ARIEL Joseph Alegarbes made a splash in the 11th Asean Para Games on Monday, capturing two gold medals in record-breaking style at the Jatidiri Sports Complex pool in Semarang, Indonesia
In front of a lean yet animated Filipino crowd, among them his father Abner, Alegarbes had an unforgettable outing in ruling the men’s 100-meter backstroke S14 event, surging in the last 10 meters to win in one minute and .03.01 seconds.
See Gawilan, Sabido, Asusano bag gold in Asean Para Games
He nipped Malaysia’s Muhammad Imaan Aiman, who had wrested the lead at the 75-m mark but finished in 1:03.20, while Thailand’s Mrjirachot Chuvong was a distant third in 1:11.68.
Barely taking a breather, the 18-year-old pride of Victoria, Negros Oriental returned to the pool and led from start to finish in the men’s 50-butterfly S14 in 26.43 seconds, completing a golden double in his rookie stint in the biennial meet.
On top of being the country’s first double gold medalist in the meet, Alegarbes established new meet records in both events, first smashing the five-year-old mark of 1:03.60 in the 100-meter backstroke set by Indonesia’s Muhammad in the 2017 Kuala Lumpur Games.
He also bested by nearly four seconds the joint record of 30.01 seconds held by Malaysian W.Y. Chung and Indonesian D. Nugruho also set in the same Games held in the Malaysian capital.
“I feel like I am about to explode because I was not expecting this. This is for my father who led me into swimming. Without him I wouldn’t be here,” said Alegarbes, who suffers from ADHD with learning disability with dyslexia, while handing both mints to his delighted father.
Ariel Alegarbes adds two to the Philippines' gold medal haul.
“Of course I am very proud of my son and I am glad to witness his accomplishment,” said the elder Alegarbes, who left his work as a construction worker to look after his son after learning of his son’s physical challenge at an early age through the advice of his late psychologist brother.
Alegarbes’ success was a brilliant follow-up to his winning one gold and one silver medal in the 100-meter butterfly S14 and 100-meter backstroke S14, respectively, in the Asian Youth Para Games held in Manama, Bahrain last December.
Veteran Ernie Gawilan, who won the men’s 400-meter freestyle S7 event on Monday, bagged the silver in the men’s 100-meter backstroke S7 in 1:21.13 for the other swimming medal of the day in the stint supported by the Philippine Sports Commission.
At the Manahan Stadium, runner and newcomer King James Reyes and veteran thrower Jesebel Tordecilla boosted the athletics haul to four gold medals.
Reyes topped the men’s 5,000-meter race T46 event, his time pending confirmation from meet officials, while Tordecilla took the gold with her heave of 14.21 meters on her third attempt.
Gold medalist in the women’s javelin throw T54 on Monday, Cendy Asusano added to her collection by bagging the bronze in the women’s discus throw.
Also bagging bronze medals were Ron Russel Mitra in the men’s long jump T20 and Evaristo Carbonel in the men’s discus throw F11-13.
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