Palawan: Quendy Fernandez earned a slot in the national team for this year’s Southeast Asian (SEA) Games during the tryouts at the Teofilo Yldefonso Swimming Center inside the historic Rizal Memorial Sports Complex in Manila on Friday. The member of the University of the Philippines varsity team qualified in the 50m backstroke, clocking 29.23 seconds behind two-time Olympian Kyla Noelle Sanchez (29.00). Filipino-American Teia Isabella Salvino placed third with a time of 29.85.
According to Philippines News Agency, Fernandez was named Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player for leading the Fighting Maroons to the University Athletic Association of the Philippines or UAAP Season 86 title in 2023. Last year, she bagged four gold medals at the Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area or BIMP-EAGA Friendship Games held in Puerto Princesa City, coming from the 50m and 100m backstroke, and 4x50m medley and 200m freestyle relays.
Meanwhile, Sanchez also qualified in the 100m freestyle with 55.00 seconds, surpassing the Qualifying Time Standard (QTS) of 58.23. Her time was faster than the 55.83 set by Singaporean Quah Ting Wen in winning the gold medal at the 2023 Cambodia SEA Games. Filipino-British Heather White, the 2024 Asian Age Group silver medalist, also qualified with a time of 56.23, along with 2023 Cambodia SEAG champion Xiandi Chua (56.95) and 2022 Hanoi SEAG winner Chloe Isleta (58.08).
Micaela Jasmine Mojdeh will also see action in the SEA Games scheduled in Thailand from Dec. 9 to 20 after dominating the 200m butterfly event. Mojdeh, who twice competed at the World Junior Championships, clocked 2:18.18, surpassing the QTS (2:18.26). Patricia Mae Santor (2:19.45) and Shairinne Floriano (2:25.40) took the silver and bronze medals, respectively.
In the men’s division, Filipino-Japanese Logan Wataru Noguchi won two golds in QTS times. Noguchi topped the 100m freestyle in 50.18 seconds, beating Gian Santos (51.30) and Albert Amaro (51.48). In the 50m backstroke event, Noguchi prevailed in 26.04 seconds followed by Fil-Am Joran Paul Orogo (26.05), Fil-Mongolian Metin Junior Jason Mahmutoglu (26.53), and Ivo Nikolai Enot (26.69). All four punched tickets to Bangkok.
‘It’s a bad weather but good results for our top swimmers, especially Kayla (Sanchez), whose 100-meter freestyle time is already SEA Games gold-medal level. We still have four months to prepare,’ Philippine Aquatics, Inc. (PAI) secretary general Eric Buhain said in a press statement Saturday. ‘Our elite swimmers are coming off training abroad, while our promising talents have shown improvement from recent tournaments. We expect more QTS performances as the tryouts continue,’ he added.