PPHST is an affiliate of the Philippine Amateur Swimming Association, Inc. (PASA) and the Southern Tagalog Amateur Swimming Association)
2nd Philippine Olympic Festival Regional Elimination
Hammerhead Sharks amass 12 Golds, 3 Silvers and 7 Bronzes
Jeron, Gerrol, Inessa and Courtney qualify in the national finals
The guerilla band of Puerto Princesa City Hammerhead Shark Swimming Team joined the fray in what everyone thought to be a three-cornered battle between host Naga City, Batangas City and the much vaunted invincible armada of Laguna.
Composed of only four (4) swimmers—Jeron Mercader, Gerrol Castillo, Nerissa Maggay and Inessa Dalabajan—the Hammerhead Sharks stood in the way of the three (3) regional heavyweights to emerge victorious in the recently concluded regional elimination finals of Philippine Olympic Festival for Bicol and Southern Tagalog Regions.
Jeron, a 17 year old senior from Palawan National School (PNS), led the Hammerhead Shark attack with 8 golds from 200 m individual medley, 1500 m freestyle, 100 m butterfly, 400 m freestyle, 100 m freestyle, 200 m freestyle, 100 m backstroke, 200 m backstroke and 50 m freestyle and a silver from 200 m individual medley.
“I was so happy to have competed against the likes of MM Danila whom I almost outraced in 400 m freestyle,” says the beaming Jeron.
Gerrol, who is a veteran campaigner in Southeast Asian Age Group, snatched 2 golds in 100 m
and 200 m butterfly, 2 silvers in 400 m individual medley and 1500 m freestyle, and 5 bronzes in 100m, 200 m, 400 m freestyle, 200 m individual medley and 100 m breaststroke. A Palawan State University senior, Gerrol doomed the chances of Philippine Team member Banjo Borja of Laguna, of romping away with a sweep in their age-band, snatching from the latter a gold in the 100m butterfly.
Says Gerrol, “It’s not so easy beating Banjo and home crowd favorite Wilfredo Sunglao of Naga City. With more practice and prayers, I feel that I can beat them again in the national finals.”
PSU’s 11 year old tanker Inessa Dalabajan dished out a surprising performance managing to steal two golds from 800m and 200m freestyle and a bronze in 400m freestyle. “This is my first time to have competed at this level. I hardly expected to have won a couple of golds in my age band,” says the six grade pupil from PSU.
Nerissa Maggay won a bronze in 100 m backstroke and could have also snatched a silver in 200 m backstroke if not only for a underwater infraction off the turn. Nerissa puts her experience in proper perspective: “Errors such as the one I had in 200 m backstroke only
Siobe “the Shark” sweeps Lucena meet Wins 4 gold medals in STASA Long Course meet
Siobe “The Shark” Dalabajan added another four (4) gold medals in her growing collections when she managed to sweep all four events in the recently concluded 2007 Southern Tagalog Amateur Swimming Association (STASA) Long Course Swim Meet held on September 29, 2007 at Alcala Sports Complex, Lucena City, Quezon.
Earlier, Siobe also grabbed two (2) gold medals in 25 m breast-
stroke and 25 m butterfly during the STASA Short Course Meet in BJ Country Club, San Pablo City.
In May this year, she also bagged a silver and a bronze in breastroke when she competed in Davao Mayor’s Cup Age-Group Swimming Competition which was held from May 25 to 27 in Ladislawa Country Club, Davao City.
Siobe hogged national headlines when she, together with her swimmates in Hammerhead Shark Swim-
encourages me to work harder and polish my stroke.”
Hammerhead Sharks’ new transferee, Courtney Gray of Hope Christian School collected 6 silvers in age-10 band. Courtney now practices with the team in preparation for the national finals.
Coach Danny Egot hopes to be able to squeeze out the best performance from his tankers during the National Finals which is scheduled around the latter part of November in Los Baños, Laguna. “The team is in high spirits. You can feel the team’s burning desire to win in the national finals,” explains Coach Dan. With the pride of Puerto Princesa at stake, the team promises to empty their tanks for the gold.
Meanwhile, six swimmers from Cetaceans Swimming Club (CSC) similarly bore the Puerto Princesa flag, winning 1 gold, 1 silver and 5 bronzes.
ming Team crossed the waters that separate Barangay Mangingisda and Baywalk—a distance which covers 9.05
