Swimming news: San Beda National Collegiate Athletic Association
For the ninth successive year, San Beda has dominated the four-day National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) swimming competition at the Rizal Memorial Aquatics Centre in Manila, Philippines by beating the opposing St. Benilde Blazers by 878.5 points.
The San Beda, also known as the Sea Lions, scored a remarkable total of 1,248 points, while the St. Benilde Blazers were placed second with 369.5 points and the Mapua Cardinals came in third with 320.5 points. Coach Dondon Roxas of San Beda describes the victory of his swimmers as “overwhelming” and says that San Beda desired to win the competition to honour their predecessors.
Though it is his last year with San Beda, 20-year-old McGyver Reyes shone in the competition, earning 212 points, as well as the title of Most Valuable Player of the season.
Reyes managed to achieve this particular award due to an amazing display of talent in swimming the 200-meter backstroke in two minutes, 19.08 seconds and five minutes, 3.6 seconds in the 400-meter individual medley at the concluding day of the competition. Reyes says that he is “very proud of this victory because it’s my final year and I really want to win it for the school.”
San Beda has managed to keep a steady rule of nine straight years at the NCAA swimming competition, which comes in second to Mapua’s fourteen-year rule back in the ‘90s. The school hopes to continue their string of successes and add a tenth season to their victories. Reyes and Theody Gavino, who was titled last year’s Most Valuable Player, however, will not be present due to their graduation from the swimming school of San Beda.
La Salle-Greenhills bagged their sixth victory in a row, at the junior section, acquiring a sound total of 1,057 points. Second in place were San Sebastian with 483.5 points and a bolt from the blue third place was announced to Emilio Aguinaldo, who had 275.5 points.
The Most Valuable Player trophy was awarded to EAC’s Keiffer Piccio, a participant of both the Palarong Pambansa and the Philippine Olympic Festival, who scored 190 points on his own. First place went to St. Benilde, in the women’s division, with 332.5 points. They were followed by EAC at second place, having 180 points, and third place was awarded to San Sebastian who gained 169 points. The women’s division was held as a demonstration sport for a second year.
The National Collegiate Athletic Association comprises of eight colleges and universities in the Philippines and is the oldest association in the country; however, the association is not related to the NCAA of the United States. These two are completely independent bodies. The board that devises the policies of the league is comprised of representatives from all the institutions that are members of the association. The sports season for the association is not time bound and lasts for almost the whole year. Each school competes in a total of eleven sports, which are conducted in two different divisions. One division is the juniors for the male high school students, while the other is for the seniors of the high school. There is not a separate category for the female senior students of high school. At the end of the academic/sports year, the school with the best cumulative performance in all the sports and from both the divisions is awarded a General Championships Trophy.
The association is working on its expansion in the sports arena. A new division is introduced, which is known as Division II. This division will admit schools other than those which are already the members of the league. Invitations have already been sent out to some of the most prestigious institutions of Philippines, including the Arellano University, Emilio Aguinaldo College and the Lyceum of Philippines.
Tags: