LAOAG CITY – There’s a brand new shark on the town.
Neophyte tanker Titus Rafael Sia emerged as the latest sea titan up North after shattering two meet data for 3 gold medals to this point to anchor NCR’s surge halfway by way of the 2025 Palarong Pambansa Wednesday on the Ferdinand E. Marcos Memorial Stadium aquatics middle right here.
The 12-year-old Sia from San Juan Metropolis made ripples in his first Palaro plunge, resetting the marks in elementary boys’ 200m freestyle and 100m backstroke with an final purpose of successful all his seven occasions — a minimum of on the residence province of Ilocano Shark and two-time Olympic medalist Teofilo Yldefonso.
Yldefonso, additionally a struggle hero who grew to become the primary Filipino and Southeast Asian medalist within the Summer time Video games, is the silhouette on the official emblem of the sixty fifth Palaro being hosted by Ilocos Norte for under the primary time since 1968.
And Sia, who swam 4,000 to five,000 meters up to now month to gun for glory and historical past, might have dived his solution to an enormous potential as the subsequent Yldefonso within the making.
“I simply carry on swimming and swimming. I simply need to swim lang and break all of the data (doable),” stated Sia, an incoming Grade 7 pupil in Xavier Faculty San Juan, who nonetheless has three particular person and one relay occasions.
He clocked two minutes and seven.86 seconds for gold in 200m freestyle, breaking the two:08.12 time of Central Luzon’s Rafael Barreto in 2013 Dumaguete version. Within the 100m backstroke, he timed 1:05.44 to surpass the 1:06.38 mark of NCR’s Seth Isaak Martin within the 2015 Tagum video games.
However Sia, who additionally received gold within the 4x50m medley relay with workforce NCR, wasn’t the one shark from Metro Manila who all of the sudden rose from the close by Caaoacan Seaside some eight kilometers from the Laoag Metropolis plaza.
La Salle’s Sophia Rose Garra, who dominated Cebu with six mints, in a while clinched two new data of her personal within the elementary ladies for a complete of 4 gold medals to this point. Like Sia, she’s out to go 7/7.
Garra (1:07.61) didn’t solely break her personal file of 1:08.50 within the 100m backstroke she set in 2024 Cebu Palaro but additionally got rid of the two:33.12 mark of Michaela Jasmine Mojdeh within the 200m particular person medley in 2018 Vigan video games with 2:31.41.
Hailing from Malabon, the incoming Grade 7 stud additionally dominated the 200m freestyle and 4x50m relay with workforce NCR to turn into probably the most bemedaled swimmer to this point.
Two extra NCR tankers in Patricia Mae Santor of UST (200m butterfly, 200m IM) and Raina Samantha Leyran (50m backstroke, 4x50m medley relay) seized two golds every as 17-time champion Metro Manila pulled away with two days to go.
Because of an enormous harvest in swimming and gymnastics led by five-gold winner Arman Hernandez Jr. from Pasay, NCR zoomed to 52 gold, 26 silver and 16 bronze medals to create an enormous hole from CALABARZON (24-35-19) and Western Visayas (16-19-16).
In the meantime, Jhul Ian Cañalita captured his second record-breaking gold medal within the 3,000m steeplechase with 9:23.89 to beat the 9:35.2 mark of Central Luzon’s Jerry Vasquez set in 2019 Davao Palaro.
Cañalita of Tabuan Nationwide Excessive Faculty in Bohol the opposite day clocked 15:16.31 seconds within the 5,000m to surpass the 15:38.4 file of Davao Area’s Cresencio Cabal within the 1998 Bacolod video games.
Different multi-medalists in Day 3 to this point have been arnisadors Shayne Mark Monreal (4) of Northern Mindanao, Airielle Ashley Lape (4) and Queen Fairy Rose Rante (4) of CARAGA in addition to NCR gymnast King Cjay Pernia (4) and Northern Mindanao’s James Custodio III (3) in arnis.
Greater than 20 athletes have two golds every within the race for probably the most bemedaled athlete getting into the ultimate two days of the nation’s premier scholastic sports activities competitors organized by the Division of Training and the Philippine Sports activities Fee that includes 18 areas.