds to his collection.
Shayne Lugay of the Ace Seawolves topped the women’s 50-meter backstroke in 32.32 seconds.
Former national age group standout Miguel Barreto ended his stint on top after ruling the men’s 100-meter freestyle in 53.52 seconds in a close duel with De La Salle Zobel’s Sacho Ilustre, who clocked 53.59.
