BORACAY — Palarong Pambansa standout Anton Paulo Dominick Della carried his winning form onto the international stage, capturing the silver medal in the boys’ 18-19 age group of the 4th Southeast Asia Open Water Championships at Boracay Newcoast in Malay, Aklan.
Making his international debut, the 17-year-old swimmer from San Fernando, La Union completed the grueling 10-kilometer race in two hours and 20 seconds over the 1.66-kilometer course overlooking the Sibuyan Sea.
Della entered the regional competition fresh from a dominant showing at the recent Palarong Pambansa in Agusan del Sur, where he hauled four gold medals.
The Filipino youngster also narrowly missed a podium finish in the overall open division, ending just five seconds behind Vietnam’s bronze medalist Van Dung Cao, who clocked 2:00.15.
Vietnamese swimmer Ngoc Vin Dho topped the race in 1:58.30, while Morocco’s Mochammad Taufik finished in 2:00.06.
The Philippines collected another podium finish through Dianna Celyn Cruz, who secured bronze in the women’s 20-and-above age group after completing the race in 2:48.17.
Cruz placed 16th overall among 20 competitors in the women’s open division, where Vietnam’s Kha Ni Nguyen and Huynh Tu Uyen Le claimed the top two spots.
Filipino swimmers also swept the podium in the girls’ 16-17 3K festival event.
Bella Aaliya Pano led the 1-2-3 Philippine finish with a gold-medal time of 40:11.49, followed by Dominique Gabrielle Lepaco at 50:25.27 and Samantha Dainyhel Jamelarin at 50:30.06.
Sharing the spotlight was 85-year-old Ilonggo swimmer Vernan Certeza of Jaro, Iloilo, the oldest participant in the men’s 3K festival event.
Certeza completed the three-kilometer swim in just under 90 minutes.
The championships are organized by Philippine Aquatics Inc. and sanctioned by the Southeast Asian Swimming Federation, with support from the Aklan provincial government and the municipal government of Malay./PN
