THE Philippines barged into the medal column of the 11th Asian Age Group Championships held at the New Clark City Aquatics Center in Capas, Tarlac, courtesy of Batang Pinoy standouts Heather White and Jamesray Ajido.
White bagged the bronze in the Girls’ 15-17 100-meter Butterfly while matched it with a third-place feat in the Boys’ 12-14 50-meter Freestyle, Tuesday night.
Both White and Ajido were standouts of the Batang Pinoy National Championships staged at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex in Manila on December 17 until 22, last year.
White, a 16-year-old tanker, hatched seven gold medals during the PSC’s flagship grassroots project under the banner of Parañaque City, while Ajido, who represented Mandaluyong City, emerged as the most bemedalled athlete of his class.
“I am proud that the Philippines finally made it to the medal mark in this tournament. Congratulations to all our national athletes, this kind of tournament is a great instrument to further improve in the sport,” Philippine Sports Commission chairman Richard Bachmann said.
Chairman Bachmann and Commissioner Matthew ‘Fritz’ Gaston attended the third day of the tournament to show support to the 44 Filipino tankers competing.
Bachmann also inspected the facilities of the Aquatics Center including the training areas for swimming and diving participants. The PSC head expressed his commendation to the Philippine Aquatics, Inc. who made the country capable of accommodating this kind of huge task.
The PSC officials invited the local and international aquatics community to come and join in the showpiece brought out by the best young Asian swimmers as competitions in the 11th AAGC, which will wrap up on March 9, are expected to ignite even more after it being accredited as a continental qualifying tilt for the Paris Olympics in July.
Bachmann and Gaston were welcomed by Philippine Aquatics Inc. secretary general Rep. Eric Buhain, Chief Operating Officer Dave Carter, and Executive Director Chito Rivera.