IN a rousing international debut, Palarong Pambansa standout Anton Paulo Dominick Della secured an age group silver in the men’s 10-kilometer race kicking off the Fourth Southeast Asia Open Water Championships presented by the presented by the Philippine Sports Commission in Boracay Friday.
Della clocked two hours and 20 seconds in placing second in the 18-19-year-old division contested in ideal conditions at the 1.66-kilometer course off the Boracay Newcoast overlooking the Sibuyan Sea.
The 17-year-old pride of San Fernando (La Union), who bagged four golds in the last Palarong Pambansa in Agusan del Sur, actually narrowly missed a podium finish in the Open division by a stroke out of the 31 entries who swam.
He was just five seconds behind Vietnamese bronze medalist Van Dung Cao (2:00.15) in the event won by compatriot Ngoc Vin Dho (1:58.30) while Mochammad Taufik took bronze (2:00.06).
Sharing the spotlight with Della was Dianna Celyn Cruz, who bucked painful hips to bag bronze in the 20-year-old and above women’s class (2:48.17) and finished16th overall in the meet organized by the Philippine Aquatics Inc. and sanctioned by the Southeast Asian Swimming Federation.
Cruz wound up 16th overall among 20 entries in the women’s open where Vietnam finished 1-2 courtesy of Kha Ni Nguyen (2:18.29.86) Huynh Tu Uyen Le ( 2:19.26.63) in the meet also supported by the Aklan and Malay local government units.
‘I swam a tactical race by trying to keep myself in the lead pack,’ Della said. ‘The weather was good from the first to four rounds while from the fift and sixth rounds it was a bit wavy or choppy.’
‘You need to last long in this kind of race so I drafted behind the lead swimmers so it didn’t get heavy so much before making my move in the last 500 meters,’ he added.
Della will be back in action early Saturday morning for the mixed relay event where he will be joined by Alex Tiu, Graziella Sophia Ato and Nuche Veronica Ibit.
Each swimmer will negotiate a 1,500-meter course, with a male swimmer plunging into action first followed back-to-back by two female swimmers before the other male bet caps the anchor leg.