CEBU CITY. – Under new coach Dondon Roxas Jr., Region 4-A swimmer Albert Jose Amaro II has gone from good to great in just a year’s time.
The rich fruits of their partnership were there to see after Amaro completed a magnificent seven-for-seven sweep of his events in the boys’ high school division of the Palarong Pambansa Sunday at the Cebu City Sports Center pool.
In a yeoman’s effort that showcased skill and endurance, the Grade 11 San Beda-Rizal student completed a golden treble, ruling his individual events and starring for the Calabarzon squad in retaining the men’s 4×100-meter freestyle championship.
He beat National Capital Region’s Luke Arano by a touch in the hotly-contested 50-meter race, clocking 24.25 seconds to the latter’s 24.57, in the meet backed by the Philippine Sports Commission and Sen. Bong Go, Senate Sports Committee chairman.
With barely a 10-minute breather, Amaro, 17, won another thrilling down-the-wire battle in the 200-meter freestyle, an event where he vied for the first time, to nip fancied Davao Region’s Paolo Miguel Labanon in one minute and 58.15 seconds.
Amaro finished just three-tenths faster than Labanon, a triple gold medalist in the last year’s Palarong Pambansa in Marikina, who was relegated to the silver in 1:58.21 while NCR’s Nikolai Enot was a distant third in 2:01.10.
As an icing on the cake, Amaro gave Region 4-A a fast headstart in the 4×100-meter relay then flashed the number “7” to his teammates in the bleachers as Nimrod Montera completed the win in 3:38.33.
“The pressure was great but I was glad I was able to meet my target of seven golds,” said the Naga City, Camarines Sur native, who credited his perfect outing embellished with Palaro meet records in the 50 and 100-meter butterfly to his new mentor’s coaching.
He emerged as the most bemedalled athlete of the games, a far cry from his sole gold in the 50-meter freestyle in the 2023 Marikina edition.
He had earlier won the gold medals in the 50 and 100-meter butterfly, 100-meter freestyle and 4×100-meter medley relay.
“I am glad about Amaro’s performance but we are merely there as guides. If they do well, that is fine with me,” said Roxas, who has been the coach of San Beda’s successful swimming program for the past 24 years.
Micaela Mojdeh, who had a bronze medal in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay, added her sixth gold by topping the 400-meter individual medley in 5:12.19.
Over at the CIT gym, Elizal Andriel Yulo, tracing the footsteps of elder siblings Carlos Edriel and Karl Eldrew, both Palaro standouts, fell a gold short of a sweep of the women’s artistic gymnastics competition.
After anchoring the National Capital Region to the team and individual all-around golds last Friday, Yulo, 15, added the mints in the uneven bars, balance beam and floor exercise with scores of 9.80, 12.050 and 10.90 scores, respectively.
The doe-eyed pixie shared the floor exercise title with NCR teammate Cielo Esliza, who had the same score.
The Adamson Grade 10 student had a faulty first try in the vault, landing with her hands on the mat, was penalized and relegated to the silver with a score of 11.650 behind Central Luzon’s Tallula Adrien Nadres (11.775).
Nonetheless, Yulo was proud of her achievement, which she dedicated to her family.
“Siyempre proud po ako sa nagawa ko sa Palaro,” said the fourth and youngest child in the gymnastics family, revealing her brothers just told her “to just do my best and enjoy the moment.”
Traditional powerhouse NCR kept the lead in the overall medal standings with a combined tally of 55-42-48, followed by Western Visayas (36-28-28) while Calabarzon was running third (35-30-34).
